After being gone for nearly 10 years, we now have a female coyote and her pups at the Conservancy’s flagship preserve, the BKS tract. What is amazing is that this is a very large animal, one of the largest specimens I’ve seen in the Natomas Basin. My guess is that she is getting filled up with jack rabbits. Once the coyotes left 10 years ago, the jack rabbit population exploded. And we know the coyotes love their rabbit stew. We can only wonder what will happen once the rabbit population dwindles, as we expect if the coyotes remain on the property. If so, will the coyotes abandon the preserve and move on to other places? I expect the rabbit population to return once the coyotes leave, if they in fact do. It will be interesting to watch.
Big bird
Photo taken by Conservancy staff at a Conservancy preserve, 2025. With this article is a photo of a Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) in flight. It’s on one of the Conservancy’s marsh complexes. While the Conservancy has prepared the preserves mostly for the benefit of the Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni), …