Raptors Rule!

What a beautiful day today was! After our snow-bound weekend, Spring is back in all her glory. The sun is shining, the crocuses are blooming, I heard Western Chorus Frogs creaking in a water-filled ditch as I drove by (sounds like you are strumming a comb), and best of all, I saw Mama Bluebird taking the first blades of grass into the nest box. They were inspecting the box a few days before the storm, and now nest building has begun. Truly, spring has sprung!

I tallied 11 different raptors today, of five species, while driving around on my errands:

Three American Kestrels along SR 133, two in territories where I have seen kestrels before and a third in a new spot

Three Red-tailed Hawks, one over I-275 near Loveland and two on I-71

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks in flight display over the CARE Center at Kemper and Conrey Rds.

Two Cooper's Hawks, one along SR 125 in Amelia and one at Lake Isabella

And, one Great Horned Owl in the nest can at Lake Isabella