August 24, 2007
Last day birding
My last day of California birding, like so many others before, was due to start at 6am with Joan, though I managed to sleep through my alarm and we didn't get going until closer to 7. Both yellowlegs and a MacGillivray's Warbler at North Pond were highlights, and bumping into Steve Hampton for a chat saved us birding his local patch. Over at Woodland wastewater treatment ponds, the Peregrine was still on duty.
Masses of shorebirds continued, with roosting Long-billed Dowitchers forming doughnut shapes on the exposed mud.
Among them I was pleased to pick out my first juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher of the fall.
Note those diagnostic tiger-striped tertials.
A mixed flock of Avocets and phalaropes was feeding in the shallows.
I made a short digiscoped movie of a Wilson's Phalarope taking exception to a nearby Red-necked.
Sadly, we found a few casualties of collisions with the overhead wires. It was, however, interesting to see a Red-necked Phalarope close-up. I was impressed with its coot-like lobed feet for swimming.
A size comparison with a dead Western Sandpiper.
In the evening a bunch of birders assembled for a farewell trip around the City of Davis Wetlands and the Yolo Wildlife Area. In addition to enjoying the multitude of dowitchers, pelicans, ibis and gulls bathed in the evening light, Sami spotted this crowd-pleasing Virginia Rail peeping out from the cat-tails.
We rounded off my stay with a trip to Dos Coyotes Mexican restaurant for beer and burritos. Thanks to everyone who came along for a great send-off!
And now to the 'vital statistics'. Over the whole trip I recorded 204 bird species, including 3 life birds (Horned Puffin, Dusky Grouse and Himalayan Snowcock), bringing my ABA area list to 580, the puffin took my California list to 414, and Collared Dove, Roadrunner and Franklin's Gull on my first morning pushed my Yolo County list up to 255. Mammals proved to be an unexpected highlight - I recorded 35 species including two new ones (Porcupine and Mountain Goat). You can read the full trip list here:
Much as I loved my bird-fest of a vacation in California, the 6am starts and late nights must have taken their toll - after the long flight back to France I slept for a solid 12 hours and took another 2-hour siesta this afternoon!
The great snowcock chase
Fellow birder and blogger Alison is getting dangerously close to seeing 700 species in the US and Canada, so when she told me of a plan to go chasing the introduced Himalayan Snowcock in Nevada, I jumped at the chance. The alarm was set for 5:15 and by 6am Sid, Kevin, Rick, Alison and I were en route to the Ruby Mountains. The looong drive through Nevada passes through dry sagebrush country occasionally interspersed with interesting rock formations.
Birds were few and far between, save for some Sandhill Cranes in an irrigated field and some bonus Pronghorn at the roadside. Most of our lunch options were restaurants attached to the numerous casinos, and my fellow birders couldn't resist feeding the hungry slits...
Portions were generous...
... and the merchandise patriotic!
We took a break to bird Rye Patch Reservoir. The reservoir itself held Western and Clark's Grebes, plus a single Caspian Tern, but most of the interesting birds occurred around the well-vegetated campground. Breeding Blue Grosbeak, Laz Bunting and Say's Phoebe were augmented by a number of western migrants, including my only Nashville and Townsend's Warblers of the trip.
A good 12 hours after waking up, we arrived at Lamoille Canyon, picking up Lewis's Woodpecker and Clark's Nutcracker on the drive up. We started to walk the trail from the campground, noting Pine Siskins, MacGillivray's Warblers, numerous Brewer's Sparrows, and best of all the aptly-named Dusky Grouse as a lifer.
On drive back to Elko, 2 Bobolinks on a roadside fence were a pleasant surprise.
After a very bad night's sleep, the 3am start wasn't much fun, although my lifer Porcupine on the drive up made up for this. We began the hike up Island Lake trail in the dark, arriving in snowcock country at sunrise.
At first light there was lots of passerine activity, many Cassin's Finches...
and Brewer's Sparrows.
After an hour of fruitlessly scanning the rock faces for snowcock, I decided to take a wander, adding Gray-headed Junco, Virginia's Warbler, and Mountain Bluebird to the trip list.
Mammals proved to be a highlight, with several sightings of Mountain Goat (lifer)...
plus Pika (often spotted by its Red-breasted Nuthatch-like alarm call)
and Yellow-bellied Marmot.
