November 26, 2005
Thanksgiving bike tour of Davis
In order to be truly prepared for the onslaught of food consumed over Thanksgiving, I decided to do a grand birding tour of Davis by bike. An early morning stop at Slide Hill failed to produced Mountain Chickadee (see next entry), so I pressed on for Willowbank Ditch. I was soon greeted by the wintering Winter Wren, and a Western Tanager called nearby. Two Purple Finches along the bike path further west were only my second encounter of the species in Davis. Solano Park Garden was uneventful, so I stopped to photograph a Killdeer (it's hard to believe than in less than a month I won't be seeing - or hearing - this species for a long time).
The Arboretum held 4 Aleutian Geese and the long-staying (Ring-necked?) Parakeet. While checking the sparrow flock in the Putah Creek picnic ground I stumbled across my second Winter Wren of the day! The ploughed fields around Olive Tree Lane held many California Gulls, allowing me to study all three age classes.
A lone 1w Herring Gull sat among them.
I did better than usual at West Davis Pond, with a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a good count of 15 Wood Ducks in a single 'flock'.
In addition to many Wilson's Snipe and Moorhen, North Pond held a pair of Hooded Mergansers, a long overdue bike tick for me.
A Golden-crowned Kinglet on my way home rounded off a very satisfying morning of winter birding.
Posted by rjhall at November 26, 2005 5:26 AM