I have not been posting to this blog as much, but I have started up a new one describing a job that I have at a local park. I am removing non-native plants and promoting the growth of native plants for the benefit of birds and other wildlife. To read more about it, click HERE! Enjoy!
Ahh, finally. I’m blogging again, this time for a very special purpose! Not much has changed in my life, other than the amount of school work that I get from day to day. From the time that I stopped blogging about California birding, I have entered the ABA’s Young Birder of the Year contest, and should be getting the results in approximately one week. But now to the good part….
Tomorrow I will be getting up at 5:00 and leaving to go to Costa Rica for my newest birding expedition. I will say that this should be good material to blog about. Although I would like to, I cannot say that I will blog about the whole trip, as I don’t want to let you down like I did with the west coast trip. But I don’t want to discourage you from checking my blog this next week for Costa Rica posts, as I have taken some precautionary measures in order to make the blogging quick but as thorough as possible. First, I will have a notebook in the field in order to make a sort of rough draft of my blog while I am birding. By writing my preliminary thoughts, the process of copying and revising will be made much less complicated. Additionally, our birding will be ending at a reasonable time every night, followed by eating dinner on site at the lodge. That means that I will have a decent amount of time to gather my thoughts and blog them.
We will be staying in Costa Rica for seven days, Saturday to Saturday. We will arrive in the city of San Jose around one o’ clock in the afternoon. From there we will drive to Rancho Naturalista, near the town of Tuis. We will be staying there for three nights, and then will be travelling to Savegre Hotel and Lodge, where we will stay for four nights.
For Costa Rica blog posts, I will be changing the style from the California blog posts. Instead of taking the majority of my lifers and describing them, I will probably take five or six lifers and describe them, as I expect to have around fifty lifers the first day, and then twenty to thirty from then on. I will then devote the rest of each post to describing the birding of the day.
It is amazing to imagine that in just a few short hours, I will be on a plane headed to a foreign country where I will be engulfed in the antics of Montezuma Oropendola, White-necked Jacobin, and Bay-headed Tanager!
Be sure to check tomorrow to read about my first day in Costa Rica!
Hasta pronto!
On May 21, after the long day birding the previous day, I was up and ready to go. This morning, we planned to go to Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, in Foothill Ranch, CA. I didn’t know what was in stock yet for today, but nevertheless, I was incredibly excited.
We came to the park at about 9:30 a.m, and immediately upon stepping out of the car, the birding began.
My father said that his employer’s building has bird feeders to which the birds flock. He said that when we drove up to them, we would be sure to get an Acorn Woodpecker, a species that he has seen there many times before, and a potential lifer for me.
After wandering aimlessly among a group of House Finches and California Towhees for 10 minutes, there were no signs of any lifers. I decided to do a final scan of the scraggly bush in front of me. The weather at that point was overcast, making it difficult to see any beneficial fieldmarks, other than their silhouette. So, as I was scanning, when I picked up a silhouette of a large Woodpecker, I wasn’t ecstatic.
It wasn’t until the Woodpecker flew to the feeders that I could identify it, and then, with that, my target bird appeared out of thin air! The Acorn Woodpecker. Then there came another, and another. Three of the same target bird at the same time. ** Details of the Acorn Woodpecker will be described in the next post.
Then, I continued my scanning, and, also continuing were my lifers!
In some scrub next to the Acorn Woodpecker snag, there was a mixed flock of birds. The one that stood out was a black Cardinal with a bloodshot eye (maybe its nictitating membrane was dysfunctional). This was an incredible bird, in my opinion. I had never seen anything like it! My first Silky-Flycatcher, the Phainopepla. More on the Phainopepla will be mentioned in a later post as well.
The others were some House Finches (in their native range), and then one more, different-looking bird.
This mystery bird was a light brown color all over, it had a crest, and was relatively small, about House Finch size. A Titmouse. I was thinking in the past, so initially called this bird a Plain Titmouse (stupid of me), but then I remembered the only Titmouse that could be seen in that area was an Oak Titmouse.
