Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve

Yesterday, we got up at 4:30 AM for the hour drive to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve.  We arrived about 6:40 in hopes of seeing animals getting their last meals before bedding down for the day.

Our first sighting was an American Robin perched on top of an oak tree.

After hiking through scattered oaks, we came to a large area of grassland.  The winds were really strong and chilly!  That is San Gorgonio Mountain in the background, the highest mountain in Southern California at 11,503 feet.

We saw a flock of Western Meadowlarks.  They do a disappearing act into rather short grass - you can hear them calling, but you cannot see them.

I spotted a coyote, at quite a distance, looking for breakfast.

 As the trail dropped down into a little canyon, I happened to look over my shoulder and saw this coyote.  He seemed to be relaxing, enjoying the morning sun on his face.

 He trotted off into the bushes and emerged with a smaller female.

 Here he is marking his territory while keeping an eye on us.

 The male is forcefully scratching the ground, here.  Coyotes have scent glands between their toes, and the scratching leaves an area of scent.

 Proof that the smaller coyote is a female (squatting while urinating).

We all get an itch that must be scratched!

The hillsides here were riddled with ground squirrel holes, making it seem like a coyote buffet.  It was much more enjoyable watching coyotes in a natural habitat compared to a suburban one.

Gail found this tarantula in the grass.  Actually, it is dead and dried up, but an exciting find, anyway.

We watched this Say's Phoebe hovering and catching insects.

You go, little phoebe!

Fall comes late in these parts.  The California Sycamores were much yellower than in this picture.

The rain from last weekend left some great mud for observing animal tracks.  This is a front foot of a raccoon.

The day was just what we needed after having tortured ourselves the night before by watching the so called victory rally.  We must protect natural and wild places for what they are.