Nutmeg Mannakin's

Hey gang,

There are an exotic species here in Santa Barbara, NUTMEG MANNAKIN that I have seen sporadically over the past year or so.  Today was the first time I had seen them in this calendar year.  Should we have this as an added species on our list?  I think it should be added, given the fact that it is a sustained population here, and a breeding bird.   But, I wouldn't feel bad if any of you guys had strong opposing opinions.   What do you think?     If it is added, I would put it under Kevin's Flamingo's as an "additional specie"

love,

Bilbo Bloggins

Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Pacific Loon

Hey gang,

Glad to see that Henry and Ellis made their blog debut.  I'm pretty confident too, that we can get a Laysan Albatross of our own (noting Cameron Rutt's Laysan on the list) this year with a successful attempt at 1 or 2 pelagic trips (Channel Islands and/or Monterey Canyon).

I had a fairly quiet, but good weeks of birds.  Micah and I continue our search for the Spotted Owl, but have so far been unsuccessful.  Confident though, that we will see one soon.  We are definitely putting in our time with the owls thus far this year.  It's been really fun.

We also had an unsuccessful bid at a Grace's Warbler today.  I will continue to check for this bird, because it would be a great one for us to have on our list.  What did turn up was a RUBY CROWNED KINGLET however, which is a new one for us this year.

Also reporting a single PACIFIC LOON from a few days ago that I saw at the aptly named "Loon Point" in Summerland, CA.

Housekeeping notes:   From here on out, I am going to include Micah Schloss on the official bird list when I see a bird with him because he is my birding partner in SB.  He will be referred to as 'MS' henceforth in the "seen by" column, if/when we see a bird together.

Also,  I noticed that nobody had reported a Red-Bellied Woodpecker yet.  Pete, Ben ?  Is it a no show year for that species this winter?  Wazzzup?

Birders United,
Nixed the John Heins NWR scheduled for today to take advantage of the 50 deg weather and refurb the greenhouse. Made it happen and added some sweet improvements over the original which some of you helped construct. Also my rents had to postpone their Disney trip b/c my Mom has Vertigo so not trip to the airport. I have no new birds to add as a result. But the spotting scope should arrive soon and then we'll be pushing 300+ Nice job Kevin with the owls and hawks. We need you.

SJWA: Prairie Falcon, Burrowing Owl, and others

Hi all,

This morning I headed out to SJWA in hopes of seeing the Gyrfalcon again (I didn't).  As always, I stopped to see some Ferruginous Hawks and other raptors on the way in.  Inside SJWA, I picked up two Restoration Year birds: Marsh Wren (192) and Common Moorhen (193).  It was also nice to see Blue- and Green-winged Teal, Horned Lark, Red-shouldered Hawk (eating a coot), Mountain Bluebirds, and Northern Shovelers among other birds. 

On the way out, I was fortunate to pick up a Prairie Falcon (194), making it a Five Falcon month at SJWA for me (Kestrel, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Gyrfalcon).

To top things off, while driving on the road to exit SJWA, I managed to see a Burrowing Owl!  This was my second Burrowing Owl ever outside of the Salton Sea area, and my first in Riverside County.  I am surprised the Owl hadn't been seen/reported earlier in the week, given that several hundred birders have been driving this road to chase after the Gyrfalcon.

Posted below is a picture of a Burrowing Owl.  This isn't the same owl I saw, but I thought I would use Matt Grube's photo to enhance the aesthetic experience of the blog.  Like all owls, these owls blend in pretty well.

The SJWA has been the place to see raptors so far this year.  However, I came up short again on the Rough-legged Hawk or Short-eared Owl.  There is also a wintering Swamp Sparrow I hope to see at some point.

[Note: I think bird #191 was an American Black Duck, marked off by Ben yesterday].

Guys,
Today Karah and I joined the Alpen club!
I got some pottery equipment for free this fall and never got around to using it so it was in the way in the greenhouse and I sold it this week. Just bought a Alpen 788 today with the money! Hopefully this time the order will not get canceled.
Matt and Kevin, now we can stand on our roofs and point the scopes at each other and maybe we'll be able to see across the continent. Maybe we'll be able to see the millions of Snowy Owls in Kansas.
Love
-Me

Snowy

Guys. I thought you might like to read this article about the Snowy Owl Irruption in the northern states: Snowy Article.
I am going to try and get one on Saturday and Pete you may have the best chance of all of us to get this bird. Lets do it!

Great Horned Owl

To top off the weekend, Liz and I heard a Great Horned Owl (190) while riding our bikes Saturday night in a residential part of Riverside.  We were able to track it down and see the bird's silhouette.