The Plain Titmouse was split into two species, the Oak and Juniper Titmouse by the American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) in 1996, due to many distinct differences in the two species. The OATI that I saw has a range that is restricted to the coast and center of California, and northernmost Baja California.
The Juniper Titmouse, on the other hand, has a range that reaches, according to Cornell’s All About Birds, mainly the Great Basin area. The two species look almost identical, and, other than differences in range, are very difficult to tell apart.
After scanning for a mere 10 more minutes, we decided that there was no more bird life to be seen here, and so we drove to the main entrance of Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park.
The first bird that was to be seen at this side of the park was a Black Phoebe, what by then I dubbed “The Robins of Southern Cal” for the extreme ratio difference of Robins to Phoebes here compared to home (I probably saw about 75 individual Black Phoebes on the trip, while I only saw 1 possible Robin). It was hawking prey from a snag branch of a Sycamore, the exact behavior that I witnessed the day before. Along with hawking from the tree, it was using some lights as a lookout. The droppings reflected how often the park is used for the feeding of Black Phoebes…
We walked towards the main trail by a grouping of billboards. In a small tree to the right of the entrance, there was a large amount of activity. Upon closer inspection, the birds were Bushtits, and then there was one puzzler.
The puzzler was of a drab tan/cream white color. It had an off-white supercilium, and had the body of a vireo or warbler. It was a Warbling Vireo. A VERY familiar face from back home. I thought that, although common in the area, it was a good find in a flock of Bushtits.
We made our way to the beginning of a sand trail. With chaparral encroaching on the path, we had to walk single file into unknown habitats harboring unknown avian life. The clouds were even clearing up. Exciting.
The familiar face from home, a Warbling Vireo
THIS is how you tell if the area is popular with the Black Phoebes
"The Robins of Southern Cal"
The silhouette of the Oak Titmouse
Not a great shot, but it gives you a good idea about how the California Towhee is colored.
Note the rust undertail coverts and vent of the California Towhee, similar to that of the Gray Catbird.
So, I left off at the birds in the field.
Along with the Western Bluebird, there were two other birds on the soccer nets, both Phoebes. Again, one was black and white, and the other was tan (with a yellowish tint to it’s stomach).
First, the black and white one.
The identification of this bird was very simple. First, you start with the type of bird that you are dealing with. Based on habits alone (hawking prey, and then flying back to hawking spot, bobbing tail), you could tell that this bird was a type of Flycatcher. Then, you want to be able to think of any Flycatcher that you know of that is black and white. There aren’t any that can be found in the United States that fit those colors and color patterns (white from the undertail coverts coming to a tip at the breast, and black everywhere else), other than the Black Phoebe. Studied closer, the range fits, so you have your match.
Now, the second Phoebe.
Again, this bird was easy to identify. Because of the habits (same as Black Phoebe) this bird can be placed in the Flycatcher family. The tan and yellow color on this Flycatcher is a little bit harder to work with, because tan is a much more universal color among the Flycatcher world. But, this bird was completely tan, with a bit of a yellowish tinge on its belly, a darker tan on it’s tail, and no prominent wing bars. Because of the area that this bird was seen, along with the reasons listed above, I came to the conclusion that it was a Say’s Phoebe.
So, with an additional two lifers for Pinecrest Park, we moved into the wooded section of the trail. For a distance, there was nothing besides the occasional Song Sparrow and a House Wren that made a nest in a bird house along the trail. Then, a shot of orange caught my eye. The bird that I saw was an unmistakable male Hooded Oriole. Up in a tree, the Oriole was out on a limb, giving me a excellent but quick look at it. With a black face, bib, wings, and tail, along with white wing bars, this bird has a stunning orange-yellow color everywhere else on it’s body (male only), making it appear that it is indeed hooded.
Then after it flew off, the activity in the woods really picked up. There were Bushtits in the bushes along our sides, Black Phoebes on tall snags, some other unidentified Flycatcher species flitting around, and a Wren on the ground, as well as a Warbler in a tree.
