Yesterday morning I went birding along the Clarksburg Branch Line Trail. I started where the trail crosses Linden Rd. and walked south from there to where the trail crosses Davis Rd. and then back again. It was a cold morning with only a small amount of cloud cover. The whole walk started at 7:00am and ended around 8:20am.
Species seen included: Canada Goose, Common Goldeneye, Mallard, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Western Scrub Jay, American Crow, Marsh Wren, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bushtit, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Brewer’s Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, European Starling, Great Egret, Dark-eyed Junco, Black Phoebe, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-billed Magpie, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Herring Gull, Northern Flicker, House Finch, and Nuttall’s Woodpecker.
The Ferruginous Hawk was my first of the winter. It was a beautiful adult that was perched in a tree above the trail and watched me as I walked up the trail almost directly under it before it decided to fly off. Even then it circled around me and gave some fantastic views. really great bird!
The Great-tailed Grackle was a surprise. They are getting more and more common in the California central in summer, but I have not seen one in winter before. They have been expanding their range north across the continent, so this may become a more common sight in the coming years.
abirdingnaturalist 
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