|
Sacramento and BeyondHome - Profile - Archives - Friends |
|
Recent Highlights, Catching up
- Posted at 7:51 PM on Friday, September 21, 2007 by Chris Conard On Monday, 9/17/07, I was able to add a new species to the Bufferlands bird list: Green-tailed Towhee. The list is now at 225 (I've seen 223 of them). This is only the second Green-tailed Towhee I have seen in Sacramento County--the other was at the Howard Ranch (then owned by the Nature Conservancy) way back in May of 2002.  This bird was foraging in the road at Upper Beach Lake at 1:45 in the afternoon. I saw it from my work vehicle. I didn't have time to try to show it to anyone that evening or the next day, and didn't find it in quick checks the following two mornings.On Sunday, 9/9/07, I got a call from Jeri Langham that he had found a Bay-breasted Warbler at the Gristmill access at the American River Parkway.  Kimya and I arrived at around noon. Several birders were there and hadn't refound it, so I wasn't all that hopeful as it grew hotter. My optimism was dropping after a half hour and little bird activity, then we heard the call go out that it had been found. We had several frustrating quick looks. This was a life bird for us--a shameful miss up to this point. I wanted a better look, so we lingered as others left when the bird had been out of sight again for 20 minutes. Kimya, Dan Kopp, and I slowly made our way back to the vehicles when a small flock passed us, containing the Bay-breasted.  The open structure of the non-native locust trees allow good views of birds--and good photo ops. Kimya found this large Northern Pacific Rattlesnake coiled at the base of one of the trees.  Several other good birds were reported at Gristmill in the following week and the Bay-breasted stayed a surprising six days. We visited a couple of other times. We didn't find any other rarities, but this very confiding Red-shouldered Hawk was nice.  The last two summers I have spent a lot of my time on the statewide Burrowing Owl Survey, coordinating the Sacramento County effort for the Institute for Bird Populations. Nearly 30 volunteers surveyed blocks within Sacramento County in the two breeding seasons. On 9/6-7 a coworker and I went to the Burrowing Owl Consortium/California Partners in Flight meeting in Davis. Kimya and I went on a nice tour of CA Audubon's Bobcat Ranch near Winters on 9/8. That eve, we returned to Davis to watch the large population of owls at the Yolo Ag Buffer along Wildhourse Golf Course. We saw 24 Burrowing Owls  And enjoyed a great sunset  Once the sun dropped below the Blue Ridge, the owls became very active. I was able to get some dark video of them hovering and flying about. One was chased briefly by a bat. Speaking of bats, we enjoyed a nice Sacramento Audubon evening tour of the Yolo Wildlife Area on 8/26, led by Maureen Geiger and Cathie LaZier. As we were leaving, the bats flew out from beneath the Yolo Causeway.  In late August it was nice to see Richard Hall again as he made a quick visit from France to the Davis area, with a quick trip to the Ruby Mountains. Did he see Himalayan Snowcock? Check his blog. I led a Sac Audubon trip to Bodega Bay on 8/19. We had a Rhinoceros Auklet at Bodega Head, a Black Oystercatcher feeding a chick, and a Wandering Tattler. This Common Murre swam nearby within the harbor.  The previous day, I joined John Trochet on his Tall Forest survey at Cosumnes River Preserve.  The highlight for me was finding what I first thought was a very bright beetle in the leaf litter.  It was a newly emerged Great Purple Hairstreak (fortunately John knows his butterflies). We put it on a tree and it pumped up its wings. In mid August, Kimya and I made a couple of morning trips to the Bufferlands. Early in migration, Wilson's Warblers are abundant. By now, mid-to-late September, Yellow Warblers are most numerous.  Walking along the American River near home, this invasive Mute Swan showed his large foot.  This bee didn't bother getting into the flower the conventional way. It chewed its way in from the side.  Back at the Bufferlands again on 8/5.  A Song Sparrow (foreground) feeding a nest parasite--a Brown-headed Cowbird.  I almost got a good picture (finally) of a Blue Grosbeak. Vegetation blocking the view made it a bit blurry.  Pacific-slope Flycatchers can also be quite abundant in migration--Bufferlands on 8/5.  Common Checkered Skipper at Bufferlands on 8/4.  On the Orr survey at Cosumnes River Preserve on 7/29, we had quite a few common Western migrants. After a stretch of walking through thick veg, John pointed out this garden spider on my pant leg.  On 7/29, Kimya and I joined Jack Hiehle for his annual Carson Pass trip, mostly devoted to plants. Kimya took this shot of a fritillary sp. that landed on my camera while I was trying to take its picture.  These two were more cooperative.  These Melissa Blues were abundant (distinctive because of the orange spots on the underside of both sets of wings--not just the hind wing).  A few Green-tailed Towhees were about.  Along with Mountain White-crowned Sparrows.  Yellow-bellied Marmots  And this drinking chipmunk (sp?).  At work on 7/16/07, this Green Heron was very cooperative.  An Olive Clubtail near home.  And many Sand Wasps burrowing into the ground.  In the last entry I neglected to mention that we went to our favorite Indian Restaurant, Raja, to celebrate the Curlew Sandpiper on 7/29/07. We didn't realize they were closed on Sundays. We were about to leave, when the owner came out and offered to make us food to go--he was catering a wedding. We had a nice talk with him over mango lassies as we waited for the food. A great way to end the day. On more thing: Yahoo photos closed so I transferred all of my photos to Flickr. It seems like a good photo storage site and I'll continue to add more photos. Post Comment
|
|
amazing Bay-breasted Warbler photos!
- Posted at 9:41 AM on Sunday, September 23, 2007 by rjhall Your Bufferlands list is very impressive - I really should try to get out there for a visit some time. Migration is kicking off in Europe - sadly I'm too busy applying for jobs to do anything about it :-( |
| Last Page :: Next Page |