The Warbler in the tree was very easy to identify. Based on the overall yellow color with a bit of olive mixed in, and the midnight black cap, it was quickly identified as a Wilson’s Warbler. I assure you that if you are ever to see one (or if you already have), you will know it right away from this simple description. As far as standing out goes, it is sort of like Canada Geese… (almost as common, too)
And the Wren tricked me a bit. I could have guessed Bewick’s, but, from spending 8 years birding on the east coast, I automatically turned to Carolina. But, as you can take from the bird’s name, the Carolina Wren probably doesn’t show up in California 🙂 I think of the Bewick’s as the western Carolina, just think of it that way.
Just as we finished up those sightings, along with another one of those California Towhees, we walked a bit farther, and then came to the woods edge where there was a field. Unfortunately, we had to leave, as we were going to my father’s business’ annual party. But finally, right before we left, I was able to catch a Spotted Towhee, the second of three Towhee lifers in California. To identify this bird, just think, if you are familiar with the Eastern Towhee (as I am), then picture it with spots on its back and wings, and you have the Spotted Towhee (or my better name for it, the Western Eastern Towhee)!
Upon leaving, I got more and more excited about the coming day, as it would be the first full day of birding in CA!
See the resemblance between the Bewick's Wren (shown here) and the Carolina Wren?
The second Phoebe at Pinecrest Park, Say's Phoebe. Note the yellow-tinged belly.
Very, very similar to the Eastern Towhee back home.
I was very thankful that we were able to have such a kind friend up in Colorado who endorsed my love in birding. Without her kindness, I would have had six less lifers!
All of the places that I have gone on this trip have been so different from one another. On a larger scale, you have California compared to Colorado, and then those two compared to Pennsylvania. Then, on a smaller scale, you have Evergreen Lakehouse compared to Anza – Borrego Desert State Park (to be described in a future blog post!) So now, finally, I was just about to get a taste of California for the first time!
We arrived in California at about one o’ clock P.M, and then, by the time we got our things in the hotel and got situated (plus eating lunch), we got out birding at about three o’ clock.
Driving in the rental car from John Wayne International Airport to the hotel in Mission Viejo was probably one of the most memorable and exciting times of the trip. It sounds weird, but I felt the same way in Colorado. I think that it had a lot to do with feeling so anxious. I saw Swifts, Hawks and Hummingbirds, and, each time I spotted one, the thought raced through my mind that I may be missing out on a lifer. At that point, I just didn’t feel like looking at the birds (just kidding!)
Prior to leaving for California, I researched parks right around the hotel. I didn’t really care about the details (amount of habitat, specifically, because many of the parks in the area seemed more urban), because I figured that at any park, no matter what the circumstances, I would get a good number of lifers. The park I chose was Pinecrest Park.
Approximately 2 miles from our hotel, Pinecrest Park is located in Pinecrest, California. Included is a playground, a soccer field, a trail around the soccer field, and a trail through some woods.
Descending a slope to the trail around the field, I noticed quite a commotion in the bushes to my left. Of course, the birds were Bushtits. Bushtits have taken the place of Chickadees in California (as CA does not have any), if you can imagine that. For now, that is all I will say about Bushtits, as there are many other lifers to talk about in this post.
Along with the Bushtits, I noticed a lone California Towhee. If you are in the area (coast of Southern California), then this bird is not only easy to locate, but very easy to identify. An overall tannish-brown bird with a noticeably rusty vent (think Gray Catbird), and a subtly rusty face. Since it is the only bird on the California coast that looks like this, I could easily identify it as Lifer #2!
Then, while still in the same area, I noticed a Hummingbird. I then discovered that, because of the gorget pattern and color, that this was an Anna’s Hummingbird. Now, this was the first time that I got to witness the extraordinary display put on by a Hummingbird, for the Ruby-throats back home do not put on nearly as thrilling a show. What I saw was incredible. The male and female Anna’s were sitting together on a branch, and then all of a sudden the male burst off of the perch and slowly rose nearly 100 feet in the air, and then came down like a bullet next to the female once more, but now hovering. Then, this procedure was mimicked by the female. Incredible. But more on them later.
