The “mystery bird” on Windy Hill is indeed a white-tailed kite.   Here’s a photo from my hike this weekend when it made a close fly-by and then perched in a tall oak.

Thanks to Ron Pavellas for identifying the species.

Tags: birds, windy hill

Last weekend in Windy Hill Open Space Preserve we saw a baby rattlesnake, two birds of prey, rabbits, lizards, and stellar (blue) jays.  I’m on a personal mission to identify the birds — one may be a young golden eagle, the other a ferruginous hawk.  I’m inspired to find out even though I’ve never been much of a birder before.  We also saw the oak-studded golden hills of the open space and panoramic views of Portola Valley (follow link to see view in 2nd pic).   Its very dry now as we near the end of summer and it hasn’t rained in months and months.   Here’s a pic from last spring:

Oak at Base of Windy Hill

Critter notes: (more…)

Tags: birds, ferruginous hawk, golden eagle, gull, hawk, hiking, land trust, open space, portola valley, rattlesnake, wildlife, windy hill