September 23, 2005
Green-tailed Towhee!
Having joined in an abortive search for an Ovenbird and Northern Parula along Babel Slough, Chris Conard and I returned to Grasslands Park to look for yesterday's Green-tailed Towhee. Happily, Brent Campos and Mary Chambers were already on the bird when we arrived, and we were treated to excellent views of the bird foraging and preening. My photos came out a little grainy in the evening light, but I was nonetheless pleased to get reasonable shots of this skulking species - here are the best of them.
On the way out of the park we were treated to an early Say's Phoebe and a striking sunset over the foothills.
Return to Willapa Bay
I spent the first half of this week in beautiful Willapa Bay, WA, helping John Lambrinos collect data on the invasion of the bay by Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). The horrendously early starts (even for a birder) were at least rewarded by some good birds (including calling Pygmy Owl, my first White-fronted Geese of the year, Bald Eagles and Peregrines) and atmospheric sunrises.
We actually managed to finish up way ahead of schedule, thanks to the roaring success of the control measures implemented over the last two summers. Prior to control, much of the open mudflat had been invaded by huge stands of Spartina.
The response to the herbicide treatment has been dramatic.
Shorebirds seemed remarkably scarce out on the bay with just a few small groups of dowitchers and peeps encountered. This Western Sandpiper was missing many feathers on its nape, perhaps as a result of a Peregrine attack?
While the Spartina meadows are pretty much a dead zone for birdlife, we did hear the occasional Virginia Rail and Marsh Wren (here's a nest of the latter species).
We reached many of our sites by airboat, ably steered by Brian.
Perhaps rashly, he allowed me to take the helm!
As usual, I managed to get myself stuck knee-deep in mud.
Brian to the rescue!
Home and (not very) dry.
When the tide was too high to continue fieldwork, I managed to squeeze in a little birding. We visited Tokeland marina in the hope of finding the reported Bar-tailed Godwit. In spite of finding a sizeable roost of Marbled Godwits, the pesky bird chose to roost elsewhere that day - grrrrr....
Also present at the marina were a few Willets and this Whimbrel.
A beach walk at Long Beach produced thousands of Sooty Shearwaters streaming by fairly close inshore.
The beach also held large numbers of gulls, including many Heerman's.
The weather was fantastic for the duration of our stay, and we were even able to watch some lovely Pacific sunsets from our hotel rooms.
On the flight back we got panoramic views of Portland,
... the Columbia River heading towards Mount Hood...
... and many volcanos including the Three Sisters.
On arrival in Davis at 6pm, I had an answerphone message from Joan about a Green-tailed Towhee in Grasslands Park, south of Davis. I rapidly sweet-talked my housemate into giving me a ride down there, and finally got a glimpse of the bird in the fading light at 7pm - my 247th species in Yolo County!
Team Spartina
More tales from the birdbath
Things have quietened down at the Pedrick Road birdbath of late, with the exception of 2 flyover Lawrence's Goldfinch (a bike tick!). Nonetheless, excellent views are still possible of species such as Orange-crowned and Black-throated Gray Warbler.
I'm still struggling to get a good shot of a Common Yellowthroat though...
The birdbath in my garden has failed to attract any migrants so far, but at least the Scrub-Jays are enjoying it!
Sparrows have arrived back in force this week - this shot of an alert-looking Lincoln's Sparrow was taken today in Solano Park Garden...
... and this smart White-crowned Sparrow was in Grasslands Park.
September 17, 2005
Return to Road 41
This morning at 4:30am (yuck!), Chris Conard and I returned to County Road 41 for another shot at Poorwill and Roadrunner. While we failed to find the former pre-dawn, we were treated to a Gray Fox in the road and several vocal Western Screech-Owls. In the course of driving back and forth along the road in search of the latter, we came across lots of Rock Wrens, 1 or 2 smart Lewis's Woodpeckers and a few singing California Thrashers. I managed a 'record shot' of a flying Golden Eagle...
... and this perched Prairie Falcon, who refused to face the camera because it spotted a California Ground Squirrel...
... which came to a sticky end!
Eventually, perseverence paid off and we were treated to 10 seconds of Roadrunner, which evaporated before I had a chance to set up the camera.
On the way back down we stopped at another birdbath which was almost continually attended by Lawrence's Goldfinches. It was hard to estimate numbers with all the comings and goings, but assuming that we weren't dealing with just a few very thirsty birds, we may have seen as many as 50 individuals!
Also enjoying a bath was this Western Wood-Pewee...
... and a Sage Sparrow.
Hermit Thrush bathtime
Another very early Hermit Thrush has been hanging around the Pedrick Road birdbath for the last few days, allowing for good photographic opportunities of this normally skulking species.
