Lake Ming and Hart Park - 1/19/13

It was a chilly morning at Lake Ming on Saturday. A group of American Coots were walking around the parking lot, when all of a sudden, they took off running. A Cooper's Hawk was flying overhead. Without a moment's hesitation, he swooped down, and just like that, caught himself a Coot breakfast. Unfortunate for the Coot, but, hey, a hawk's gotta eat! He quickly dragged his catch over to some brush, where he could eat in peace. But not for long. For a few minutes later, a Red Tailed Hawk flew overhead and landed on the fence, not 10 feet from where the Cooper's Hawk (a smaller hawk than the Red Tail) was nervously eating. Lucky for him, a couple of American Crows soon came by and chased the Red Tailed Hawk into a eucalyptus tree, where they kept harassing him until he flew off for good.

And that was all in the first 15 minutes of me arriving at Lake Ming. Pretty cool.

During the day, I came across quite a few birds: Spotted Towhee, Hermit Thrush, Varied Thrush, House Sparrow, White Crowned Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Western Scrub Jay, American Crow, American Kestrel, Red Tailed Hawk, Red Shouldered Hawk, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Nuttal's Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American White Pelican, Black Crowned Night Heron, Mallard, American Coot, Wood Duck, Osprey, Dark Eyed Junco, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Yellow Rumped Warbler...and I am sure I am forgetting a few

Later on in the day, I got to see an Osprey go fishing and come up with quite the catch, only to be chased by a persistent Gull. Luckily, he held onto his catch and the Gull gave up.

It was a good day at the park.

I posted pics below, and the whole album can be viewed at My Flickr Album.I will post pics from today's adventure tomorrow, as I am a wee bit behind - lol. I am off ....somewhere tomorrow. Probably going to the Kern and Pixley National Wildlife Refuges. I went to the Merced and San Luis National Wildlife Refuges today.

Until then, Happy Trails!