christmas birding in CT

I had a few days of birding opportunity in Connecticut this past week.  Folks had been reporting Razorbill's in fairly good numbers for all of December on Long Island Sound, so I birded with Beth and my sister and her boyfriend.  We couldn't turn up any Razorbills.  Weather was poor, visibility was pretty low, and the barometric pressure was dropping - the birds were settling down.  

We didn't see any Razorbill, but were able to get great looks at Golden Eye, Long Tailed Ducks, Red Breasted Merganser's, and lots of Brandt and Common Loon.

We were able to add the following birds to the year list:

Common Merganser (414)

Pine Warbler

Red Crossbill

Winter Wren

Boat Tailed Grackle (418)

Also, Pete saw a Brown Headed Nuthatch in Alabama.  

Below is a male Long Tailed Duck that had been blown into a tree during a storm on the previous night.  It was laying in that puddle of cold water when I came across it.  Intensely beautiful bird. 

Birds

Hey guys,

I have been birding.  A lot of new birds for me, but not any new ones for our year list.  Liz also got a new camera and lens, which has been fun to play with.  Some photos are below.

The first set of photos came from our trip to Santa Cruz Island (home of the endemic Island Scrub-Jay, which Matt got earlier in the year).  That was the main target, and we saw about a dozen or so of them on our three days there.  I also got to see an endemic sub-species of Loggerhead Shrike, and an endemic Island Fox.  Perhaps the most exciting bird out there was a Summer Tanager, which is listed as only a vagrant on the island.

On the way out, there were plenty of Common Murres and Black-Vented Shearwaters.

The day after we got back, I was able to see a Painted Redstart and Summer Tanager that have been at a park near Pasadena.

And most exciting for me were some UCR birds this week (although I didn't have the camera).  I was looking for a wintering Verdin, which I was able to find.  But along the way I found a Green-Tailed Towhee.  This was exciting for me because last year, after the Verdin was reported, I went to find it and found both the Verdin and the Towhee.  But the Towhee was my first time finding a rare bird (or at least rare for the area), and since nobody was able to relocate the bird, I had begun to doubt whether I actually saw it over the last year.  So I nearly flipped when I saw the bird this week, back for its second winter.

Gray Hawk in Summerland

Gray Hawk found about 1.2 miles from our apartment in Summerland.

This is the first Gray Hawk EVER recorded in the state of California.  The magnitude of this bird being seen here is off the charts.  There are birders from all over coming to see it. A woman was crying yesterday after she saw it.

I've missed it twice - and mostly thats because its active in the mornings - I've been at work.  Hoping to take a few minutes off tomorrow morning and get a chance to see it.  I think its the most important bird in the USA right now.  1 mile from my place!!!

Monterey harbor seabirds

The day after Thanksgiving we sped up North for a chance to get on a famous Monterey Bay Whale watch.  Although its not prime whale season, or prime pelagic bird season, it was still a great chance to explore the incredible offshore eco-system there.  Here is what we were able to see, I had a really great time.

Red Phalarope  (407)
Rhinoceros Auklet
Cassin's Auklet (my favorite)
Black-Footed Albatross
Wandering Tattler (on the breakwater, pointed out to me by another friendly birder)
Pigeon Guillemot (412) 
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Red Throated Loon (in the harbor, great looks)
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Northern Fulmar
Black-Vented Shearwater
Brown Pelican
(dave)Brandt's Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Surf Scoter
Heerman's Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Common Murre

One of the crew member's saw a Tufted Puffin - I got a nano-second look at it, but nothing more than just a blob of gray.  After thinking about it the last couple days, I don't want to include the Puffin.  It wasn't a confirmed sighting, and I just didn't see it well enough.

The woman who runs the whale watch let us bring Poppy on the boat:   She kept barking at the Pelicans as they sailed smoothly past our clipper.

Big Sur - Thanksgiving

Spent two days exploring around Big Sur for the holiday.  The temperatures were mild, and I had heard of a Gray Whale carcass that had washed up at a notable Condor spot....conditions were excellent.

I scanned the ridge near Julia Pheiffer State Park, and saw one condor day roosting.  Even from the farthest reaches of my Alpen, I could tell that I had a California Condor in view.  I could see the tag, and the tremendous pink/orange head on the creature was unmistakeable.  Plus, the bird was massive.....but it was still abouut 3/4 of a mile away.  After about 20 minutes of watching this bird sit completely still, Beth and I heard a whirring and whoosh come from behind us as 2 adult Condor's zoomed directly above head!  They stayed close circling within 40 feet of us, and one of them even eventually set down on a bald rockface.  The looks were perfect, couldn't have asked for any better viewing of the birds.  This Condor encounter tops a majority of all my other bird experiences this year....and it felt good to have such close encounters with these Condors, the rarest of species.

We also had good luck with an AMERICAN DIPPER (406) on an early morning walk....watched that thing do its water dance for about 15 minutes.  Very excellent bird.


Here I am scanning the beach below for any Condors that might be feeding on dead things washed ashore.

Ben

Go get that Pink-Footed Goose.

Or better yet, tell it to stick around Peace Valley Park until December 28, when I get to PA.

Over 400!

I did a bunch of birding this weekend.  Why not  tell you about all of it?

On Saturday, I headed down to San Diego county with Matt Grube and Pam.  They did a good job picking out our spots.  We started off seawatching at La Jolla Cove around sunrise.  I have never really done this before, and it took me some time (and some missed birds) to get my bearings.

The first new birds there were five Brant (398) in the horizon.  The next new birds were Black-Vented Shearwaters (399), which were very common.  To round out our list, we had several Northern Fulmars (400).  That's bird #400 for us guys: Congrats!

We saw other good birds out there as well:
Surf Scoter (hundreds)
Red-Breasted Merganser (hundreds)
Pacific Loon (hundreds, life bird for me)
Eared Grebe (just one)
Cormorants (hundreds of Brandt's, and some DC and Pelagic)

I can't really complain but I missed some of Matt/Pam's birds as well: Black-Legged Kittiwake, Parasitic Jaeger, and Red-Throated and Common Loons (these last two we have this year, but still good birds).  Overall, it was a good learning experience and I am happy we got those birds.

Our second spot yielded only a Townsend's Warbler.  So we headed further south to a cemetery, where we were able to locate (and relocate, and relocate, and...) a Grace's Warbler.  I am very happy to have this bird in California now -- which Matt C. also just got in Santa Barbara County.  We also picked up a Sharpie at this spot.