So, after three lifers, my luck was still not running out. Directly below the performing Anna’s Hummingbirds were two stunningly yellow Lesser Goldfinches. Not at all like our American Goldfinches back home (color pattern wise), the male Lessers have an olive color on their napes extending to their mantle, which is speckled with black. Their wings are black and white, and their caps are a slate black. Lastly, there is a prominent yellow extending from their chins down to their undertail coverts. They would play around in their giddy manner much like the American Goldfinches would, so you could easily guess that this bird was a Goldfinch.
Next (and this post keeps dragging on and on…), we turned our attention to the field. Flying across was a familiar sight. A House Sparrow. I have a hatred for them, but that is for an entirely new post.
Anyway, in the field were three distinctly different birds. One was black and white, one was tan, and the other was blue-gray. The blue-gray bird was a female Western Bluebird. The male of this species was described in an earlier post, and as for the female, if you can picture a female Eastern Bluebird, you’ve got it, it looks so similar (although the blue on the female Easterns is a bit lighter than the Westerns). The Western was behaving much like the Easterns back home – sitting atop a hawking perch, and then going down and snatching it’s prey.
Now, to give you a rest, I will tell you more about the black and white bird as well as the tan bird in the next post which will come very soon.
The female Western Bluebird (one from Colorado, actually. Didn't get a good picture here in Califonia).
A female Lesser Goldfinch. Slightly resembles the American Goldfinch, but still two distinct species.
The pesky murderous House Sparrow.
Driving in the direction of the airport on the same route that we came up the mountain on held so many wonders that we had been totally oblivious to the previous day. There is a prodigious difference between seeing snow-capped Rockies in the distance the whole way, and being blinded by white. Now I was able to see the true beauty of Colorado that I have heard rumors of so many times.
One of the many interesting sights we were able to see en route to today’s birding destination – Evergreen Lakehouse – was a vast pasture-like, fenced-in enclosure that held a grouping of Elk. One of them had come up to the part of the fence that bordered the road. We slowed down and eventually came to a stop directly next to him, and he ran in a peculiar way where his head was tilted back at a 75 degree angle, and so his neck was bulging out. Hilarious way to start out a day of birding!
Evergreen Lake was, as you can imagine, a large body of water. It was surrounded by pine trees and a neighboring golf course. Right on the waterfront was a substantially large cabin-like building (probably the “Lakehouse”), that’s purpose I didn’t quite understand. Find out more on the recreation area’s website, http://www.evergreenrecreation.com/facilities.php?id=10.
Immediately, the feeling pervaded me that this place would provide some great birding. There were open stretches of mowed grass (the golf course), the lake, and a large section of marshlands (through which there was an interpretive boardwalk).
Next to the parking lot there was a small fence that needed to be climbed in order to get onto the golf course. There was an interesting bird there that I couldn’t identify on the spot. I allowed the small, sparrow-sized bird to approach me so that I was able to snap a shot for ID purposes. The bird was an olive-tan color on all of its front side, with the exception of some subtle black streaking on its chest. All over its back side it was a dull, slate gray, other than some white wing bars and blackish wings. The gray extended through the crown to the very top of its beak, gradually coming down to a blunt point. It was traveling in a group of about five individuals, as well. This description fits that of an American Pipit, as I later found out.
Although not a lifer, seeing a Colorado American Pipit was really neat!
As I re-entered the lake property, I was greeted by the obnoxious but unique chorus of at least ten pairs of Red-Winged Blackbirds nesting in the marsh. We then headed off to start working the interpretive trail.
The boardwalk did not yield much avifauna, other than a couple of House Finches, and, of course, the Red-Wings, but the trail did lead off right next to the lake. Immediately, I began to scan. Unfortunately, without the aid of our scope, I couldn’t identify many of the far off waterfowl. The close ones were a different story.
There were Mallards, Canada Geese, Redheads, and then a Grebe. I was stuck between Clark’s and Western, so I took a picture.
