June 29, 2004
Winters wonderland
On Saturday, top Yolo County lister Andy Engilis struck birding gold along Putah Creek near Winters, when he found a singing Eastern Wood-Pewee, plus an impressive supporting cast of rare breeders in the county (Yellow Warbler and Pacific-slope Flycatcher). On two successive visits with Joan, we've failed to relocate the Pewee, but we'll probably give it one more try before conceding defeat. The best bird we found was Hooded Oriole nesting in nearby fan palms, unfortunately the wrong side of the county boundary, but close enough that the birds presumably cross the creek with some regularity.
Even in the absence of the Pewee, this is a nice spot to watch the breeding birds in action. I caught this Black Phoebe enjoying its morning preen...
... while this Spotted Towhee had yet to clean its bill after its berry breakfast.
Other birds noted in the area included Orange-crowned warbler, Ash-throated Flycatcher feeding young, Belted Kingfisher and Black-headed Grosbeak. Nice patch!
Posted by rjhall at June 29, 2004 6:43 PM