After dipping on some Orioles, we checked out a park outside Tijuana Estuary.  There we had several Yellow-Crowned Night Herons (401).  Our next few stops brought up some Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, Hermit Thrush, Dark-Eyed Junco, Cinnamon Teal, and Green-Winged Teal.  Then we were able to chase down a Thick-Billed Kingbird (402). We missed this bird earlier in the year in Tucson, although it is even nicer to get it in CA.  Finally, we headed out to Point Loma to chase down a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (another lifer for me).

---

When we got back, I decided to do the irresponsible thing and spend the night in Riverside so I could chase a bird in the desert.  I stepped out the door at 4:45am for the second straight day, and headed West.  I would prefer not to discuss how far I was driving for a single bird.

I arrived at Chiriaco Summit at 6:30 (you can do the Math).  Walked around to the spot, and the Rufous-Backed Robin (403) was the first bird I saw!  I also saw a Yellow Warbler (good bird for the date), and a couple of Pine Siskins at Chiriaco. [The number next to the Robin has been corrected -- thanks Matt].

I only stayed there about 20 minutes because I wanted to get back--and check out a new sewage treatment pond.  At that pond there was a Canvasback (good for the location), six Redheads (FOS bird for me, and a pretty high number), American Wigeons and some Ring-Necked Ducks.  Also at this spot were three Verdins and a Phainopepla.

Then I went to my favorite raptor spot (a two-mile stretch of road outside SJWA).  Only raptors were Red-Tailed Hawks, although I spent a good deal of time trying to turn one of them into something different.  Hundreds of American Pipits.

I went to my old church in Riverside after that, and then headed back to Pasadena.  I couldn't help but make one stop on the way in Los Angeles County.  At Peck Road Park, I saw a continuing Eastern Phoebe (good for West Coast), a Downy Woodpecker, and a lone Bufflehead.

---

Guys, this has been a good way to keep in touch, and it has been a lot of fun.  I am not sure what to do now that we hit our goal.  Maybe set our sights on 450 next year?

Kevin

Range Maps Below:

Bulbul and Hoodies

Red-Whiskered Bulbul (397).

The only exotic, naturalized birds that I have been counting are the species on our ABA bird list.  There are lots of them out here.

Also exciting: Hooded Mergansers at UCR this week.  They have been here in years past, but they are always a beautiful bird to come across, and not as common here as they are back East.

Varied Thrush! No Evening Grosbeaks

Micah, Beth and I spent some time up at La Cumbre peak yesterday hoping to get a look at the flock of Evening Grosbeaks that have been reported up there recently.

We had no luck with the grosbeaks, but were able to stir up a brilliant VARIED THRUSH (396)

The 'Nard

Did a full day of birding with Matt Grube and Pam yesterday.  We started off in Oxnard around sunrise and finished in Temple City with parrots just after dusk.  Between those places we hit up Ventura Harbor and Malibu Lagoon, and then we swung down to Peck Road Park in LA county.

Both new birds came from Ventura Harbor: Black Oystercatcher (394) and Elegant Tern (395).  We also saw a Black x American Oystercatcher Hybrid.

However, we missed our main target bird, which was a Yellow-Green Vireo that had been seen in Oxnard.

Thanks Matt & Beth / SB Birds

I spent the weekend in Hotel Cali in Summerland while Matt and Beth were on the East Coast.  It was good to hang with Matt from 4:45 - 5:10am on Saturday morning before they went to the airport.  I birded Saturday and Sunday mornings, and saw 78 species total (which brought me up to 109 species for Santa Barbara County this year).

No new birds for our list.  But I had a lot of fun hanging out at the drainage ditch at the end of Coronado road.  Lots of warblers there: Hermit, Townsend's, Black-throated Grey, Wilson's, Orange-Crowned.  It was also fun to work on my shorebirds in Goleta.

Connecticut Birding 10/23/12

I got a chance to bird with my high school English teacher yesterday.  It was a particularly gratifying experience for me, since this was the guy that shared basic birding language with me, even though I didn't care too much at the time.  The birding wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty fun.

We spent some time at Lighthouse Point in New Haven, known as the best Hawk Watch migration spot in the state.  The winds were down, and rain bearing down, so conditions were not ideal.  Still, we had a steady flow of COOPERS, SHARPIES, MERLINS, and even some BRANDT.

We also checked out a sewage treatment plant in New Haven and had a pretty good mix of active birds.  RED BREASTED NUTHATCH, tons of GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLETS, YELLOW RUMPIES, PALM WARLBER, and a HERIT THRUSH were highlights.

Best bird was BLUE HEADED VIREO (393)

Eurasian Wigeon and Other Birds

Hey dudes,

A bunch of new stuff to report.  I'll go chronologically.

Two days ago, I got my first Swamp Sparrow.  They are not too common out here, and very secretive.  It felt good to get this bird because I spent a lot of time trying for one last winter at SJWA, unsuccessfully.  It didn't take a lot of skill to find it.  I basically showed up (after it had been reported), and looked where the other birders were looking.

Yesterday I got my first UCR Golden-Crowned Sparrow.  The bird was a little early.  It is the first eBird record for county this Fall, although most years a few get reported by now.  It is also an uncommon bird for UCR.  They haven't had any records of the bird for about four years.

Today I decided not to go birding and get some actual work done.  But I checked the bird forum this morning, and saw that a Eurasian Wigeon was reported yesterday about 15 minutes from my house.  I made a trip out there, and the Eurasian Wigeon (392) was in the same spot as it had been reported.  This was going to be my Fall/Winter target bird, so I will have to pick a new one.  Any recommendations?

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11827621

Kevin

Parrots and Parakeets

We have a lot of fake birds flying around Pasadena.  Here are the species that I saw tonight.

Red-Crowned Parrot
Lilac-Crowned Parrot
Red-Lored Parrot
Yellow-Chevroned Parakeet
Red-Masked Parakeet
Mitred Parakeet

German Birds

So, I was pretty lazy on the birding front while I was in Germany.  At first, I really concentrated on my language studies.  When I went birding, I felt like I didn't have any room in my brain to memorize bird species.  But then I got the itch my last weekend there, and I birded that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

While I stayed local on that Friday, on both Saturday and Sunday I did some traveling.  Each day I took the train between 12-20km away, and then biked to the birding locations.  When I was done I biked home to save on train fare.  I was riding an old, undersized, women's bike without gears.

Saturday was my best birding day, in no small part because I ran into some other birders.  A guy gave me all the bird-names (in German) of the birds that we were seeing, which helped me ID the birds that I wasn't certain about.

My favorite birds were the Northern Lapwings.  I got to see about 40 of them fly into a pond on Saturday, making a bunch of noise.  Other favorites were Fieldfare, Red Kite, White-throated Dipper, and Common Kingfisher (the German name translates appropriately as "Ice Bird").