I think of Clark’s and Western Grebes as pretty much the same bird (dumb, right?), so I only use one thing to distinguish between the two – the amount of black on their heads (the amount varies between species during different times of year).
During breeding season, Western Grebes have black extending down their head to their gape, no further. The Clark’s Grebe, on the other hand, only has black to the upper half of their eyes – that means the feathers around the gape will be relatively all snow white. That is the best ID tip that I could come up with, although there are probably plenty more.
Since my bird had black on the majority of its head, and definitely to the gape, I identified it as a Western Grebe.
Although the time was late morning, it was still bitterly cold, probably around 35 degrees F. The sky was clear, and, unusual to me, being from southeastern PA, the air was clear, leading to my first realization that I had been breathing “Mountain Air” (okay, PA air isn’t bad, I will admit, but there was just something indescribably different). Looking back on it now, I wish I could just stand there once more and take a deep breath of the crisp air, and pop back into PA…
We started to bird our way back to the car, and, with not much activity to stop us, we made it back quite quickly. With some spare time, I was able to catch a glimpse of a pair of Doves up in a sturdy snag. From the front, I passed them off as just Mourning Doves. But, as I had my binoculars focused on one, it turned its head to reveal a bold black “half-collar”, making it manifest that this bird was not a Mourning, but a Eurasian-Collared Dove.
According to this bird’s range, it has a sturdy population in the southeast section of the country, and a small group in the Orange County-LA area of Southern Cal, but they can be seen throughout the country. As for this bird’s native range, well, I’ll let you figure that one out on your own. Overall, this bird is a drab blue-gray, and all you need to know to identify this species is it’s unique black “half collar”. Although not native, still a beautiful bird.
It was about time for us to depart, and, with a deep melancholy in my soul, I came to the car, prepared to take one final look at the incredible beauty of Colorado that I hadn’t spent enough time to get to know. I could easily have spent weeks and weeks there, as it has replaced Atwater Quarry as my number ONE favorite place in the world (that I’ve been). Try to get out there sometime, if you get the chance!
So now, we are really Off to California!
The Eurasian Collared-Dove showing off his collar
The Eurasian Collared-Dove once again
Western Grebe on Evergreen Lake. Another harshly cropped image. If I cropped any further, the image would have been too distorted, unfortunately
A female Brown-Headed Cowbird along the boardwalk interpretive trail
The Pipit
An already cropped image of the mystery bird that was later discovered to be an American Pipit
Have you ever seen the sunrise over the Rockies? If you haven’t,you are missing out on a lot.
I awoke at 5:30 at the mountain house on May 20th, easily early enough to be able to catch some great views of the sunrise over the mountains. Our friend’s mountain house sits up high on a hill with no trees growing high enough to spoil the view of the mountains. So basically, when standing on the front deck, you can see for miles, and within those miles, you have ridges, conifer-covered mountains, and snow-capped mountains. It was beautiful.
Since I was not yet birding, I could really take time to absorb the lurid beauty of my surroundings. As I stood there and watched and waited for something to happen, the mountains turned a deep pink color, like that of cotton candy that one would get at a baseball game. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me right away, so I was unable to get a photograph of this exquisite natural phenomenon until after the color died down a bit later on.
After all that excitement, I got dressed, ate breakfast, and was ready to depart, not yet for southern California , but to do some more Colorado birding. Before departing to a birding location near the airport, I wanted to bird Pine once more.
Once again, I emerged from the warmth of the house and was greeted by the same crisp wintry air as the day before. As I started off with both adults, all you could hear was the crunch of the brittle snow beneath our feet. Then, as we followed the dirt road around Pine, you could hear the bird activity picking up.
We started to see branches shaking and hear birds calling; the overall atmosphere reverberating with birds. We had Black-Chinned Hummingbirds zipping by, Mountain Chickadees flitting in the tops of pine trees, and a Chocolate Lab bounding towards us… uh oh!
