Sleeping in the sun

  

It was another warm day, with temperatures reaching ~65°F on the coast today (3 February 2026).  I was checking on a few different things and was seeing quite a bit of insect activity (butterflies, bumblebees, and flies).  There was a nice breeze and it felt like one of those days when it would feel nice to take a nap in the sun, and then I happened upon a badger...sleeping in the sun!

The badger looked up for a moment, and looked pretty sleepy:

 

 

And then it nestled down for a nap.  

 

I walked quietly in a wide circle so as not to disturb the badger and took one more photo showing the badger lying in the grass next to its burrow:

 

 

 

Any sighting of a badger feels special, but I especially enjoyed this view of one at rest, with the sunshine on its back and the breeze blowing across its fur.

Curled up in the prairie

  

Luck found us again last week with a sighting of an American Badger (Taxidea taxus) napping in the mid-day sun.  After a couple of minutes it shook itself and then descended into a burrow.  Fortunately, I had a long lens on my camera, so this photo was taken from a distance and then cropped.

Springing into action

 

 

I was a little surprised this morning when a bounding flash of color caught my eye.  Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata)!   

 

I went to get my camera and returned hoping that the weasel might be in the same area.  I couldn't find it at first, but kept scanning and eventually noticed a little face emerging from a freshly dug burrow.

 

This weasel was quite active — looking around, listening to bird sounds, sniffing the air, pulling back when a bumblebee flew by.  And then it emerged from the burrow, took a few spins around, went in and out of the burrow, and then dashed off to another spot in the grassland.

 

Luckily I had a zoom lens on the camera and the weasel wasn't too far away, so here are a few more of my favorite images.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of a blur

 

Whoosh!  What happened to the last ten years?  It's a little hard to believe that it will be 2020 tomorrow. 

I started the Natural History of Bodega Head eight years ago now, which also makes me shake my head a bit.  Is that really possible?

You never know what each day will bring.  Best wishes for the year ahead!

 

Burrowing Owl at sunset, 30 December 2019  

Waiting for sunset

 

Burrowing Owl (Athena cunicularia), waiting for sunset, 1 November 2019

 

Bright spot

 

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), Bodega Head, 31 October 2019

Splashes of white -- Part 2

Okay, here are the mystery feathers from last night:

 

I realize that was tough because there's not much context, so here are a few hints.

I encountered the feathers in a coastal grassland.  Along with the feathers shown above, some had even more white:

 

Most of the other feathers in the area were brown with darker barred patterning.  The longest feathers I found were ~5-6 inches (12-15 cm) long.

 

 

I was moving along, scanning the various feathers, trying to put together a picture of the bird's identity.  Along with the tail and wing feathers shown above, there were brownish body feathers with somewhat similar colors and markings:

 

Then I looked ahead and spotted some feathers that clinched the identification.  I think the next photos will help you figure out the identity of this medium-sized grassland bird, too:

 

 

The bright yellow and black body feathers, along with the large amount of white on the outer tail feathers, leads to Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta). 

John mentioned the U.S. Fish and Wildife Service's Feather Atlas as a resource for identifying feathers.  Here's an example of meadowlark tail feathers from the Feather Atlas.  And here's a link to some older photos of Western Meadowlarks on Bodega Head.

I don't recall encountering meadowlark feathers before.  It was fun to see the patterns up close.  I also wondered what happened to it — who caught the meadowlark?  A falcon?  A harrier?  Have you seen a predator chasing adult meadowlarks?  

(I just tried to learn more about meadowlark predators.  Along with falcons, I was somewhat surprised to see Great Egret and Burrowing Owl listed as possible predators on adult meadowlarks.  Who knew?)

Out in the rain

We were on our way to work yesterday (15 December 2018) when we noticed a couple of animals out in the rain:

 

Coyote (Canis latrans) on a dune ridge.

 

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in the grassland.

Looks like we've received a little over an inch of rain during the last two days.

 

Golden eye

 

Partially hidden Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), photographed on 15 November 2018.