June 21, 2005
Humboldt County birding
Last week saw me jetting up to Humboldt State University for a Natural Resource Modelling conference, which happily coincided with the Cooper Ornithological Society annual meeting. Between the 5am field trips and flitting between the two conferences, it was a pretty exhausting week! I arrived in brilliant sunshine, and was immediately impressed with the redwood-lined campus.
The air was filled with the songs of Varied and Swainson's Thrush, Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warblers, while Violet-Green Swallows sailed overhead. Nice! A reasonable number of Red Crossbills were on campus (the first I've seen in CA) and I got reasonable, but distant, views of this singing male.
Later in the evening I headed to Moonstone Beach with two UCDavis-ites (a tidepooler and a boulderer). My attempt to capture the rugged, wild nature of the coastline in a photograph was foiled by some plonker who decided to drive his big ol' truck on the beach!
There was a nice selection of birds around - Common Murres were constantly whizzing back and forth to their nest sites, and a lone Common Loon sat on the sea. This Double-crested Cormorant was feeding at close range in the channel...
... and was observed to swallow an impossibly large fish!
And then the weather changed. Following an offshore earthquake and a tsunami warning(!), we had three days of solid rain. The highlight of a morning trip to Humboldt Bay was wonderful views of this immature Common Loon, which called frequently.
Arcata Marsh was generally rather quiet, partly due to the time of year and partly due to the weather. However, we were treated to fantastic, eye-level looks at Vaux's Swift, Violet-Green Swallow and perched Purple Martins.
This bird had some blue feathers in the scapulars and the top of its head - does this make it an immature male?
This newt (Rough-skinned, I think, because of its pale eye) seemed unperturbed by the downpour)
With the two conferences I had two chances to explore the wonderful Prairie Creek Redwoods. I had seen old-growth redwoods before, but not over such a large area.
The trees weren't the only giants of the forest - some of the Banana Slugs were a fair size too!
Bird highlights on my first visit included Hairy and Pileated Woodpecker and a baby Varied Thrush, but mammals stole the show. Based on range, I guess this is a Shadow Chipmunk.
The Black-tailed Deer were sporting full antlers...
... as were the impressive Roosevelt Elk.
My second trip to the redwoods was more bird-oriented, and led by fellow Brit Rob Hewitt of LBJ enterprises. The horror of waking up at 4am was offset by the experience of watching the dawn flyout of Marbled Murrelets whizzing overhead while their calls echoed around the forest. The low light wasn't conducive to photography, and I only managed shots of a singing Swainson's Thrush...
... and a soggy-looking Steller's Jay.
We birded our way back south to Arcata, stopping off for Black-capped Chickadees at the Orick Dump (state bird for me and lifer for Costa Rican Alejandro). The weather brightened sufficiently that many birds came to dry out, including this American Goldfinch.
I also got my best ever views of Band-tailed Pigeons, which bizarrely chose to sit in low trees in the sand dunes!
We finished the trip with a walk on Clam Beach in an unsuccessful search for Snowy Plovers.
I thought my Humboldt birding experience had ended, but the excitement was only just beginning...
Posted by rjhall at June 21, 2005 6:36 PM