Part of what makes the Lake Ralphine-Spring Lake walk so attractive, besides the good workout, is that you never know what kind of birds you will see there. On our previous visit, the dock at the beginning of the hike was full of Bufflehead, but on our second walk, they had been replaced by male Common Mergansers in breeding plumage.
I have never managed to get closer to one of these than I have repeatedly at Lake Ralphine.
I looked for the Mute Swan that is often at the dock, but it was way on the other side of the lake.
We didn’t see any small birds on this walk, but we did see a Red-shouldered Hawk, another bird I’ve only seen here before.
On our return leg, Leslie sighted a Night Heron, another bird we never see in Washington.
When we finally got back to the parking lot, the Mute Swan was so close that I couldn’t manage to fit it into the camera frame so I had to resort to a close-up of its head.
The many birds we see always make this 3.5 hike a joy — a favorite part of visiting Santa Rosa.
Hey, I know those guys! (Except for the Red-shouldered hawk; haven’t seen him live before.)
Great to have a little photographic visit to the old home town—just got back from there Monday, but hiked Lake Sonoma instead. Were we there at the same time?
Not sure we were there at the same time, but it was probably close.
It usually takes me a week to sort photos out and write something that doesn’t embarrass me. Got to maintain my reputation as an ex-English teacher, after all. Thank goodness I have Grammarly to catch silly mistakes.