California Wildlife

Young White tailed kite looking out toward the Delta where parents will bring back food... Oakley CA                              CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE JULY 2026               Happy beginning of July! Hope all is well. Sharing wildlife photographs from late spring, early summer in our local area. This has been an interesting season. A pair of Swainson hawks nested behind our place, close by. Then, not long after, a pair of white tail kites also nested a bit farther back in some pine trees. As neighbors, the two species have some issues with each other over territorial rights. The swains were much closer to our house and each evening they circled in the sky. The Kites were located farther South, however reacted many times upon the sightings of Swains in this shared area. White tail kites are very aggressive, though smaller in size, they are relentless aga...

Cedar Waxwings CCCounty East                          CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE JUNE 2026               Sharing a few more Swainson hawk photographs taken recently near the California Delta in Eastern Contra Costa County. I am also sharing one of the adult swains nesting near me. It is interesting, as they move into areas shared by other raptors and birds. Almost Every evening, I watch white tailed kites and swains chase each other as their nest sites are close together. Sometimes ravens and red shoulder hawks enter the fray… More recent photographs of the wildlife in our area, including a back yard buddy, more song dogs and some other species not viewed on this site for a while. More information in the text below the photos.   Swainson hawk adult Eastern CC County Delta  Srub Jay "back yard buddy" a...

                      CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE MAY 2026 -    ALLENS AND SWAINS    Happy May Day! Hope all is well. Updated wildlife photographs in our Bay Area. Glad to see another solid year of swainson hawks returning to Eastern Contra Costa and the Central Valley. Occasionally, some are seen in other areas like Walnut Creek, Livermore or the Camino Tassajara area of CC County South. It may happen more than I realize. Though I can say in the Central Valley and surrounding vicinity, the swains are as nearly as common as the red tail hawks. This year, in Oakley for the first time in about ten years, there is a nesting pair in an area behind our Oakley home. In my travels around our areas, the swains seem to get along reasonably well with other raptors that do not migrate. That would include red shoulder hawks, white tailed kites, and red-tailed hawks. All of them very territorial in nature, performing aerial dives a...

                                               CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE APRIL 2026 Northern Harrier male Eastern CC County Updated springtime Bay Area photographs with recent looks. Featuring raptors and other mammals in the Bay Area. The swainson hawks are back in Eastern and Central California, and I have been waiting for them! First sighting on March 14 th 2026. Bobcats hunting in Alameda County, and a red shoulder hawk under attack by an intruder…  White bobcat on the hunt in Alameda foothills... Swainson hawks returning, this one in Eastern CC County... Another young Jack rabbit, last few years good populations in the CA Delta Eastern CC County... Male Northern Harrier, a gray ghost along the fenceline. Byron area of Eastern CC County Red tailed hawk in early morning hard light, Eastern CC County... Anna's hummingbird in Oakley CA... Golden Eagle on a corral gate...