These fritillary sp. were swarming over flowers in the washes.
After much searching, we decided to leave in the early afternoon and try again at 3am the following morning. We had the glum thought that maybe we were too late in the season (no snow, no calling birds), but a hearty soup in a Basque restaurant and an early night helped restore our spirits.
Next morning's 3am start was a little easier after a good night's sleep, but in the first 2 hours of daylight we again had no sightings. I decided to concentrate on scanning the ridgeline, under the assumption that the birds would have to walk or fly over into the valley, picking up a fly-by Prairie Falcon and perched Golden Eagle in the process.
Just as I was scoping a Mountain Goat on the ridgeline, another group from Utah picked up a Himalayan Snowcock. I was surprised to find them looking at the very same Mountain Goat, and even more surprised that the 'rock' to its right turned out to be the bird we were all looking for!
Using Sid's 60x lens I was able to convince myself that it really was a bird, and even managed a couple of recognizable shots through his scope with my camera on full zoom.
The birds can be really hard to pick out unless standing against the skyline - there are actually 3 snowcocks in the shot below...
Having achieved our goal, we headed down the mountain to start the 8+ hour drive home, stopping off for a cute chipmunk sp. (ID anyone?)...
... and some very photogenic Lewis' Woodpeckers.
As we left Elko, I counted up the trip list to find that we're dangerously close to 100 species. During the drive back we add some quality species like Mallard and Canada Goose, but it takes a pit stop at Donner state park to push us over 100 with Belted Kingfisher and Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Another chipmunk sp (Lodgepole?) to test your ID skills.
Nearing Sacramento our 103rd and final species for the trip tally was the Central Valley endemic Yellow-billed Magpie. Was it worth the 16-hour roundtrip drive and over 2 hours of uphill hiking in the dark at 10000ft for an oversized Chukar? Hell yeah!
Around Davis, up Capay and to the Sierra
In the week following the conference, I managed a few day trips where I tried to connect with as many birds (and birders) as possible. Joan picked me up at 6am almost every day in the quest for new Yolo County birds, notably several trips to the Rumsey bridge trying to pick out an Indigo Bunting from the masses of Lazuli Buntings attracted to the birdbath there. While we were unsuccessful in this, we did manage to see a great selection of what Yolo County had to offer. Here's a recently-fledged Black Phoebe in the Cache Creek settling basin.
I was really pleased that fellow blogger Chris and wife Kimya made it over from Sacramento for an evening's birding. In the afternoon heat, bird activity in the North Davis farms area remained low, although the ripening elderberries proved attractive to Nuttall's Woodpecker...
... and Western Tanager.
We visited an old favourite spot of mine, the Pedrick Road birdbath, and sure enough, 3 or 4 Wilson's Warblers put on a great show.
Joan joined us to trawl through dowitchers at the City of Davis Wetlands, followed by generous portions of Indian food at Raja's. Kimya and I discovered a shared nerdy love of the classic Dr Who series!
Next day, Sami, Karen and I met up for a trip to the Capay Valley, picking up another drive-by Collared Dove in Capay. We failed to find any Roadrunners at the top of Road 57, but did see fresh tracks.
Sami stopped at a spot where she had previously seen Cal Thrasher, and sure enough we were able to scope a singing bird. Another big surprise here was a singing Rufous-crowned Sparrow in what looked more like wintering habitat than its chaparral breeding grounds.
At the base of the Arbuckle grade we enjoyed a mixed flock of Western Bluebirds and Lark Sparrows.
Further up in the chaparral we were entertained by close views of a Wrentit, and the last remnants of water in Sand Creek yielded many Lawrence's Goldfinches, tricky to see (and even trickier to digiscope) in the dense vegetation.
In the open country along Dry Creek we spotted a surprise Rock Wren and no less than 3 different Roadrunners. This one was fairly close to the car when Sami picked it up, but by the time I got the scope on it, it was over the hills and far away.
Driving back down into Yolo we picked up an unseasonal Oregon Junco - perhaps it bred locally? Road 78A yielded little in the midday heat save for a mixed 'flock' of Turkeys and Mule Deer making use of the shaded almond groves.
On the drive back to Davis our parting gift was a large flock of c. 130 Swainson's Hawks chasing grasshoppers in a roadside field.
