Toward Fremont on the opposite shore. I haven’t been there yet.A female House Finch eating wildflower buds.A California Towhee hopping on the ground, gathering nest material or something. It seems to prefer something like fur over grass.There was another bird, likely its partner, on a nearby fence, so perhaps it was communicating something.The focus isn’t on the face, but since it was my first sighting, I’m sharing it. Based on the olive body color and the broad white edging on the tertials, it appears to be a female or juvenile Lesser Goldfinch. But why is all the feathering at the base of its beak missing?A California Ground Squirrel. Squirrels can be seen quite often, from urban areas to mountains. Despite their cute appearance, they are sometimes considered pests in agriculture, damaging crops and farmland. This individual has a painful-looking wound on its face, possibly from a territorial fight.There was one on a distant tree as well.This one I know for sure in Japan. Northern Shoveler.