That's the sixth Restoration owl of the year (Burrowing, Great Horned, Northern Pygmy, Northern Saw-whet, Barn, Western Screech... although Matt gets all the good ones).  We should hit double digits by the end of the year. Think we can bring it up to 12?

It was also, technically, a life bird for me (since I started my official list last March).  I think the only other GHO I have seen came canoeing the Yellow Breeches with Matt.  That was before I broke Dave T.'s Canoe.

Gyrfalcon

Guys,

Sorry for the delay on this post.  It's been a busy weekend.

Last Monday, I ran into someone outside San Jacinto Wildlife Area who told me to keep an eye out for "this" bird (as he held up a photo of a Gyrfalcon).  I couldn't find the bird that day, but the bird was relocated, and word got out a few days later.

The earliest I could make it down was Friday.  But it was pretty intense for me.  Liz needed the car for an interview, so I needed to stop birding by 9:00am.  I tried (unsuccessfully) for some short-eared owls on my way down (although I did pick up a ferruginous hawk) and arrived at the Gyrfalcon spot at around 7:20am to give myself about an hour and a half for the bird to arrive.

Luckily, the bird had recently arrived at the spot it had been seen (with a coot for breakfast), so it was there when I arrived.  I got out my scope, and got a perfect look at the bird for about 5 minutes before it flew off (with about 40 birders chasing it).

So I would like to announce bird #189: Gyrfalcon.

That completes a 4 falcon week at SJWA for me.

Below is a picture a fried (Matt Grube) took that morning.

Good birding,

Kevin

Saturday Morning update - Cassin's

Great updates this week, gang!

Gyrfalcon is a pretty wicked bird to get anywhere in the country, but Riverside, CA is quite the location to see that bird.  Nice work Kev.    You too Ben, with your Great Crested Flycatcher.   (Kevin, I talked to Wes Fritz last night and he is heading South this weekend to "hump on" the Gyrfalcon, he is pumped)

My favorite sighting this week however was the recent presence of Ryan P making his resto.bird.blog debut!

Beth and I strolled around Lake Los Carneros this morning hoping that the storm blew in some odd birds.  It was pretty quiet though - lots of good standard birds for that location:  

blue-gray gnatcatcher

mute swan

ring necked duck

lesser scaup

sora

green heron

orange crowned warbler
golden crowned sparrow

california thrashers

Best bird sightings were CASSIN'S KINGBIRD and a pair of White Tailed Kites grappling in the air and spinning down towards us DIRECTLY from above.   Beth gasped, and started to run away before the birds released each other about 20 feet above my head.  Feathers rained down on us after the whole ordeal was over.  Pretty neat thing, that was.  

So I'll update the list with todays Cassin's and also mention that I accidentally checked 'Hutton's Vireo' on the list, when I meant to check off 'Cassin's Vireo'   I will make the change to the list right away.  Thanks to Micah Schloss for catching this error.

Guys,

Just a caveat before you read this: no new birds will be added to this blog post. Sorry, I am still in orno training and wont be able to add until i have received my certificate from ornomasters matt/kevin/ben/pete. after all, i just started "gmail."

secondly, i would like to clue you in on some of my aspirations and goals this year that hopefully, i can find right here in SE PA/NORTHERN DE:


an asian crested ibis...

 "oh so" marvelous spatuletail...

forest owlet...

Christmas Island Frigate..

and maybe a stretch, but i would really like to see a Pteranodon. if you see one, pretend that you didnt see it so i can get the credit. (haha)

thanks guys, excited about a "big" year

ryan

Great Creasted Flycatcher

Ellis went upstairs to see grammy the other day so I went up to fetch him soon after. As I glanced out the front window a Great Crested Flycatcher flew into the fire bush in my parents flowerbed. It was eating the little red berries still hanging on the branches. It also looked like it was eating dogwood berries. We scrambled to get a picture and my mom whipped out her new digi-cam. It isn't very good at zooming in as you can see from the pics. But it was def. a GCF and a sweet bird to get in mid winter.

SJWA Birds

Hi All,

I decided to spend the morning of Dr. King's Day birding with a church friend and his son.  We started outside the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, where we picked up six Ferruginous Hawks (184), Red-Tailed Hawk (including one Intermediate-Morph), Cattle Egret, Great Egret, American Kestrel, Western Meadowlark, Horned Lark (185), White-tailed Kite, Say's Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Peregrine Falcon.

Birds inside SJWA included American Avocet, Song Sparrow, Merlin (186), Northern Harrier, Black-necked Stilt, Common Yellowthroat, Greater Yellowlegs and Vermillion Flycatcher.

