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.