One of my only fears are dogs bigger than me, especially fast ones. This thing was sprinting towards us at full speed, and not slowing down, so our friend simply stepped towards the dog, and started talking to it in a soft, steady voice. Sure enough, the dog was a teddy bear! Anyway, I was wondering if this sort of talk would work on birds, if, say, you have a great closeup look at one, and you don’t want it to be spooked and fly. If you talk to it like that, maybe it would stay.
We rounded a bend in the road, and came to the house of the “Creeper”. There was even more activity at his stations than the day before. This time, we got excellent views (did I mention that there was hardly a cloud in the sky?) of Mountain Chickadees, a Black-Capped Chickadee, and a couple of Evening Grosbeaks. With those kinds of temptations, I couldn’t resist inching my way onto his property once again.
There was only a subtle difference between the dirt road and my location on the man’s property when Mr. Creeper came out his door once again. I immediately hopped back onto the road. Angry and hateful as ever, he stepped onto his snow, and, not approaching us any further, started to converse with us.
This is the actual conversation held between us and Creeper. I recorded it on my phone.
Family friend: Hello!
Creeper: Why is that kid on my property with binoculars?!
Friend: Well, this kid is a young birdwatcher!
Creeper: I don’t care if he is watching birds or not, it is illegal to trespass on someone else’s property.
Friend: Sir, he just saw some interesting birds at your –
Creeper: I tracked his footsteps all over my property yesterday *hence the name Creeper* (that was a lie. I ventured maybe ten feet max in two places on his property)
Friend: Well, we are sorry, and won’t bother you again. Have a nice day. Bye
Creeper: Bye
So, you can see I had a pretty interesting experience today, and, to top it all off, an instant after the Creeper went back inside, a beautiful male Steller’s Jay came to a nearby ground feeder! Lifer!
Clingin' to a tree
A poor picture of a Steller's Jay
A funny thing happens up in the mountains of Pine, Colorado during blizzards. The visibility increases for what seems to be just a moment, but then the snow slowly creeps back over the world, reducing your sight to what seems to be just the tip of your middle finger on an open hand with your arm stretched out at its farthest reaches.
Fortunately, after about four hours of being inside, the haze and snow showers lifted for an hour to allow some great, beautiful mountaintop birding!
As I stepped out of the warmth of the cabin-like house, I was hit with a shocking blast of 30-degree-Fahrenheit air. I was allowed to go within sight of the house, and I obeyed those boundaries (give or take ten or fifteen yards, for birding purposes 🙂 ). To get an idea about how far I could go, I walked out until I could no longer see the house, and then birded my way back.
Although I heard calls in the distance, the surrounding woods were silent. I moved swiftly to the nearest grouping of calls. At this point, I got to really take in all of the beautiful snow-covered evergreens, undulating in the gentle breeze. I was able to really listen to the subtle crunch of the wet snow underfoot. Just the overall serenity of everything here – no sound of bulldozers, no sound of planes, only the curious sound the snow makes as it falls off of trees. Then, finally, I came upon the source of the calls.
To my surprise, there was a house that had a feeding station consisting of a couple of full feeders. The house had a REAL cabin design (like the type of wooden cabin that one may see at a campground), and was small compared to the others in the area. One story and made of wood, it looked like it had seen many years and many harsh winters up there in the mountains. It was certainly singular. The question was, would a singular person be living there?
Now, viewing the feeding station that undoubtedly had lifers on it from twenty yards away (yards meaning three feet, not yards meaning people’s properties) isn’t exciting, so I decided to get a closer look.
Sprinting to the nearest tree for cover from any watching eyes, I went onto the guy’s property. This brings up a perplexing argument.
Do birders have the right to trespass onto somebody’s property just because they have cool birds? I say no. BUT, I don’t think that, on the first offense, they should be reported to the police. I could see if I was a homeowner, and I saw a thirty-year-old guy with binoculars and a camera on my property, I may be upset (I really wouldn’t be though, because I would understand that he probably isn’t a Peeping Tom). The thing is, if a birder trespasses, they never mean any harm – never. That is why I unhesitatingly trespassed. From my point of view, I wasn’t doing any harm. I wasn’t getting uncomfortably close to the house, nor was I angled so I was pointing my binoculars at the house. From my perspective, what I was doing was fine.