Marcel has been the most amazing host for much of this trip, driving me to pelagics and to the airport, giving me a place to stay, feeding me, taking care of my laundry etc etc, for which I'm eternally grateful. Marcel, Oz birder Hugh and I managed a day trip to the Sierra, starting at Donner State Park. Even if few birds were calling, there was much activity at this site, including my only Pygmy Nuthatches and Hermit Warbler of the trip. A woodpile here held a photogenic Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel...
... and a Green-tailed Towhee.
Perazzo Meadows is the traditional spot for Willow Flycatcher, and we duly found some in the increasingly strong wind, plus Clark's Nutcracker, Hairy Woodpecker and Williamson's Sapsucker. Adult and immature Bald Eagles made the drive to a nearby reservoir worthwhile. By the time we got to Yuba Pass it was dead, and we were all surprised to see that Sierra Valley, which normally holds breeding Sandhill Cranes and Willets, was bone dry. After turning up good numbers of Vesper and Brewer's Sparrows here, we hit the road back to Davis.
Back on the ocean
After a_VERY_cosy night spent in a tiny room in Mendocino, Alison, Marcel and I headed out on another Shearwater Journeys pelagic out of Fort Bragg. This trip offers one of the best chances of finding seabirds rarely recorded from the waters close to the CA coast (we had amazing views of a Hawaiian Petrel last year), and while this year didn't come up with a bird of that calibre, we did have some great views of many marine birds and mammals, in excellent company.
We spent much of the morning in dense fog, which made spotting bird flocks difficult. Nevertheless, we did have good close views of Common Murres...
Northern Fulmar...
... and Black-footed Albatross.
Humpback Whales were entertaining as ever.
I finally managed a photo of Northern Fur Seal which was more than just a pair of skyward-pointing flippers.
The fog eventually lifted and we were all relieved to be out in the warming sunshine. A pod of Risso's Dolphins just off the bow was a delight to watch.
One of them had a floppy dorsal fin, often observed in Orcas.
A couple of Dall's Porpoises rode the bow for a few minutes.
Avian highlight for me was a smart adult Sabine's Gull that allowed closer approach than usual, perhaps because it was undergoing wing moult.
A Rhino Auklet was hanging around just outside of the harbour.
On the drive back, we bumped into some Tule Elk close to Clear Lake, inlcuding this bellowing male.
Birding Alviso
Towards the end of the conference, I managed to assemble a motley crew of birders for a morning's shorebirding in the South Bay. This dozy-looking Peregrine had presumably just eaten.
We obtained some excellent views of Western Sandpipers. Many of the adults were still retaining their breeding plumage...
... but the first juveniles were also passing through (note shabby adult Least Sandpiper in the background).
Good numbers of Red-necked Phalarope were also present, including at least one bird retaining much of its breeding plumage.
The local Black-necked Stilts yelled in protest whenever we got close to the young of the year.
Black Skimmers breed here, and we were lucky enough to glimpse this very young chick.
A Gray Fox walking around in broad daylight was an excellent addition to the mammal list on the way out.
August 9, 2007
Big sur Condor extravaganza
On Sunday I got to sleep in until 645am - a real treat! Today was the start of the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting, and I took part in their field trip to beautiful Big Sur.
The aim of this trip was to see California Condors the easy way, by radio-tracking them. We stopped at a place overlooking a rocky beach holding several California Sealions. Amongst them was this golden Steller Sealion, complete with yellow flipper-tag (unfortunately too distant to read).
The radios indicated that condors were in the vicinity, but we saw nothing for a good 15 minutes. Were the birds perched out of sight, the other side of the ridge? In the end we found a group of 5 birds sitting with Turkey Vultures on the cliffs below. I got 3 of them and a tiny-looking TV in the same scope view.
However, the best was yet to come - a huge adult (no 94, a 9 year old male) flew directly underneath us and landed in a clump of pines not too far away, treating everyone to scope-filling views.
Here's the bird with wings spread digiscoped...
... and as viewed without the scope, to give an impression of size.
Just as we were due to leave, the bird took off and gave us dazzling overhead views. It was much better seeing them here than my last encounter of a bird eating a black refuse sack on the edge of LA!