The Horned Lark and Merlin were life birds for me.  The latter was particularly nice because I had been looking for a Merlin for quite some time now.  It was also good to get out one final time before my quarter picks up.  I'll also be teaching for Kaplan the next 8 Saturdays, which will keep me from birding much on those days.

The three new birds bring us up to 186.  Great extended weekend everyone!

Figueroa Mountain update/ WOW!!!!!

Wow! Nice haul everybody.

This weekend was a great one for us all and the birdies. Between The New Jersey shore, Joshua Tree NP, and the SB backcountry, we are covering some really unique territory and bird habitat. Good stuff.

Ben, Purple Finches? Good one man, really good bird - not to mention the rest of your list. I imagine your new ALPEN was instrumental in enjoying some of those this weekend. Was the LONG TAILED DUCK male or famale, or shemale? Nice OldSquaw

Kev - Glad you got the Black Throated Sparrows, I think those were my favorites from Joshua Tree last time. I hope we can get back there with you and Liz before you guys leave Riverside.

Rock Wren!? Western Screech?! yea boiiiii

Pete, I know things are quiet up there in Mass now (bird wise) but while our numbers out West start flattening out - we are gonna lean on you heavy for the warblers and songsters in the spring and summer. Birds and Breakfast baby

Micah and I had a great day on Saturday up around Fig. Mountain. It wasn't super duper birdy, but we had some good results. Target birds of GOLDEN EAGLE and SPOTTED OWL were NOT located. We did search for and try to call in the SPOW for about 3 hours - but had no luck. Still fun though. We did have close encounters with NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL and a NORTHERN PYGMY OWL. Best birds of the day were Lewis's Woodpecker, and ol' golfball head White Headed Woodpeckers. Both are uncommon-rare in SB county. Good ones. Spotted Owl is quickly becoming my primo target bird for the year. Hopefully we can get it before Dec. 31 2012.

Noteables from the weekend for the List:

Lewis's

White Headed wpecker

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Mountain Chickadee

Phainopepla

Stellar's Jay

Yellow Billed Magpie

Beth and I also had some contining odd CACKLING GEESE and a GREATER WHITE FRONTED GOOSE

Shit, long post - but I'M PUMPED!!!!!!!! Good birding weekend! YAAAHH!

ps. I added those 5 kev - then our internet went out. I'll complete the update now.

Joshua Tree

Liz and I did some backpacking in Joshua Tree this weekend.  Restoration Year birds were:

172. Cactus Wren

173. Rock Wren

174. Black-throated Sparrow

175. Western Screech Owl

The Western Screech was my first time calling in an owl on my own.  Liz and I were under a joshua tree, and the bird landed about six feet above our heads. [Thanks, Micah, for getting me to buy a speaker this weekend].

On the way back, we stopped at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve where we saw a Costa's Hummingbird (176).  Other good birds included Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, and a probable drab Vermilion Flycatcher (may have been a Say's).

PS.  Who got 5 birds since the 166 posting?

Figueroa Mountain

Hey gang,

I'm going up to Figueroa Mountain today, hoping for Golden Eagle and owls. If we are lucky and patient, we'll get a spotted owl - which would be utterly fantastic. Wish you were all here too.

Figueroa Mountain Earth Map

Luckily, I have the venerable Micah Schloss as my guide - and we should see some great stuff. Ben and Pete, you guys gotta get a Snowy Owl.

Kites

This afternoon/evening I went after mountain plovers and short-eared owls. I missed on both those birds, but was able to watch about 50 kites hunt a field. I have actually gone out on several quick walks this week. But Matt already got all the birds I have been seeing (Canvasback, Redhead, Spotted Towhee, etc.)

Up to 166

Great work with the updates everyone.  I went over the list and added Ruddy Turnstone from Barnegate Light.  I also added Savannah Sparrow from the Salton Sea, and Black Vulture from my time in PA.  We are up to 166.

I think I just saw a Golden-crowned Kinglet outside the Philosophy Department, which would be a life bird for me.  Tiny bird with a tiny bill, and a distinct white eyebrow.  But no golden crown, so I will need to check back later with binoculars.  The bird was reading Hegel.

[Note: Probably not the suspected bird, given the range/distribution.  But I'll keep checking that spot]

Three Salton Sea pictures

Sandhill Cranes flying to roost

Kevin's Flamingo's

Halfway There!

Two weeks into our big year goal of 300 birds, we are sitting pretty at 164 species. That is pretty incredible fellas. Of course a fast start is expected and we should plateau gradually for awhile. However, at this pace we are set to bag 4264 species. DO YOU BELIEVE?!

Well, this is the first post and I hope this blog works. Love, matt