Wildlife Notes from Coldwater Farm

Common Blackhawk

At noon today the Black Hawk nesting in the Cottonwood grove back of the stock ponds flew over chasing a Red-tailed Hawk. Sorry I missed filming the hawk, but he was moving low and fast when he passed me. Minutes later the Black-Hawk shot by hot on the tail of a Green-backed Heron. There’s probably much more going on that I don’t see. Click for more on this Black Hawk.

Other events for April:

The first bullfrog bellow (4/30).
The pair of Gray Foxes has moved on.
A solitary javelina stopped in.
Longest tailed Tiger Swallowtail (Papillo multicaudata) I’ve ever seen (4/29, 30). Tails last only a few days.

Tiger Swallowtail

Bird Arrivals:

The first nesting attempt by grackles (too noisy, they get chased off every spring).
Belted Kingfisher
Black-headed Grosbeak.
Black Phoebe (Three for the lawns, and several for the ponds).
Lesser Goldfinch (not the occasional winter visitors, a real flock).
Summer Tanager.
Lazuli Bunting.
Western Kingbird.
Yellow-breasted Chat (with a new call that sounds like my cat meowing at the door).
Yellow Warbler.
And more that I glimpse briefly here and there.