In the birdbath
It was joined by a Wilson's Warbler which seemed to mimic its every move!
Drying off
Birdbath warblers
Here's the latest assortment of warblers from the Pedrick Road birdbath. No eastern vagrants.... yet!
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warbler
A grey-headed Orange-crowned Warbler - race celata or a dull immature of the Pacific race?
Coming in to land....
An early Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's, Yellow and Black-throated Gray
In a lull...
Since the early arrival of several wintering species, things have quietened down bird-wise around Davis. On my way to the Pedrick Road birdbath, I spotted these two Yellow-billed Magpie corpses, a worrying sign of the spread of West Nile Virus through this sensitive endemic population.
My wintering sparrow species count is now up to 6, with the addition of a Golden-crowned and this obliging Savannah Sparrow.
Even when activity at the birdbath is low, this Black Phoebe is a constant companion.
Finally, the back ends of two 'quizbirds', the former at the Pedrick birdbath and the latter in my garden. Click below to find out the answers.
Quizbird 1: House Wren
Quizbird 2: Bushtit
September 14, 2005
Christmas come early?
Something funny's going on with the fall migration. This morning, Betty Berteaux and I explored Grasslands regional park. In addition to the usual early fall migrants (the best of which was a showy Hermit Warbler), were two each of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers! Most surprising of all, however, was this Winter Wren, showing pretty well out in the open - and a county bird for Betty!
Down at the Pedrick Road bathing spot, a Hermit Thrush, another Ruby-crowned Kinglet and four species of sparrow (Fox, Lincoln's, White-crowned and Song) added to the wintry feel. Coupled with yesterday's Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and recent reports of Brown Creeper and Varied Thrush in Davis, one could be mistaken for thinking it was mid-December!
More bathing beauties
The Pedrick Road 'birdbath' along Putah Creek continues to draw in interesting birds, most notable of which was yesterday's Chestnut-backed Chickadee, the first one seen in the Central Valley this year! Here are a few shots of some of the regular (and less regular) visitors.
3 Wilson's and a Yellow Warbler
Close-up of a Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler and House Finch
A juv Lazuli Bunting
One of the many Willow Flycatchers
Western Tanager
I'd finally lined up a shot of my first Fox Sparrow of the fall, only to have it ruined by a fly-by Yellow Warbler!
Babel birding
After a productive morning's birding with Joan at Babel Slough (Yellow-breasted Chat and the earliest county record of Hermit Thrush being the highlights), I decided to join the Yolo Audubon field trip to the same location the next day. Turned out to be a good idea, as we spotted a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, the third county record and an adult male as that! Unfortunately the bird gave flight views only, and in spite of searching for it for pretty much the rest of the day, there was no further sign.
On the upside, the place was teeming with good birds for most of the day - we saw almost all of the regular fall migrants, and a bit more besides including several Vaux's Swifts, a Yellow-breasted Chat which finally gave itself up for the camera,
and Cassin's Vireo.
Good to see West Nile hasn't decimated the local Yellow-billed Magpie population!
Other birds which posed nicely during the day include Pacific-slope Flycatcher...
...Red-shouldered Hawk...
... and Western Tanager.
East to west
Last Saturday Joan and I spent the morning birding at Babel Slough (see next entry), stopping off at Bridgeway Island Pond on the way back. Since the City of Davis Wetlands has practically dried out, we wondered where the thousands of dowitchers had gone... now I think we know!
Other shorebirds here included Spotted, Least and Western Sandpipers, plus a single Semipalmated Plover.
In the afternoon, Chris, Kimya, Sami, Karen and I squeezed into a car in search of some hard to come by Central Valley species. We successfully located a Marbled Godwit for Chris, but perhaps more surprising was this freshly-dead Wilson's Snipe in the road.
Our afternoon drive up County Road 41 produced very low numbers of birds (perhaps due to the late hour), but we enjoyed watching bathing Lark Sparrows, a close-up view of a Wrentit, and this vocal Hairy Woodpecker.
Once over the summit, we were treated to a few Lawrence's Goldfinches bathing in the road.
Our dusk search for Common Poorwill was unsuccessful, but we did spot a Bobcat in the headlights - a county tick!
September 8, 2005
Hunting Snowy Egrets
The shallow water levels in North Pond provide ideal fishing conditions for Snowy Egrets. I took many photographs of these beautiful birds as they waited, motionless, in ambush for their prey. They looked particularly pretty bathed in the warm evening light, with the ripples from the water reflected on their undersides.