Full List Below (40 Species):

Graylag Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Egyptian Goose
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Tufted Duck
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Great Cormorant
Gray Heron
Osprey
Red Kite
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Northern Lapwing
Common Ringed Plover
Common Snipe
Common Kingfisher
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Merlin
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Barn Swallow
Marsh Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Eurasian Nuthatch
Short-toed Treecreeper
Eurasian Wren
White-throated Dipper
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
Western Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinch

Jamaica Wildlife Refuge, August 5

I am back in the States now, and I am glad to see the blog rolling again.  But I am equally glad that everybody took a 2 month break while I was gone... it must have been to painful to go birding knowing I was so far away.

On my way to Germany, I had a stop in NYC.  But because my first flight was delayed, I was forced to overnight there.  That's not the worst place to be stranded for a night, if you ask me.  Fortunately, I had my binoculars in my carry-on and I did a little birding in the morning.  My morning birding was interrupted by a thunderstorm, but I was still able to see some East Coast birds, several of which were life birds for me.

The only Restoration Year bird was a Semipalmated Plover (391).  I am actually pretty surprised that none of us have picked up this bird yet on either coast.  But it is on the list now, and we are on good pace to hit 400 by the end of migration.

Here are some other birds:

Northern Waterthrush (lifer)
Glossy Ibis (lifer)
Eastern Kingbird
Laughing Gull
Forster's Tern
Cedar Waxwing
Green Heron
American Goldfinch
Osprey
Least Sandpiper

A 12-year old kid helped me ID the Least Sandpiper.

Birds?

Matt and Kev, its Ben, I plan to start birding again soon after my summer hiatus. I think I have missed a lot of the Warblers on their trek back south by now but there should be some good stuff still. Sorry for no birding or comments for the summer guys. Ill get back into it.
Recently though I have been seeing a lot of birds. Well actually the same 100 birds every day. We have 100 chickens! Red broilers in our greenhouse and are about to put them out in our movable coop in the pasture. Well slaughter em at 8ish weeks old. Saw flocks of hundreds of bluejays migrating this past weekend while we were harvesting the grapes. I have another crazy story to tell about what I first thought was a strange bird call but turned out to be bullets flying by my head....
But I should talk to you guys over the phone b/c it is an important story. Give me a call.
I cant find my phone right now.

Watsonville Cuckoo

Have you guys heard of this Common Cuckoo that showed up in Watsonville, CA yesterday?

I was tempted to make the drive, but we've got a Scazzero sighting in SB this weekend...couldn't bail.

Anyhow, its the first mainland record of the bird EVER in the lower 48.  Usually hangs out in Alaska, and has only been seen ONCE before on Martha's Vinyard in 1981.   I heard a birder say that, "this is probably the bird of the year, maybe the decade."  Cool.

I guarantee there are birders driving and flying right now to come see this bird.  Incredible.

Photos:

http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CAbirdsCOCU.html

White Ibis

Got a great look at a WHITE IBIS this morning.  This bird in incredibly special.  From what I hear, it was the first Santa Barbara county record - and only the 5th White Ibis recorded in California.  It's been in a Carpinteria farm pond for about 5 days now.  Along with it were about 8 Pectoral Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpipers.  Another spot turned up Black and White Warblers, Wilsons, Townsends, Orange Crowned, and Yellow Warblers.   It's a great week of migration birding here.  

More ibis photos to be seen here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaparralbrad/8019708231/in/photostream

Great morning of birding with Micah Schloss.   

Activity is increasing. Here is a Bald Eagle

Hi guys,  my drive to the job site is beautiful.  Usually I can get a good look at a Greater Roadrunner, an American Kestrel, a Red Shouldered Hawk, or Brown Pelicans soaring.  The other day though I had an unexpected jolt!  Bald Eagle perched majestically looking over the ocean.  I got a few camera phone pictures, not too close, but the scene is dramatic!

I followed up with an eagle organization around here in SB, and we were able to identify the bird by tracking device and tag number.  This bird is part of the Santa Cruz Island colony, so this being on the mainland was really interesting, but not unheard of.  Pretty good way to start the day.

Cameron's trip to Alaska

Cameron just spent the last few months in Alaska researching shore birds and he has some photos to show for it. They will rupture you eye balls and you will bleed into your bins: Alaska
I don't have anything else to report though keep up the good work!

Photographer for a Day

Hey All,

Liz and I are looking into some camera lenses that might allow me to take some bird shots.  Today I borrowed a 200mm lens.  Photos below.

California Condor Trip

Matt and I headed out from Santa Barbara last weekend with three friends for a fun birding trip. We ended up with just over 60 species, which was higher than I expected for the time of year. The trip included some driving, but it was fun to check out several habitats.


Our two best birds were California Condor (385) and Reddish Egret (386). After driving about 2.5 hours to the Condor spot, we had a lot of difficulty finding the place where they had been viewed. While driving around, we saw a huge soaring bird, which we all hoped to be our target bird. It wasn't; but we were all happy to get a Golden Eagle on our way to finding the Condors.


Other highlights:
Yellow-Billed Magpie
3 Nuthatches (Pygmy was a lifer for Matt--I missed the Red-Breasted)
Olive-Sided Flycatchers (ordering malted beverages)
White-Headed Woodpecker (lifer for me)
Hairy Woodpecker
Great-Horned, Barn, and Northern Pygmy Owls (the NPOW was heard only)
Lark Sparrow
Bullock's Oriole


Matt Grube took some nice photos, which you can find below.  These photos may help boost our Chinese readership, to whom Matt would like to give a shout-out.  Nay Ho Ma and Gong Hee Fat Choy.

Farming

Still farming here and have not made any birding eforts in a bit but we are bout to go down to Stone Harbor again this week with Ryan, Kat, Chelsea, and the fam. So I will likely have some reporting to do. Hopefully about some more rails!
Peace guys

Summer doldrums

The birds are still good, but no new reports or sightings.

Kevin and I are planning a California Condor expedition soon.

Farming

Farming.

P.S. Saw a Redheaded Woodpecker fly over me as I drove back home from one of our fields yesterday.

Love you guys.

Santa Cruz Island.