After an enormous lunch we had a tour of the bird banding facilities of Big Sur Ornithology Lab. Unsurprisingly, no birds were mist-netted in the late afternoon, but a Golden Eagle over the ridgetops was some compensation. We decided to spend the rest of our time birding around Andrew Molera state park.
We still got a reasonable selection of the local birds (Nuttall's Woodpecker was a lifer for many), plus a couple of majestic Monarch butterflies.
Nick, a sharp-eyed birder from Missouri, pointed out a Bobcat to us, but it disappeared before I could brandish the camera. A covey of California Quail flushed into the middle of the bushes, allowing us decent scope views.
The journey back produced a couple of new birds (though confusion reigned when my announcement of Heerman's Gull was misheard as 'human skull'!) and some more fantastic Big Sur scenery.
Puffin, Pink-feet and pinnipeds in Monterey
No rest for the wicked - Marcel, John and I had to leave Davis at 330am to get to Monterey for a Shearwater Journeys pelagic (and just as well given my lousy map-reading - I clearly don't know the way to San Jose!). As the boat left port we had some close views of Pigeon Guillemot...
... a few Sea Otters...
... and an unexpected pod of Bottlenose Dolphins.
I was extremely lucky when a young birder on board found this gorgeous adult Horned Puffin at the kelp line - perhaps my most wanted bird on this visit. This species had undergone an unusual invasion along the California this year, but the birds have been disappearing fast over the last few weeks.
Out at sea it was cold an overcast - a real shock after the 100 degree heat in Davis. A good assortment of early fall seabirds were present. A particular highlight of the trip was really close views of Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, so full from feeding they could barely take off as the boat approached.
As expected, a number of Black-footed Albatross were picked up.
We had some great close encounters with Humpback Whales, including a couple of breaches.
The usual view of a Northern Fur Seal, with fins pointing skywards.
Other highlights out at sea were a Blue Shark, Pomarine Jaeger, 2 Ashy Storm-Petrels and a smattering of Sabine's Gulls.
Back at Fisherman's Wharf, the sun finally came out and made the world less monochrome. Several Heerman's Gulls were hanging out on the rocks.
All in all a very satisfying day and a good refresher on the common seabirds in preparation for next week's Fort Bragg extravaganza. Thanks to Marcel for lending me his old digital SLR!
August 8, 2007
Back in California and birding my brains out
Two flights, 4 trains, a car ride and 26 hours after leaving my house, I arrived in Davis at midnight. Of course, sleep was not on the agenda - there were birds to be seen! My old birding buddy Joan picked me up at 6am, and took me shopping for county birds. Our first stop was for Collared Dove, which has invaded Yolo in the last year or so - needless to say, we didn't stay long! We headed up Road 57 as the sun broke over the ridge, where we heard Roadrunner crooning (and saw Wile E Coyote) several times. By mid-morning, I was watching my third county tick in as many hours - the long-staying Franklin's Gull at the City of Davis Wetlands!
With the county tick shopping over, we were able to get on with some real birding. Among good numbers of birds at the Wetlands were these Wilson's Phalaropes.
After a brief jaunt around the Yolo Wildlife Area (which recently hosted a Curlew Sandpiper), I took a siesta and in the late afternoon went to the North Davis Pond. This is essentially a duck-pond in a city park, but is teeming with wildlife and an excellent place to get really close looks at migrating shorebirds. Long-billed Dowitchers were the most numerous....
... but Killdeer was surely the noisiest.
Many of the Greater Yellowlegs were still looking dapper in breeding plumage.
A Black-necked Stilt admiring its reflection.
A spotted Spotted Sandpiper was a nice surprise.
On the smaller of the ponds an American Coot allowed close approach.
Several dragonflies were hawking, including Widow Skimmer and Blue Dasher.
The next morning we found a promising selection of shorebirds at Woodland Wastewater ponds. This Peregrine was casting a watchful eye over them.
On the newly constructed stormwater pond, a Lesser Yellowlegs foraged close to the bank.
Among good numbers of Least and Western Sandpipers, we managed to turn up 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers.
A pair of young Western Kingbirds posed in gorgeous light.
In the evening I got invited for a delicious curry cooked in Alison and Allan's new solar cooker. I was 'fashionably late' thanks to this White-tailed Kite, who proceeded to catch and eat a vole in front of me.
When I got to their driveway, I found myself herding Turkeys on my bike!
It's great to be back. :-)