Images of California's Sacramento Valley

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) Saw this killdeer while in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. He was calmly sitting on a sandbar, so I stole his (or her) picture.

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) Most of the migratory birds were gone from Sacramento in mid-March, but there was a large number of these pheasants.

	Turkey Vulture A Turkey vulture warming his wings before flight.
	Turkey Vulture Another vulture in the roost.
	Prairie Falcon A Prairie Falcon visited the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge

Glossy Ibis A Glossy Ibis south of the Sacramento Refuge.

	Ring-necked Pheasant Ring-necked pheasants are supposed to be common here, this was the only one I saw. Of course, they're grasslands birds and hide well.
	Western Meadowlark This Western Meadowlark was foraging on a levee. I rarely get a chance to photograph meadowlarks, usually I see them on fenceposts and when I take their picture, they fly away. This one didn't fly when I pulled up.
	Five Hawks in a Tree I saw these five red-tails perched in a single tree. Almost vulture-like!
	Coots Coots!
	Teals A pair of teals on the water.
	Coots Back to the coots.
	White-fronted Geese A pair of pictures of white-fronted geese. Why are they so named? Well, if you look closely at the base of the bill, there's white, and that's the front of the goose...
	Western Meadowlark I was amazed. This meadowlark was next to my car when I went to get my camera, and it didn't fly. So, I took its picture. This bird had no fright radius! It was quite unexpected.
	Cinnamon Teal I was getting the camera to photograph this cinnamon teal in breeding plumage. They are quite spectacular, an apparently bronze teal.
	Western Meadowlark The meadowlark came closer!
	Cinnamon Teal Back to the teals.
	Western Meadowlark Still here!
	Bald Eagle in Flight When a bald eagle flew by, all the waterfowl flew!
	Bald Eagle Perched This bald eagle was obvious on his perch.
	Near Bald Eagle You are not allowed to leave your cars. Nor are you allowed to stray from the road. So, this bald eagle kept peering down at all the large cars passing underneath. (It is plausible that this may be a viable hunting strategy, and adjustment by the eagle -- if the cars flush eaglefood, the eagle is in a position to catch it.)