Wells boys, after almost 2 full years living here in SB, I finally made the trip out to the Channel Islands. I was excited to make the trip out with Beth, and to take her parents out for a day-trip adventure. The islands have been part of the National Park family for,some time now - no doubt a product of the intensely important dynamic endemic population of thousands of flora, fauna, avifauna, and marine life found there. Basically, it's the North American Galopagos. I was most excited about finding a SANTA CRUISE ISLAND SCRUB JAY 379, and we we did -- and we worked for it. I will thank Bill Ellis here, for sticking with me through a 4 hour hike to an oak grove where we had a slim chance at spotting one. After not seeing or hearing any sign of a Scrub Jay for quite some time, I had about 10 seconds of searching left in me. I was ready to turn around and leave the oak grove. Suddenly, two SCISJ flew in all massive and blue. We were able to get great looks for about ten minutes, and call over Beth and her mom for some dramatic views too. YES!! Other good birds were: SOOTY SHEARWATER 380. (lifer) Common murre 381 Allen's hummingbird* (*island endemic subspecies) Pacific Slope Flycatcher* Bewicks Wren* Loggerhead Shrike* Rufous Crowned Sparrow* Song Sparrow* western meadowlark Rock wren Kessie rtha Red tailed Big ray - ven No flick Acorn wood Spotty tow Brown pelly Western gull D.c corm Hermit thrush House finch Peregrine falcon soaring and diving MODO whimbrel Black oystercatcher Barn swallow Caspian tern

San Bernardino Mountains

I spent Saturday and part of Sunday in the San Bernardino Mountains on an Audubon-led trip.  Some friends went on the trip as well, which is always good.  Lot's of birds too.

Birds 366-374:

Black Swift

Cassin's Finch

Dusky Flycatcher

Williamson's Sapsucker

Pinyon Jay

Gray Vireo

Clark's Nutcracker

Black Tern
Scott's Oriole

Other than the Tern and Oriole, each of those birds were life birds for me.  Other lifers were Common Nighthawk, Townsend's Solitare, Olive-Sided Flycatcher, (Thick-billed) Fox Sparrow, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, and Calliope Hummingbird.  We also saw a Plumbeous Vireo, my first one in CA.

We saw a Mexican Whip in flight at night, and a daytime Common Poorwill (also in flight after we flushed it).

My favorite bird on the trip had to be the Calliope Hummingbird.  We had a pair, and the male was one of the most outstanding birds I have ever seen.

Tucson

I finally added all of the Tucson birds to our list.  It was a pretty epic trip (around 129 birds total, including 40 lifers for me).  On the weekend, we saw 44 new birds on the year.

Birds 322-365:

Neotropic Cormorant
Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
Least Grebe
Lucy's Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Red-Faced Warbler
Painted Redstart
Canyon Towhee
Botteri's Sparrow
Five-Striped Sparrow
Yellow-Eyed Junco
Hepatic Tanager
Summer Tanager
Varied Bunting
Bronzed Cowbird
Pine Siskin
Montezuma Quail (heard only)
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Zone-Tailed Hawk
Flammulated Owl (heard only)
Whiskered Screech-Owl
Elf Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Mexican Whip-poor-will (heard only)
Broad-Billed Hummingbird
Violet-Crowned Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
Elegant Trogon
Gila Woodpecker
Arizona Wookpecker
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Greater Pewee
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Buff-Breasted Flycatcher
Dusky-Capped Flycatcher
Brown-Crested Flycatcher
Sulphur-Bellied Flycatcher
Plumbeous Vireo
Hutton's Vireo
Mexican Jay
Bridled Titmouse
Pygmy Nuthatch

We may also be able to add Cassin's Sparrow to the list.  We thought we had that bird, but we are just waiting to get confirmation through one of Matt Grube's photos.

You know its a good weekend when..

You get 39 life birds in a couple days.   Kevin and I, along with another pal named Grube had a heck of a time this weekend in the SE Arizona region.  I hope we can all bird there together someday.  Highlight birds for me were PLUMBOUS VIREO and ELF OWL.   Stay tuned for updated lists from birdmaster Kevin Gin.  

Don't Worry Henry Was Asleep.

Stone Harbor NJ trip for the weekend.
We did a family birding outing in the afternoon on Sat. and I went out @ 5:30 this morning.
Highlights: Glossy Ibis, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Little Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Willets, Dunlin, Piping Plovers, nesting Least Terns, Virginia Rails mating this morning while the sun was rising behind them...(it was pretty hot but don't worry Henry was asleep in the car), Green Heron, Black Crown night herons, didn't try too hard to ID the gulls, osprey, song sparrows. It was more pleasure-birding and not so much statistical or for e-bird. We will be heading down there a bunch this summer so I was just trying to scout out good spots for different birds and get to know the area better. Was fun.
 P.S.
Also saw a Christy Scazzero in breeding plumage (pink bottom and floral strapless top)on the beach. 

Common Poorwill, Ya'll

We were hearing a Common Poorwill somewhere at close range on this weekends backpacking expedition.  Each night, just after 11 p.m.  COPO would start with his simple night song:   

Common Poorwill Song

Looking forward to this weekend with K. Gin in TUSCON!

Bobo's

Took the morning off today and went with Karah and the boys to see some Bobolinks.
We have never seen them before and they were a target bird for me this summer. We saw 6 and tons of RWBB's along with a King bird nest and an Orchard Oriole pair nesting in the same tree. The local Eagle scout herpetologist was there and found some toads for Henry and Ellis in between their swims in the parking lot mud puddles. Got some great close up looks at Eastern Meadowlarks and the Bobo's through the scope.

The Hunter

Awesome Phalarope Matt. That is really exciting I would love to see one.
Guys I have done no birding other than calling out over the country side for screech owls while Caleb and I drank beers and talked over a fire late Saturday night. No response though.
We have a cat that the family has adopted  since last fall. Sunshine is avid hunter and has figured out that the best hunting grounds are right outside of his door at my moms bird feeders... It is pretty sweet to watch. He will be stalking some unsuspecting bird on one of the bird feeders and then a few finches will fly in, not noticing him. All of the sudden he will rocket straight up, 5 feet in the air doing a back flip and almost snatching the finches right out of the air! Most of the time thought he sneaks up on birds that are in a blind spot, eating on the opposite side of the feeder. He will creep up and then launch up and slam dunk the house sparrow into the feeder. most of the time they get away. Other times I find a pile of feathers at the base of the wisteria. Thats the only bird news from Barto.

my first Phalarope

I like watching Poppy-dog chase crows at the beach.   I try to call her in when she wants to chase the  Whimbrel's or curlew's or other plover's though -  and she listens pretty well and seems to understand that those birds aren't for the chasing.

Poppy seemed to understand the significance of the situation yesterday when a single Red Necked Phalarope was piddling around the shoreline, moving unhurriedly along with us as we walked up the beach with some neighbor friends.  She stayed close with me as we watched the bird poke around about 20 feet away.  