I got incredible looks at the birds on the feeders. I saw the usual Pygmy Nuthatches (my fourth and final Nuthatch species of North America) and a huge flock of Chickadees. I wrote them off as just “Chickadee species”, but then I quit thinking that I was still in PA, and realized that there were only Black-Capped and Mountain Chickadees here, no Carolina, and these both have their own unique characteristics.
It was obvious that the Chickadees that I was seeing were not Black-Capped Chickadees. They had two distinct superciliary lines on either side of their head, dorsal to two, very prominent white lateral crown stripes. Then, below those, there was a black median crown stripe. The Black-Capped, on the other hand, has a completely black head, and none of that fancy stuff! So, I concluded that they were Mountain Chickadees – another lifer!
So, with a lifer already, I thought I should do some more exploring of this guy’s property.
Not traipsing too far onto the property looking for birds was a challenge – the guy’s feeders attracted so many birds! From afar, I did manage to pick up the steady, monotonous drumming of a Woodpecker. I closed in on the bird’s position, and discovered that the bird looked more like a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. This bird had a red cap with a bit of red caudal, a red throat, a yellowish chest and stomach speckled with black, and a black back with a white barred “U” shape extending to either side of the median. It was drilling on a type of conifer. Knowing that the Yellow-Bellied range doesn’t extend that far west, I crossed off that possibility, but still kept it in mind because it looked so similar.
Next in the Sapsucker possibility lineup was the Williamson’s Sapsucker. The adult Williamson’s were a definite NO, as the male has no red on it’s head (other than a bit on it’s throat) and a bold yellow stomach. The female Williamson’s looks more like a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, in my opinion, because of the heavy barring of the back.
Our third contestant, the Red-Bellied Sapsucker, was also a definite no. If not because of it’s range of the immediate west coastline, only extending as far east (in the United States) as central Utah, then because of the male’s striking red-rose head, extending caudally to it’s breast. The female looks very similar to the male.
Our final species possibility was the Red-Naped Sapsucker. This bird is probably the best match to the bird I saw. The range fits, the habitat fits, and the description fits. So, I decided that it was the Red-Naped Sapsucker, my second lifer of the day.
After all that, the owner of the property stepped out onto his lawn – or should I say snow -, crossed his arms, and stood there giving me the evil eye. Not wanting to have to deal with this creeper, especially because he wasn’t brown (I love employing bird puns, especially bad ones 🙂 ), I fled the scene.
When I arrived back at the house, my mom and our friend were just departing to do some birding along with me. But, as they were descending the outdoor stairs from the elevated deck, I noticed a little zip around the Hummingbird feeder placed strategically by our friend so she could see the feeding hummers from indoors. Upon putting my binos up to it, I confirmed it as a Black-Chinned Hummingbird.
Being one of two Hummingbird species in our area of Colorado, the bird was very easy to narrow down. The two choices were the Broad-Tailed or Black-Chinned hummer. Immediately I noticed that this bird had a black/purple gorget, a distinct characteristic of the Black-Chinned Hummingbird. To back up this identification even further, the Broad-Tailed has a red/pink gorget and a bright green back.
I then went inside of the house and grabbed my camera, feeling stupid that I did not have it with me previously. Upon returning outside, there was a clamor so great that I had no choice but to investigate.
I quickly found the source of the incredibly loud and vexing noise in my binoculars, and identified the large yellow birds as Evening Grosbeaks.
Evening Grosbeaks are typically seen in this area only in winter. They are a larger bird that usually travels in flocks. The males are mostly yellow, with a brownish head, black and white wings, and a black tail. The females are duller with more white on the wings and tail. They are also a member of the Finch family.
I noticed these birds in a flock of about eight or so individuals, which provided some cool and continual looks at this lifer. This was certainly one of the most exquisite birds that I saw on this trip.
With that, we departed to go back out birding, literally retracing my footsteps.
