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.