The bird was smaller than I had imagined it, but was looking real nice - in almost full breeding plumage.  Wish I had a picture to share - but we were lucky to see this bird.  I've never seen one on the beach since we've moved here - and I never see any reports of folks seeing them on the beaches here.   I think it was odd for it to have been on the beach, solitary on shore like that.  It did swim around for a bit before it took off, back out to sea.   WOW!

ps.  a horse swam out to sea this week from the same spot where I saw the Phalarope.  The prized Arabian swam out 2.5 miles before the Coast Guard coaxed it back to shore.  Pete and Kev, maybe that crazy guy we talked to at Coal Oil point was right, maybe there is some kind of cosmic crystal out there in the Santa Barbara channel and all of the animals are starting to get kooky about it.   The truth is out there

Western Wood

I have been birding a lot at UCR, Pasadena, and the San Joaquin (Irvine), but only one new bird to add: Western Wood Pewee (314).

Pasadena has parrots flying around everywhere, which I should probably ID one day.  My first big outing in Pasadena was a bit of a downer: only saw a few species, but I did get great looks a Wrentits

At San Joaquin yesterday, other birds included Bonaparte's Gull, Yellow Warblers, Orange-Crowned Warblers (my first since January), and Ash-Throated Flycatcher.

UCR birds have been alright as well.  Come to think of it, I should probably bird a little now.

Kevin

Week 3 of birds and breakfast. Highlights: so many scarlet tanager looks, bay breasted, chestnut sided, parula, blackpoll all new warblers for the b and b crew, lady with scope found a haggard looking indigo bunting, magnolia, redstarts, yellowthroats, huevos rancheros, more handstands, and so many people. 26 on the walk and 30 for breakfast. Really great morning.

Bird Boy

"I wanna go wook at some birds with my noculers(noc-u-wers)." -Ellis Davies

Post 1 Birds and Breakfast is in its sophomore season after finishing up last year with a solid performance during its 5 week season. The bird sightings and the breakfast bitings will be hard to beat from last year but the team is poised and ready and after week 2 it seems B and B is catching it's stride, and coming back from the off season with grit and bounce. Week 1 Beautiful morning for the opening kickoff. The Brookfield Farm parking hummed with anticipation around 6:55 AM as 8 bird curious folks showed up for the walk and subsequent breakfast. The group was made up mostly of beginners and a few folks with some field tested experience. We birded two main locations: home farm and the Snyder farm. The former abutting a 1000 acre swamp and the latter tied into almost as much semi divided farmland. The home farm provided great looks at Yellow and Black and White Warblers. We focused on 3 bird calls for the morning, the three most prolific during that time: song sparrow, chipping sparrow, and the bouncing whistles of the northern cardinal. By breakfast most everyone was pointing them out to me with some real pride. At the Snyder barn complex brown thrasher stole the show early. He flashed through some low brush and finally popped up to sit all streaky breasted on some rose. Chalky blue bluebirds were the treat for the walk back to the cars after seeing osprey, red tails, and crowding around my book to make certain they were indeed savannah sparrows. Breakfast followed and was bang up from the eggs, potatoes and muffins to the table clothes, flower arrangements, and beautiful outdoor seating. Everyone ate, drank coffe and tea, chatted with each other and slowly filtered out. A great start. Week 2 Overcast and chilly to start but soon sunny with a nice light breeze. Multiple returners from the previous week and host of new people as the walk grew to 11. A harder week for interpretation due to the amount of bird activity. I would find myself starting to talk about orioles, their nests, habits and then a black throated green would fly in to take my attention and just as people were doing their best to train their binoculars on the bird it would have flown as well as the orioles. This kind of thing happened a lot. Blue winged warbler singing then a loud Drink your Tee would sound, a kinglet would fly up to a branch with an American redstart and both would fly away. It was awesome but the looks were fleeting and the group rarely had a look long enough to get on it and really check out these birds. I minded more than the group, they were loving it and blown away by all the "magic". We spent the whole walk at the home farm because there was so much going on I didn't want to leave it. The walk back to breakfast gave us killdeer displaying, a female rose breasted grosbeak, Pileated overhead, and another osprey. Breakfast was delicious and plenty. Spuds, frittata, fruit, yogurt, rhubarb bake, coffee and tea. 2 hours of walking and all they want is to sit down and get down on some food. Everyone sits and chats, trades stories sometimes bird related sometimes not. I feel like a proud papa looking down the table and seeing everyone smiling and talking, eating and listening. I challanged Arianna, a 9 year old and gymnast stud, to a handstand competition. She beat me in the following events: headstand, handstand, bridge, cartwheel, walkover, round off, and splits. She was really cute and would do some trash talk but also encourage me and say that's pretty good for a guy or my dad can't do that or well, gymnastics might not be for you. She and her mom are signed up to come back to the next 3. Arianna and I's competition inspired some others to join and soon the backyard was full of people, young and old, trying moves they hadn't attempted in years. There were hoots and hollers, falls, drops, thuds and lots of laughs. The folks cleared out eventually, I cleaned my kitche and , watched my neighbors high school ultimate frisbee game. Week 2 might be hard to beat.

Big Year or Bust

I have been layed up for the last day and 1/2 puking my guts out and feeling like I got hit by a car. So I am late on the news of reaching the goal. 
Great job Ryan, Kevin, Matt, Pete, Karah, Bethany, Henry, Ellis...
We accomplished our goal not even 5 months in. That is awesome. Under promise over deliver. I wonder if there is a way we could up the ante like getting all the gull species or all the warbler species. Maybe we should just keep going without a specific goal. I think that by this point we are all have some good momentum.
Anyway, I accept Pete back into the fold. Once Ryan is living at the doghertys again, he and I will continue birding together.
Thanks for the sweet videos and photos Matt.

-Ben

300!

Hey Guys, It's been pretty busy with our move to Pasadena, but Liz and I spent a couple hours birding Sunday. Highlights: MacGillviray's Warbler (299) Lazuli Bunting (300) We saw some other good birds too, which I'll elaborate on later. Just wanted to say congrats to you guys: we got 300 and it's only May. New Goal 400? Kevin

Figueroa Mountain extras

Thought I'd try the other video that we took today.  And add a couple of photos:

Yellow Billed Magpie on Happy Canyon Rd.

I'm pretty sure that you can see a UFO above my head if you enlarge this picture. 

