A Brit abroad

Final fling

After working a horrendous 16-hour day to finish my conference talk before my imminent Canada trip, I decided to treat myself to another visit to the City of Davis Wetlands. The place was jam-packed with shorebirds, including my first Yolo Co. Snowy Plover, found by wader guru Jon King.

I also finally got to grips with Short-billed Dowitcher (a California tick).
In this rather blurry photo it's just about possible to make out the wingtip extending past the tail:

Here are a couple more photos featuring both Long-billed and Short-billed for you to mull over!

Hundreds of Wilson's Phalaropes were spinning, 7 Marbled Godwits (my first of the fall) flew in, and as usual, Western Sandpiper was super-abundant.

For those of you who care, my US lists as of today are:
Lower 48: 411
2004: 368
CA: 320
Yolo: 211
Bike: 143

That's all for now until August. Hasta luego!

Dowitcher difficulties

Inspired by Jon King's reports of Short-billed Dowitchers amongst the hundreds of Long-billeds at the weekend, I headed out to the City of Davis Wetlands with Caz, Z, and their daughter Hazel. Hazel had resourcefully made herself a pair of bins using two toilet rolls taped together - nothing like starting them young!

There was a much greater species diversity on this week's visit:

This Greater Yellowlegs was admiring its reflection...

... and this Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover (the first I've heard of this fall) posed nicely together.

I failed to convince myself that we'd seen any Short-billed Dowitchers. The closest I could get was these birds, which look pale underneath and have a reasonable amount of breast spotting. However, the paleness of the underparts could be due to moult and I'm not convinced the wings project beyond the tail tips. Having not seen the Pacific race of Short-billed Dowitcher I'd appreciate feedback from anyone who knows more about these things.

On the way out of the wetlands we spotted a couple of hundred Wilson's Phalaropes - a scene somewhat reminiscent of my recent visit to Mono Lake.

This is likely to be my last blog posting for a few weeks. Next week sees me jetting off to British Columbia, the Rockies and Toronto before attending conferences in Ann Arbor and Portland. Most of this time will be devoted to sightseeing, visiting friends, and work, but I dare say I'll have a few birding tales on my return!

East Sierras trip day 3: arid country

Our third and final day was devoted to searching for birds whose Californian range is almost exclusively limited to the eastern slopes of the Sierras. We got off to an excellent start, discovering 2+ Cordilleran Flycatchers (lifer) at the base of Lee Vining Canyon. This birdy spot also had a Green-tailed Towhee, American Dipper, Fox Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Townsend's Solitaire, Calliope Hummingbird and more smart Violet-Green Swallows to name but a few.

Our next destination was the desolate pinyon-juniper forest close to Westgard Pass. In spite of the heat (and the resulting dearth of bird activity), we succeeded in finding Golden Eagle, Black-throated Sparrow, Rock and Cactus Wrens, Black-throated Gray Warbler (a state bird for me) and a single Juniper Titmouse (a life bird, but hardly thrilling!). We also saw this controversial juvenile jay sp.:

Given the habitat and lack of any strong facial pattern, we assumed this was a Pinyon Jay. However, looking back at these photos I'm less convinced: I think a combination of the long tail (as long as the head and body together), relatively thick bill, and blue coloration limited to the wings and tail make this a young Western Scrub Jay. This bird certainly more closely resembles the illustration of juvenile interior race Western Scrub Jay than Pinyon Jay in Sibley. Having zero previous experience of both Scrub and Pinyon Jay babies though, I'd appreciate feedback on this bird from others more knowledgeable than myself!

On the drive home we had another bit of good luck - a brief stop at Tom's Place quickly yielded a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird, a state bird for me and a nice way to round off a fruitful weekend of birding.

East Sierras trip day 2: birding nightmare!

The main aim of today was to walk to the snow-covered scree slopes at the top of Lee Vining Canyon in search of two high-altitude species: Gray-crowned Rosy Finch and the introduced White-tailed Ptarmigan. It was a warm, still day, there were still plenty of snow patches around to scan and I was looking forward to hiking in this fantastic scenery.

