Gorgeous spring day for a hike up Windy Hill. Here’s a couple nice shots.

Tags: hiking, windy hill

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

Windy Hill Mystery Bird

This weekend I finally got half-decent photos of the white bird that hunts near the top of Windy Hill Open Space Preserve.    This photo and video below were taken near the top of Spring Ridge Trail on a very still evening.

Please comment or send me email if you think you might know what kind of bird this is.

Tags: Bird, hawk, Raptor, windy hill

Here’s a couple notes to catch up on the hiking scene.   Yesterday, we saw a relaxing coyote and circling red-tailed hawks at Windy Hill Open Space.   No sign of my mysterious black and white dihedral-winged hunters.

The coyote froze in its tracks as we came around the corner for the last long pull up Spring Trail.   After perceiving no threat, it lay down in the tall brown grass and rolled.   As we approached up the trail, it oh-so-casually decided to get up and investigate the smells on the far shoulder of the hill.

Returning down the hill, we spotted two circling hawks.  One sped to attack speed and dive-bombed the oak tree but came away with empty claws.

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Tags: coyote, hawk, open space, red-tailed hawk, 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