North Pond shorebirding
A visit to Davis North Pond provides a wonderful opportunity for a close-up study of shorebirds. On one memorable evening it was possible to have side-by-side comparisons of both Yellowlegs and Dowitcher species!
Another shot of the juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher showing the diagnostic 'tiger-striped' tertials...
... and for comparison, here's a juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher which showed up a few days later.
The evening light also provides excellent photographic opportunities. Here are a few shots of resting and preening Greater Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers.
Pedrick Road - migration hotspot!
The fall passerine migration is now in full swing, and naturally my thoughts have turned to seeking out the rarities. After finding my first county Blackpoll Warbler bathing in Putah Creek last year, I've decided that sitting and waiting for the bathing birds to come to me is as good a strategy as any! My first excursion out to Putah Creek was rather strange: first off, I spotted a raucous Yellow-headed Parrot next to the airport!
Second, said parrot was scared away by this hot air balloon, which proceeded to land in the field next to me!
This year's chosen bathing spot is again close to the Pedrick Road bridge. I'm endeavouring to keep a list of all species encountered at this spot, which I'll post at the end of the migration season. I've only managed 3 visits here this fall, and the signs are already very promising. Best bird so far was a young Yellow-breasted Chat, my first visual of this species in Yolo County! This Spotted Sandpiper was a surprise visitor to the very same bank as the chat.
Yesterday's Lincoln's Sparrow was on the early side, as was this Bewick's Wren (typically a winter visitor to this spot).
Below follows a selection of the 'bathing beauties' I've managed to photograph so far.
Black-headed Grosbeak
Western Tanager
Yellow Warblers
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Orange-crowned and Wilson's Warblers
Pelagic weekend
Saturday morning started off with one of many trips to the City of Davis Wetlands, which of late has been hosting mind-boggling numbers of shorebirds (10,000+ dowitchers!), though species diversity has been surprisingly low. Amongst the hordes of Long-billed were a handful of Short-billed Dowitchers (easy to distinguish since they are the only juvenile dowitchers present right now).
This Turkey Vulture chose an unusual place to wing-stretch!
Later in the day, Marcel, Magali and I headed down to the South Bay in an unsuccessful search for a Franklin's Gull. We did, however, get wonderful close-up views of Red-necked and Wilson's Phalaropes.
Watching White Pelicans take off is always impressive.
Continuing south to Davenport (Santa Cruz County), we were lucky enough to have crippling views of the Crested Caracara as it flew by - my 398th state bird and 11th raptor species for the day!
Next morning saw us up bright and early for a Debi Shearwater pelagic into Monterey Bay. A fairly standard list of pelagic birds was seen (Sab's Gull, South Polar Skua, Pom and Parasitic Jaeger, Ashy Storm-Petrel), including great views of Black-footed Albatross...
Buller's Shearwater...
and many Red-necked Phalaropes (where are all the Reds?).
Not for the first time this year, it was actually the non-avian marine life which stole the show for me. Two Pacific White-sided Dolphins gave us killer looks as they rode the bow.
Risso's Dolphins and Humpback Whales both made an appearance, as did my lifer Blue Shark. Perhaps the most unexpected sighting of the day was this airship hovering over the harbour!
September 1, 2005
UK birding
Since the Montreal conference took me almost halfway home, I decided to visit friends and family for a week in the UK. Birding time was limited, but I managed a couple of mornings out and about. First stop was the Westcliff seafront, where Neil and I watched a nice selection of British gulls and waders (we counted over 30 each of Med Gulls and Little Egrets - how times have changed!). Common, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls were very appreciative of Neil's leftovers....
We arrived at a very low tide, and saw some distant Common Seals hauled out on a sandbank - a Southend tick for me!
Next stop was Vange for more good shorebirds, including Ruff, Greenshank, both Ringed Plovers, Common and Green Sandpipers side by side,...
a few Avocets...
and many moulting Black-tailed Godwits.
Best birds were a couple of smart juvenile Curlew Sands.
On the land bird front, we had great views of a Goldfinch family on thistles.
At nearby Wat Tyler Country Park we heard at least 3 Cetti's Warblers, a purring Turtle Dove, and the distant pinging of Bearded Tits.
While visiting London, I spent a touristy day at Windsor Castle with Vicky. Aside from nesting House Martins, birds were scarce, but I was surprised to find a Red Fox sleeping on the grounds...
... and even spotted one of Her Majesty's Corgis!
Nearby on the Thames, this large group of Mute Swans looked pretty in the evening light.
A visit to Grafham Water with top county birder John Oates was disappointingly quiet, with a couple of Black Terns being the highlight. My Cambridgeshire list remains stranded at a tantalising 199!