Shortly after starting the walk, I noticed a fair number of mosquitoes around. I duly sprayed on some DEET and assumed that things would improve as we headed for the snow line - how wrong I was! All day I was plagued by a cloud of snow-melt mosquitoes, and received several bites on my face, neck and hands. So preoccupied was I with trying to swat the darn things that I didn't put on nearly enough sunscreen - by the end of the day my red, blotchy face was a pretty horrific sight!

We spent a total of 8 hours walking, scambling and climbing on the scree, which was hard work at this elevation. The final approach to the ridgetop involved a precarious looking climb up a snow-covered boulder field, which I gave up on halfway up. Marcel carried on.... and you can guess what's coming next! While I was navigating a safe climb down, Marcel spotted a White-tailed Ptarmigan on the other side of the ridge. Kind soul that he is, he brought down a couple of white ptarmigan feathers to show me - needless to say, I was not amused!

In spite of the pain of being gripped off and savaged by mosquitoes, the climb was not without reward. We did get excellent views of a smart male Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (a life bird for me), saw breeding White-crowned Sparrow and American Pipit, and a host of wildflowers.

My luck didn't particularly improve on a return trip to Yosemite - we dipped Black Swift for a second time, and had to turn back on Glacier Point Road before we reached good Blue Grouse habitat in order to dip Great Gray Owl again at dusk!

The dipping didn't end there either - I was awoken by loud voices and crashing at the campground at 3am. I put this down to inconsiderate campers and went back to sleep, only to discover next day that the source of the commotion was a Black Bear - the second time I've missed this species in two weeks. All in all, not a great day for me, but at least we got the Rosy Finch!

East Sierras trip day 1: Phalaropes galore

On Friday I joined Marcel Holyoak on a birding trip to seek out high montane and eastern slope specialities of the Sierra Nevada. We struck lucky early on, spotting a male Goshawk within minutes of arriving at the Shot Point lookout on Highway 89. The timing of our trip coincided with the blooming of several Sierran wildflowers, including this Blazing Star...

... and this brilliant thistle sp.

My personal highlight of this trip was a stop at Mono Lake, home to the famous Tufa Towers...

... and the superabundant endemic Mono Lake Alkali Fly. The density of this fly has to be seen to be believed - the shoreline is literally covered with these things! Of course, the birds are on to this, and the lake supports a large colony of California Gulls.

Huge numbers of Wilson's Phalaropes congregate here on fall migration to take advantage of the feast - we reckoned there were about 800 birds in this flock - and to think I saw my first ever Wilson's Phalaropes only two months ago!

Fellow birder and blogger Alison had once told me that Violet-Green Swallow was one of her favourite birds. I had seen plenty of these things in flight and frankly wasn't that impressed. However, today I saw this fine adult sitting in a tree, positively glowing violet and emerald, and I finally understood what all the fuss is about!

Our campground was at 10,000ft elevation, at the top of the picturesque Lee Vining Canyon.

Having set up the tent we drove back into Yosemite (my third visit in two months!) via Tioga Pass. Our first quarry was Black Swift at Bridalveil Falls. I thought this was a 'turn up and tick' species since it nests here, but I was gravely mistaken: half an hour of craning my neck to scrutinise the high-flying White-throated Swifts yielded nothing more remarkable than a Peregrine. On our return to the car, we discovered this bold Brown-headed Cowbird making use of the wing mirror as a convenient perch. It then proceeded to feed on the mass of dead flies on the windshield!

We spent the twilight hours around Chevron Meadow hoping for a fly-by Great Gray Owl - no such luck, but a nice selection of woodpeckers (White-headed, Williamson's Sapsucker, Flicker, Hairy) and a stunning array of wildflowers.

Western Sandpipers return!

After drawing a complete blank on migrant shorebirds last week, Caz, Z and I returned to the City of Davis Wetlands, where Jon King informed us that 200+ Western Sandpipers were feeding around tract 5. Sure enough, the sandpipers were still present, many still in their smart breeding plumage.

There were one or two Least Sandpipers mixed in with them, but we weren't able to pull a Semipalmated out of the flock. About 40 Long-billed Dowitchers were also showing well in their dapper breeding plumage. Otherwise, we heard one Whimbrel and saw 4 Greater Yellowlegs in addition to the throng of Stilts and Avocets.