 That, or a Violet Green Swallow

Countdown to Glory

This is it guys.
I added #298 Solitary Sandpiper, to the list today.
I'll leave the last 2 for you Kevin and Matt.
Thanks for the video Matt and Beth. I have made some too with our little cam but it doesn't transfer to a mac.

love,
Ben

This is Karah: I saw my first Indigo Bunting this weekend at a Griswold Girl's wedding (Katie Vernier) near Gettysburg. It was high up in a tree and far away, but still such a lovely shade of blue. Cherice and I drove through Messiah Campus for old times sake. And it was so nice to see some memorable things like our old apartment, Beth's old apartment, Trout Run, Breeches, and the railroad tracks.Those were some good, good days. Most excellent memories, dudes.

And cool QUAIL Matt and Beth! Cool Empidona, Kevin!

On a really sad note, I hit and killed a Wood Thrush tonight. I got out of the van and picked it up with my jacket and brought it to show Ben. I cried when I told Ben what happened. It's such a beautiful bird. I don't know what that means for the bird list?



Love Karah

Migration Nation

Hey gang,
Seems like the migration is treating us all really well.  Ben and Kev, I was very excited to read about your recent birds from this past week.  It's really fun to be inundated with new, colorful birds after the favorites of winter have started moving along.  Most excellent birding, dudes!  

I'm flying pretty high right now - just getting home from a fun trip up to Figueroa Mountain.  Beth and I brought Poppy the pup up to the spring California Poppy bloom and the catch some good spring birds.  It was serene, man.  We slept out last night under the intensely full moon and got an early start.  We walked East Pinery rd. and had quite a cast of characters most notably:
Mountain Quail (lifer)
Hermit Warbler (life bird for me!)
Olive-Sided Flycatcher (singing it's "quick three beers" song)
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Rufous Crowned Sparrow 
Violet-Green Swallows
Mountain Chickadee
Brown Creeper

I tried to take a few videos to record the calls of the Mountain Quail.  It might be possible to hear the Olive Sided Flycatcher's and a singing Black Headed Grosbeak in there too:

Fulshaw Craeg

Karah dropped me off at the Fulshaw Craeg preserve yesterday morning for 3 hrs.
Probably the most peaceful 3 hrs I've had an a long time.
Matt you know that place. It's just so pure and pristine  and beautiful.

The List 
Scarlet Tanager (#292)
Baltimore Oriole
Blue Grey Gnatcatcher
Called back and forth with a Eastern Screech Owl for 1/2 hr
Magnolia Warbler (# 293)
Prarie Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackthroated Blue Warbler
Blackthroated Green Warbler
1 milliion Yellow Rumpies
Wormeating Warbler
Waterthrush Sp. ( I am not good enough at their songs yet to tell the dif.)
Black and White Warblers
Eastern Towhee

If I was better with Warbler calls I suspect there would have been a few more to add to the list b/c there were a lot that I heard but I can't ID them.

Hermit Warbler

Ben: this is a baby bird list compared to your warbler-a-thon.  It sounds like you were pulling out all types of awesome birds.  If I were there I would have been averaging 2.5 lifers per hour.  It's a good thing we have you on the East coast.

I birded San Joaquin Wildlife Preserve (Orange County) again.  It's my routine to stop there for a half-hour or so after my Wednesday night class in Irvine.  Here are some new or interesting birds from the area:

Hermit Warbler (291)
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Empidonax sp. (Pacific Slope Flycatcher?)
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer (about 30 total)
Green Heron
Cinnamon Teal

The Hermit Warbler was a life-bird for me.  The Townsend's looks were the best that I have gotten.

Warbler Wonderland

This week the warblers have finally hit.
Today Cameron and I went to Nokamixon state park and birded in the rain for 3 hrs.
We got soaked but it was well worth the effort. With Cameron's keen ear and our sodden pairs of bushnells and swarovskis, we were in the warbler zone.

Warblers
Prairie (#287)
Yellow
Blue-winged (#286)
Black and White (#283)
Black-throated Blue (#284)
Black-throated Green #285)
Oven Bird (#290)
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula (#289)
Worm-Eating (#288)
American Redstart (#282)
Yellow Rumped

Cool thing is that not only was I able to add these warblers to the Big Year list but they are all also lifers for me. We may have had more sp. of warbler b/c the trees were full of them but we couldn't see through our bins b/c the lenses were soaked. We will try again soon.

The list also included
Wood Thrush
17 Common loons
Red Breasted Mergs
Great Egret
Osprey
Barn/Tree/Bank Swallows (#278 listed as "Sand Martin") (lifer)
Baltimore Orioles (#280)
GBH
Eastern Towhee
Blue Grey Gnat Catchers (lifer)
Am. Goldfinch
Flied/Song Sparrows
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Indigo Bunting (#281)
Ruby Throated Hummingbird (#279)

This is it

Hey guys,

I've had a fun few days of migration birding (and whaling).  With my buddy, Poppy - we managed a handful of very good birds and marine mammals this weekend.

First off, Friday afternoon was a surprise flurry of activity starting with 6-7 Grey Whales moving slowly up the coast just outside the Hollister Ranch area where I'm working.  I was standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean, making an end of the day phone call.  The whale's were no more than 20 yards offshore, which to me was mind blowing!  The water was so clear, and the whales so close - that I could see them so well, in great detail with the naked eye.  It was an incredible moment for me, and I was fortunate to be there at the right time.  Just minutes later after jumping in the car the SB county Black Vulture appeared over head, seen easily from the highway.  This might be the best bird of the weekend.  It's only been reported 5 times this year, and I've been lucky enough to see it twice in the past few months.  

Best birds of the weekend were:  Pacific Wren (270) and Vaux's Swift (271) and Townsend's Solitare (272) at La Cumbre Peak with Kevin Saiki and new birding buddy Luke Depass.  The Solitare's were neat, we were able to get great looks at them despite the incredible wind gusts up in the high elevations.

Today,  (Sunday) proved to be a great success.  Poppy and I waltzed around Lake Los Carneros and the surrounding Marshes.  We had our pick of many migrants and local breeders.  Best birds were:

Close up Black Headed Grosbeaks
American Goldfinches (273)
Closeup Western Tanagers (274)
Closeup Calliope Hummingbird female (275)
6-7 Yellow Headed Blackbirds (276)
Possible nesting Cinnamon Teal
Maybe the most handsome bird all day - breeding plumage Ruddy Ducks

It was special to get some great looks at the Western Tanagers - that species, after all, is my grail bird, the bird that shocked me in the Grand Canyon years ago with Kev, Pete, Dill, and Peffer.  Fun to see it again and get all clammy handed about it, again.

This is great guys, we are getting close to our goal of 300 birds for the year.  Whats more, I think we are all become much better birders as time goes on.  I think having this blog, and having a goal like this is a major component of improving together.  It's causing me to be more deliberate about my ID'ing, and learning songs/calls.  It's also fun to report here with notable stories and findings.  I feel myself getting better, and that is exciting.

