We didn’t do a long hike on our second day in Fresno and didn’t see nearly as many flowers as we did at the San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Area, but we saw more birds. In fact, we were greeted at the beginning of our walk by this White-crowned Sparrow who seemed too busy eating leaf buds to be disturbed by people out walking.
I also saw my first Tree Swallow of the year.
Shortly afterward, we saw a pair of Ravens, birds we might have confused with crows if there hadn’t been an experienced local birder who confirmed it was a Raven and not the more commonly seen Crow.
A little later we sighted this Great Egret, another bird we seldom see in the Pacific Northwest.
Near the end of the walk we heard several ground squirrels chattering excitedly and
we looked up to see a Red-tailed Hawk circling overhead.
It was great to get out for a long walk for two days in a row, particularly when we had just spent two days in the car getting there and were about to spend two more days getting to Phoenix. We celebrated the day by stopping for Smash Burgers, another “lifer” for me.