Posts Tagged ‘Wildlife’

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

Approaching from either east or west on I-80, there are on and off ramps for easy access to the ” Wildlife Area”.  Once on the south side of the freeway; there it is, sufficiently marked. Going over the levee and into the bypass you will see an information kiosk and then the auto tour, which encircles the area.  Along the way there are numerous turnouts for stopping and taking photographs.

On this day I spotted a ring-necked pheasant while just beginning the tour.  That was kind of neat since you don’t see  many wild pheasants around here any more, although they used to be very common.  But then, overhead, I spotted an unidentified hawk dropping quickly with wings folded! It looked like “curtains” for the pheasant, but all of a sudden he flushed, narrowly making his escape.  I then continued along the tour route, seeing a variety of wildlife along the way.

I spotted this guy in a little spring-fed stream in the Pacific foothills of California. Clemmys marmorata also known as the Pacific pond turtle or Pacific mud turtle is the only fresh water turtle native to the Pacific coast here in California.

Cailfornia Duck Days, a wetlands wildlife festival in the heart of the Pacific Flyway, will be held in Davis on february 20 and 21.

These two young Turkey Vultures were in a cooperative mood for this portrait!