This pair of Blue-winged Teal was already moulting into eclipse plumage:

The mammal highlight was 4 River Otters together, one of which caught and devoured a fish.

Apparently shorebird migration doesn't hit full swing for another month, so if we're getting hundreds of peeps now, can't wait to see what August has in store!

Independence Day weekend Day 3: Shasta Lake area

Today we began the long drive home to Davis, stopping off at the picturesque Mossbrae Falls in Dunsmuir. Amazingly, we spotted our fourth snake species of the trip, this tiny Ring-necked Snake.

The walk along the railroad to the falls was pretty quiet birdwise (probably due to the heat), although I did spot a couple of American Dippers along the river. The falls themselves were wider than they were tall, and cascaded through thick vegetation. They wouldn't have looked out of place in a rainforest!

Our last stop of the day was a short hike at Lake Shasta. By this point it was swelteringly hot - one had to feel sorry for the nesting Ospreys taking the brunt of the midday heat!

However hot I thought it was at Lake Shasta, it had to be cooler than spending the weekend in Davis - as I biked out to get my dinner at 7:30pm it was still 91F! Thanks to Abhi for organising this wonderful weekend - I hope I'll be able to join you, Lisa, Anna and Haining on another walk very soon!

Independence Day weekend Day 2: Lava Beds

Today I was awakened at 6am by the sound of singing American Robins and Western Wood-Pewees, so decided to explore the woods and lakeshore around the campground. In addition to yesterday's sightings, I had excellent prolonged views of a female MacGillivray's Warbler, Rufous Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Tanager, and heard a calling Sora from the nearby marsh.

After breakfast we drove through Klamath NWR, and were treated to the remarkable sight of a Long-tailed Weasel successfully capturing a Valley Garter Snake. I had never heard of weasels eating snakes - in fact, I thought it would be the other way round!

As we approached Lava Beds National Monument, I noted the only Sage Thrasher of the day. The landscape consists of huge tracts of black lava flows punctuated by the occasional cinder cone, all part of a massive shield volcano. Our first port of call was the Cave Loop, a series of accessible caves carved out by magma many millennia ago.

Here I am in the Sunshine Cave...

... and here's the rest of the group in the aptly-named Hopkins Chocolate Cave!

The caves were not devoid of wildlife either. This butterfly sp (post a comment below if you know the ID) was collecting mineral salts from a cave entrance....

... while this confused Checkerspot was making amorous advances at our car sidelights!

We saw this bat sp in the entrance of the Catacombs (again, ID help appreciated).

A Canyon Wren was nesting in the vast entrance of the Skull Cave. To get a sense of scale, note the people in the bottom right of the picture.

Captain Jack's Stronghold held a nice variety of wildlife, including several Monarch butterflies, a Blue-eyed Darner (dragonfly), Purple Finch, Spotted Towhee and numerous Rock Wrens. The drive to Petroglyph Rock allowed more nice looks at White Pelicans and White-faced Ibis, while Anna our driver was hard at work trying to dodge suicidal California Quails, Jackrabbits and this Gopher Snake!

Petroglyph Rock is an impressive monolith dotted with ancient paintings by the Modoc Indians and droppings from the huge colony of Cliff Swallows and White-throated Swifts.

Common Nighthawks accompanied us to our last destination - the climb up Schonchin Butte in time to see the sunset over the mountains.

These Ravens were watched soaring around the Butte...

... before heading off to roost past Mount Shasta.

As we started or descent, a lone Purple Martin was still hawking high above our heads. One of the highlights of my day was fulfilling a lifelong dream of seeing my first Rattlesnake (a Western) curled up under a bush - apparently it was out on the path on the way up, and miraculously I managed not to step on it!

We arrived at our lodgings just in time to see a Great Horned Owl sitting on a telegraph post, and rounded off a very satisfying day watching the July 4th fireworks in Tulelake.