UCR Birds

To start off with a brag: the flyover WF Ibis this week was the first UCR record of the species.

This morning I birded UCR again and came up with the following notable birds:

Pacific Slope Flycatcher (269)
Black-Headed Grosbeak
Ash-Throated Flycatcher
Black-Chinned Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker

The Flycatchers and Grosbeak were UCR firsts for me.  I also got to bird the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday evening for about an hour, which included the following highlights:

Black Skimmer
Caspian Tern
Yellow Warbler
Wood Duck
Osprey

Good birding everyone.

Peace Valley Park

Correction to my last post.
Brian Henderson did some bird call research and decided that we actually saw a Northern Waterthrush not a Louiasana. Still a good bird though. Still a lifer for me. I will make the correction in the List. Also I have not logged any specific Chickadee sp. yet because we live in the hybridization zone. Peace Valley Park is not in the zone so it is certain that the are Carolina down there.
Below is the complete list of birds that we saw yesterday morning. All within 3 hours and there are some that only one of us saw and not the other.
Added these to the list on review of what we saw.
Gray Catbird #265
Purple MArtin #266
Eastern Towhee #267
Carolina Chickadee #268 

Day List

House Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Brown-headed Cowbird

Common Grackle

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

White-throated Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Eastern Towhee

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Palm Warbler

Yellow Warbler (Brian saw it)

Northern Waterthrush

European Starling

Northern Mockingbird

Gray Catbird #265

American Robin

Eastern Bluebird

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Brian saw it)

House Wren

Carolina Wren

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Purple Martin

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Fish Crow

American Crow

Blue Jay

Warbling Vireo

Eastern Phoebe

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Chimney Swift

Mourning Dove

Ring-billed Gull

Spotted Sandpiper

Killdeer

Merlin (Brian saw it)

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Osprey

Turkey Vulture

Great Blue Heron

Double-crested Cormorant

Mallard

Canada Goose

Green Heron

Red Headed Woodpecker

Peace Valley Park

Warbling Vireo #261
Redheaded Woodie #262
Swamp Sparrow #263
Louisiana Waterthrush #264
Mother Load of Yellow Rumpies at least 100 and 1 Palm Warbler.
Went to get the Golden-winged Warbler that was reported there but no luck.

Laz

Ben, Kev,

It sounds like we are all getting in some good Spring birding recently.  Glad to hear it.  Kev, I'm sweet on a Blue Grosbeak, hope I can see one too sometime in my life.

I thought I'd take the pup for a drive up the Farren Rd. today.  I'd heard that up there, Lazuli Buntings like to spend the spring eating bugs off the thistle thats in bloom along the roadside.  Sure enough, after a quiet half-hour Lightning Larry Lazuli came in like a flash and knocked me out.  When I came to, there he was all electric and lively.  Burned my retinas he was so bright blue.  

This was a life bird for me, and maybe my favorite bird of the year.  I'm still in the phase of my birding life that the brightest and most colorfully vibrant birds make me feel the most tingly.  What can I say.  I guess I'll have my 50's and 60's to pitch tents over sparrows and gulls. (just kidding, I'm already starting to, maybe thats why I'm going bald and getting mad hair on my back)

Anyhow, Lazuli Bunting!  YES!  Also, last weekend I added Black Chinned Hummer and Rufous Hummer from a Westmont bird walk on Saturday morning.   I'm on the fence about a big pelagic trip this weekend.  Should I go?  Should I stay?  Dramamine?  

Keep it up

Lifer

guy this video was taken by Brian Henderson so is around our age and is a local bird authority around here:Yellowlegs
It is a lifer for me!
Enjoy

UCR Birds

No birds to add to our annual list.  However, I spent an hour at the UCR Botanic Gardens this morning and was lucky enough to be there when eleven White-Faced Ibis flew over.  This is a really good bird for our campus.

I also saw two Wilson's Warblers.  They are FOS for me, as well as a UCR campus bird.

Prado Regional Park

I went to Prado Regional Park today with an Audubon group and had a good day of birding. I saw 4 new Restoration Year Birds: Grasshopper Sparrow (256), Blue Grosbeak (257), Ash-Throated Flycatcher (258), Bell's Vireo (259). I also heard several Yellow-Breasted Chats (260). Other FOS birds for me were Black-Headed Grosbeak and Yellow Warbler. The Chat was a life-bird, although I am still looking forward to seeing one (rather than just hearing them).

Merlins Meadow

Matt, I saw an Eastern Meadowlark while driving by Merlin's farm today. Had seen it there a week ago too. Good old Merlin.
He stopped by on Easter Sunday. We were at the G-Paparents though so he and my dad hung out for a few hours and talked about contemplative spirituality. Cool right.
Peace

Going to Church

Went to Church Rd. again today for the first annual Ivy's Birthday Davies Family Bird Outing. She turns 3 today. We got a Greater Scaup (first at church rd for me and #251 for the Big Year), 10 double cormorants, 2 Great egrets (another first), 3 snipe, 1 spotted sandpiper, 2 Dunlin (another first), 3 Common Mergs, Canadas, Swallows, song sparrows, RWBB's, Gadwalls, Mute's. Pileated, E. Phoebe.
A good stop, Ivy wasn't so impressed though she was more concerned with the fact that there were no slides or ladders at this park.

Peace guys.
Still waiting for the warblers, 
-Ben

P.S. I apparently have missed Eastern Phoebe but have seen it many times this year so I checked it.

warbler zone

Spent the past two mornings at Toro Canyon Park.  I had never been, but I'd heard that it is the most under-used park in SB county, and I hoped that I might stumble upon some warblers moving through.   I was rewarded handsomely with the most busy oak trees I've ever seen, and the best warbling that I've ever been able to witness.   Here is the haul:

Wilson's
Nashville
Yellow
Orange-Crowned
Black Throated Gray
Yellow Rumped
Common Yellowthroat
Townsend's

I did make an ID on a MacGillivray's Warbler - I distinguished it from the Nashville, and had good looks at the different field marks (white eye arch's, slate gray hood, bigger in size than nash's) but I'm still hesitant to make the positive ID.  I want to ask around and see if that bird has been seen in the area during migration in years past.  If it seems likely, I'll check it.  

It was a great weekend of birding following a week of heavy rains.  Fun too, when the trees are bustling with birds and you dont have to work too hard to get a glimpse at a warbler.

Heron Nest

This is video of the Heron nest w/ the 3rd attack of the great Horned Owl at night.
It is crazy guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yykbo8uDEM
Interesting t see what they go through.

