Pleasanton Ridge

I'm most certainly my father's daughter. We've made it a tradition to do something nerdy/educational/active together for Father's Day or his birthday since I was in middle school. I always look forward to sharing a new experience with him and talkin shop for the day. This year I'll miss both his birthday and Father's Day so I planned a little nature hike to spend time and catch up during my short stay in town.

The Pleasanton ridgeline is riddled with numerous trails that differ in grade and elevation. It's a beautiful place to hike and observe the native wildlife. We've been experiencing quite the heat wave (reached 104 today) but that didn't keep Pleasanton residents or the resident wildlife from enjoying everything the ridge has to offer. I've been playing with my mom's telephoto lens (200mm) on her Nikon D50 for the past few days and brought it along and we ended up getting pretty lucky. Check it out!

Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)

Stellar's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)

a sub species of the Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) that I saw at Lopez Lake.

and a freakin Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)!!!!

We didn't know that it was an eagle until we got home and checked out the pictures. Such a treat :) Hiking the ridge is one of my favorite activities when I visit home and I'm so happy we had so much luck. I love these kinds of nature walks because I am still working on my animal identification...I'm pretty rusty from my days working 24-7 at the center.

Tomorrow I finish packing and take off for Utah!

I won't have a telephoto lens for the rest of the trip so I'll have to be a little more ninja about capturing the wildlife I observe along the way.

Have a great rest of the weekend!