I was birding in Capay Valley today (exact location undisclosed because I was allowed on private property), and I got to watch one hawk pursue another while flying because one of them caught what appeared to be a mouse or small rodent and wanted it. The pursuit was interesting to watch as the drama unfolded in the sky. The pursuer never caught the hawk with the rodent before it was lost to sight, but there was a lot of bobbing and weaving and sudden turns from the hawk that had the meal. Those little dogfights are fun to watch. I could not determine what type of hawks they were because the sky was overcast, and they appeared almost as dark silhouettes in the sky without any color. More than likely, they were Red-Shouldered Hawks, as I was able to identify one a little later in the area, but I can’t be sure that is what they were.
I saw a Double-Crested Cormorant where I was birding near Cache Creek flying over it and swimming in it. I have not seen one of those in more years than I can remember where I was, and I was pleasantly surprised. When I was young, I spent a lot of time on the property, and one of the birds I always enjoyed seeing were the Red-wing Blackbirds. I have not seen one of those on the property in more than two decades, along with Yellow-billed Magpies. They were numerous when I was here in the summers of my childhood. Now they seem to be disappearing. While the Yellow-billed Magpie has become a near threatened species, and while the Red-wing Blackbird is a species of least concern, I have to wonder where they have gone. I don’t see the Western Meadowlarks like I used to. I love hearing their song, and I miss it here. While I enjoy seeing the birds I do, I am concerned about the birds that were once so numerous here that I no longer see and wonder what made them leave. There really has been almost no development in the Capay Valley as it is rural agricultural, so there appears to have to been little, if any measurable, habitat loss.