November 26, 2005
Mountain Chickadee!
Once the worst of the rain cleared, I got back on my bike to search once again for the Mountain Chickadee found by Michael Perrone, only the second ever county record and the first in my lifetime! After almost 2 hours of circling Slide Hill Park and nearby streets (and 2 failed visits before this), I finally heard the bird on the east side of the park. For the rest of the afternoon, the bird remained faithful to this same general area, allowing several observers eye-popping looks at it. Digiscoping hyperactive species like chickadees is never easy, but I did manage a few 'record shots' of this smart bird.
Joan, Roger, Betty and I continued to the Davis WWTP - no unusual species, but a very nice view of a perched White-tailed Kite...
... and a bizarre-looking California Gull with an aberrant head shape. Was this just aberrant feathering, or did the bird have some sort of tumour?
Joan and I ended the day watching one of the North Davis Merlins in its usual spot.
We joined Terry Colborn and crew for a delicious Chinese meal - a great way to celebrate my 249th county bird! With just under a month left, the pressure's on to find number 250...
Posted by rjhall at November 26, 2005 5:50 AM