Independence Day weekend Day 1: Crater Lake

This weekend again saw birds playing second fiddle to stunning scenery, as I participated in a hiking trip to northern California and Oregon. Our party was truly international, consisting of Haining from China, Abhi from India, Anna from Sweden, Lisa from Australia and myself from Britain! Today we took the long drive up I5 to reach the wonderful Crater Lake, a vast, impossibly blue lake in a volcanic cone surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

In this photo, one of the few crags rising from the lake can be seen - this one is known as 'The Ship':

Our attempts to climb to the rim of the crater were thwarted by heavy snow cover, but we still reached some pretty spectacular scenery.

Here's a nice group shot (L-R me, Anna, Lisa, Abhi, Haining)

As for wildlife, we saw several Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels and Chipmunk spp, as well as a single Yellow-bellied Marmot. Birding was also good, with adult Bald Eagle, Cassin's Finch, Pine Siskin, Mountain Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Violet-Green Swallow, Steller's Jay and Clark's Nutcracker (pictured below) all relatively easy to find. Unfortunately we didn't run into the Gray Jays or Rosy Finches which are also supposed to be in the area - however, I won't need much persuading to make a return visit!

Our lodgings for the night were at the Rocky Point campground, in pine forest at the edge of Upper Klamath Lake. As well as superb lake vistas, this place was teeming with birds, including nesting Red-breasted Sapsucker, Bullock's Oriole, Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers, Cassin's Vireo and Black-headed Grosbeak. The lake itself held large numbers of Black Terns along with a few Caspian and Forster's, plus White Pelican, Sandhill Crane, Western and Pied-billed Grebes, and this Belted Kingfisher.

The day was rounded off in the best possible way with good company, beer and excellent Mexican food in Klamath Falls.

Davis Wetlands and Yolo Bypass

My colleague Caz is hoping to start work on a project modelling Western Sandpiper movements, and when the first reports of returning migrants appeared on Central Valley Birds yesterday, she didn't need much persuading to head out to the wetlands! Our first stop today was the City of Davis Wetlands. Hundreds of swallows were already gathering on the wires around the treatment ponds, including my first US Bank Swallows (aka Sand Martins). Unfortunately both birds I tried to photograph decided to preen at exactly the wrong moment. The diagnostic breast band is just about visible in the first photo, and the size difference between the larger Cliff and Tree Swallows and the smaller Bank Swallow is hopefully apparent.

In spite of a wealth of suitable shoreline, we failed to locate any migrant shorebirds (though I had a flock of 15 very distant peeps flying off). Instead we had to content ourselves with the resident Avocets and Stilts.

Other birds of interest here included Clark's Grebe, several Redhead and White Pelicans, and one drake each of Goldeneye, American Wigeon and Lesser Scaup. Huge numbers of dragonflies were swarming over the road, inlcuding this fine Variegated Meadowhawk.

The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area was much quieter, with very little in the way of suitable shorebird habitat (though I believe this is soon to change). Highlight was probably a first-summer male Blue Grosbeak, a life bird for Caz and a plumage tick for me!

More on Yosemite, Purple Martins and Winters

You may recall that I struggled to keep pace with a young guy named Liam while climbing Half Dome in Yosemite last weekend. Well, after reading my blog entry, Liam emailed me to say that he and several others SAW a family party of Blue Grouse while I was trailing behind (this would have been a life bird for me). To add insult to injury, he even sent me a photo of mother and chick (bear in mind he's not a birder - this was taken through a digital camera with no zoom). Now that's what I call a gripper!

Local Purple Martin expert Dan Airola gave me some excellent feedback on the bird I saw yesterday. It seems that the bird is most likely to be a second year male based on the amount of dark feathering on the head, breast, flanks, and the few purple feathers in the crown and scapulars. It may well be one of the birds fledged from this site last year (where they nested for the first time). I've added a few more photos below illustrating the salient plumage features.

Purple Martins in the Sacramento area are entirely reliant on the weep-holes in the undersides of freeway bridges to nest in (Starlings have long since extirpated them from nesting in buildings). They first nested under bridges in the mid 1960s, and the population had increased to 135 nesting pairs by 2002. Hopefully the population will continue to increase and we'll see more of them using the bridge in Davis.

A return visit to Winters failed to produce both the Eastern Pewee and the Hooded Orioles. However, I did get some nice shots of a juvenile Northern Rough-winged Swallow,...

... a male Tree Swallow...

... and a Lark Sparrow.

Quite a birdy little spot!