B headed G

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary

I discovered a new spot yesterday. (Well, more accurately, I went to a well-known hotspot for the first time).

I am taking a class at UC Irvine, which abuts the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. Since my class ends during rush-hour, I'll probably bird there the next eight Wednesday evenings.

Yesterday I saw a pair of Wood Ducks for the first time. Lots of shorebirds and teal, and a couple of osprey were fun to watch.

Weekend Report

Hi guys,  A quick update from this past weekend/weekdays:

I went looking to see if I could be a lucky first observer of Blue Grosbeak and/or Lazuli Bunting in SB county.   I had no luck, too early.  I did however see some great stuff:  Swallow quintet: Northern Roughies, American Tree, Barn (FOS), Violet Green, and CLIFF SWALLOW were seen this weekend.   Additionally, I got great looks at the loons on Saturday morning:  Pacific, and a couple of wicked looking Red Throated Loons.   Also some great looks at a Clark's Grebe.

Best sighting of the week was a Harris's Hawk, but wait, listen to the story!   I was at the downtown dump on Friday afternoon because we have a storage yard there for our company.  As I was dropping off a concrete saw, I looked up and saw an unfamiliar looking hawk harassing some gulls  that were flying around the indoor dump area.  It wasn't a Cooper's, too big for a Sharpie.  Not a red tailed...I thought right away, HOLY SMOKES, this is a Harris's.   I was just getting ready to call some noteable SB birders.  In my head I knew I would be the HERO OF THE YEAR if it was true.  It was indeed a Harris's Hawk.  I confirmed it with the Falconer who trained it, who was hired by the dump to bring his raptors to rid the dump grounds of pests.  WOW!!!!   I wont count this bird on our list, but it was still incredible to see a Harris's Hawk up so close.  I talked for awhile with the Falconer, and he even let me touch the hawk's wing feathers.

Snipes

Hey guys,
Today Karah and I decided to do a quick trip over to Church Road and see what shore birds might be hanging out. It has been pretty dry here and the water is slowly receding on the reservoir creating more habitat for the shore birds and I was hoping these passing rain storms might ground some migratories. We found  5 snipe, two pairs of woodies, gadwalls, black ducks, GBH, Mute swans, barn/broad-winged/tree swallows, and a flock of 8 blue winged teals that flew in as we were about to leave. Ellis and Henry ran about 20 laps around the car while Karah and I watched the birds with a few other local birders. Good evening. Hope you guys are enjoying some birds.

Heron Nest Live

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

Sage Sparrow and Borrego Photos

I was happy to see a Sage Sparrow (245) on campus today with a UCR birding group. It was my first Sage Sparrow at UCR. Lot's of Lawrence's Goldfinches were like eye-candy.

We should hit 250 soon: Great Job everybody but Pete.

Below are 3 photos from Anza Borrego (taken by Pam).

Red-Tailed Hawk that I wanted to be a Swainson's:

Loggerhead Shrike:

Anna's Hummingbird:

Also, I took this from our apartment window today: I guess we might be parting ways with the Barn Owl that liked our conifer.

Yellow Warbler FOS and Brandts Cormorant

This is shaping up to be a big birding weekend.  Lots of birds moving through, and all the birders in the county and buzzed up from it.  Hopefully we can get out over the next few days and find a gem.  For now though, this week I've had a couple YELLOW WARBLERS at the site.  They are listed in our "list" as "Mangrove Warbler"  I think.

Also Brandt's Cormorants are feeding offshore now, looking all Blue in the mouth.

More to come.  We are closing in on 300.  Keep up the good work.  F U Pete.

Is it mourning yet?

So yesterday Karah and Ellis and I layed a field of plastic mulch. As I was turning the tractor around to go back to the other end of the field and lay another bed of mulch I spotted a dove sitting on the roof of our neighbors barn. I have been keeping my eyes out for doves because one of my spring/summer target birds is a Eurasian Collared. It turned out to be a Mourning but as I glanced at it I saw a big bug, probably a carpenter bee, flying around behind it and then dive bomb and nail the dove right in the back of the head. The dove must have been sleeping because it jumped awake and looked around confused. I bust out laughing and then recounted the tail to Karah who was wondering what was up.
Also, today Kat came up for the day and I quit work early so the family could go birding. We hit Church road for some swans, northern shovelers, green winged teals and then continued on to the Quakertown Swamp. There is not much action there now but the GBH's are plentiful and nesting way. There are no chicks yet but we saw at least 25 nests and most had at least one heron on it. Was neat to watch them working on their nests and flying around with their necks out straight and landing in the trees like pterodactyls.

Desert Birds

Liz, Pam, and I went camping in Anza Borrego State Park for a night this week.  This park gets more views of migrating Swainson's Hawks than any other location in the States.  They have a PM hawkwatch to count the birds coming in and an AM hawkwatch to count the birds as they ride the thermals, form kettles, and continue on with the largest migration of any raptor.  Some mornings this week, around 500 hawks have been observed.  We joined an AM watch when the hawks were between waves, but I was still happy to see about a dozen Swainson's Hawks (237), including two good looks.

Other desert species include Verdins (238), White-Winged Doves (239), a Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher (240), and one Bighorn Sheep.  But my favorite bird sighting was the White-Throated Swift (241) that ripped through the air right over our heads when we were near a lookout.  The bird was traveling fast: maybe 60-80mph?

I also got my butt kicked by what I took to be my first migrating warblers of the year.  I have been getting comfortable with Winter residents, but I need to sharpen up on migratory passerines for Spring.

Yup

...Birders Say.

Pete's visit pics

Pete showing the perfect scoping posture.  

Longspur and Ferruginous spot.   Wes Fritz hunching to the left.   

A great day

GTTO

I had to go out to Lancaster today to pick up some farm supplies and stopped by Blue Marsh Lake near Reading. There has been a Green Tailed Towhee there all winter and Karah and I tried for it once with no luck. There is a little spot up a hiking trail where people bring "offerings" of bird seed to spread on the ground for the Towhee and other ground feeders.
I had forgotten mine and stopped at the store on my way there to pick up a 5 lb bag of mixed seed. There were no birds at the spot when I arrived which was in contrast to the plethora of White Throated and White Crowned Sparrows, Cardinals & Juncos that we enjoyed on our previous visit. I spread the entire bag and then waited about 50' away.
A cardinal and a Brown Headed Cowbird were the only takers. Then, 15 mins. in, I saw a flash of green in some nearby bushes. It was the Green Tailed Towhee jumping around and then flying away to another patch of brush after only a minute. It was short but sweet and I enjoyed it, then continued on my trek.