Springtime Hike

On Monday we went on a hike with my brother and sister-in-law. I think it was actually a walk because the trail followed the edge of the lake fairly closely. Doesn’t a hike involved dramatic changes in elevation or at least some level of difficulty? Regardless, it was a beautiful day while the annual growth is still green and not all the trees have fully leafed out. (Is that a word?)

We drove to the north end of Lake Berryessa and stopped at the trail head.

My brother has been here several times and expects to find ospreys and eagles. We saw ospreys in the air on the way here and found another not long after starting on the trail.

This is a view of the landscape and the lake. There is an osprey in this photo also, but you have to look hard to see it.

Here is the osprey, right in the middle of that other photo. Notice there are two here. One is below the nest.

Another view across the lake. What a beautiful site for a ranch headquarters.

I have always taken more photos of plants than birds. Plants sit still longer and I can get closer.

Here is a magnificent oak tree.

The oak woodland landscape.

We noticed several trees with holes in the bark. Can you tell what is in the holes?

The holes are filled with acorns.

The acorn woodpecker is responsible for this. Wikipedia has this to say about this behavior: Acorns are stored in small holes drilled especially for this purpose in “granaries” or “storage trees”—usually snags, dead branches, utility poles, or wooden buildings. Storage holes—always in dead tissue such as bark or dead limbs—are used year after year, and granaries can consist of thousands of holes, each of which may be filled by an acorn in the autumn.

This turkey vulture wasn’t about to leave his meal, although three others did fly off as we walked by.

Can you spot the bird here?

This one is a bald eagle.

We walked about as far as La Pointe (on the map at the top) and turned around because we all had visitors coming for dinner. On the way back we saw the same osprey pair.

This is Dan, me, Kathy, and Dave thoroughly enjoying the day.