Soon we arrived back at the neighbor’s feeding station, and the creepy guy was no longer there. Because of that, I didn’t mention anything to either adult. But, soon enough, after I had shown the two all of the birds on the property, the man came out again, with that same disgusted countenance. Quickly, I jumped off of the guy’s property (there was a little drop-off until you came to the dirt road), and backed up until I no longer felt penetrated by his unblinking gaze.
Our friend, however, said that this man was quite friendly, and that she had known him since her mountain house was constructed. Having already seen all of the birds this feeding station had to offer, and seeing that I didn’t want to have anything to do with the man anymore, my mom and our friend willingly left to go back to the house.
Now, with the lifer total capitalizing to a whopping 6, I decided to end the day of birding, excited for all that was in store for tomorrow.
*As for the pictures that would normally be here, well, I wasn’t able to get any good ones, unfortunately, but I certainly did for Day 2, so stay tuned!
Before I start this post, I want to make it clear that I have failed to write about a number of previous trips, and I will be posting them at a later time.
So, May 19, 2011, I have begun my eight day odyssey into beautiful southern California. First, though, we will be stopping over in Denver, Colorado. We have a family friend there, and she would like to do some birding, so to start the journey, I’m going to have a little CO birding!
Approx. 9:30 am
We have landed!! Immediately, I am looking outside the plane and I am noticing some hawks. Unfortunately, I can’t identify them.
Now, we are meeting the family friend at the baggage claim, and we are about to walk out to the parking lot. In the parking lot, I am seeing House Sparrow (darn), Rock Pigeon (grrr…), European Starling (argh), and a Western Kingbird (woo-hoo!!!) The Kingbird isn’t a lifer (I saw one at Bombay Hook NWR last year), but still a cool western bird.
Approx. 11:00 am
Now, we are driving up to our friend’s mountain house. She is stopping at a few good parks along the scenic route, although the weather is overcast and drizzly. Our first stop was Lair O’ the Bear Park.
Lair O’ the Bear has proved very productive.
As we entered the main trail, off in the nearby grassland area, I saw a brushy area. There was a high amount of flitting inside of it, and, as I took a closer look, there was a Flycatcher species (so far unidentified, but most likely a lifer), multiple “Audubon’s” Yellow-Rumped Warbler (a western subspecies of the Yellow-Rumped Warbler), a Yellow Warbler, and Chipping Sparrow.
Then, we headed right where the trail branched in two, and along that found a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and Song Sparrow. This trail curved along a stream, and, my guess is that in nice weather, it would have attracted a good number of birds. The trail led us through a meandering woodland habitat, eventually leading to another spot where it branched in two.
At this point, we were in a field setting, and you could really feel the wind. The breeze brought along pelting bullets of a wintry mix (not rain and not snow, but in between), which didn’t make the excursion very enjoyable.
At the branch, we made a left, which took us through yet another wooded setting. Here, there was an odd noise to be heard. It was a very stately “chip”-like call, which was replied by the same call off in the distance. As we approached the call, I noticed the bird. It was a Flycatcher. It was frequently bobbing its tail (by frequently I mean about twice a second, no exaggerations), and was moving about quite a bit. It had olive upperparts with cream-color washed underparts (to my best recollection). It is still unidentified, but it seems to closely resemble a Hammond’s Flycatcher. If this is true, it would be the second lifer for the trip.
We continued up a bit, still in the unrelenting, poor weather. Then, as if out of nowhere, there was a cricket-like buzzing noise. Perched up on a branch above us was a female Hummingbird of some sort. In my days, I have only seen one kind of Hummingbird, the Ruby-Throated. In turn, this had to be a lifer. The only Hummingbirds readily seen in this part of Colorado are the Black-Chinned Hummingbird and Broad-Tailed Hummingbird. Since I only got a quick glimpse at the bird, and no photograph, I will have to leave it unidentified.
After the Hummingbird sighting, the weather started to get more intense, so we decided to head back to the car and drive on. There was one last stop that our friend wanted to show me, regardless of the weather. The next stop is to be O’Fallon Park.
The park was about a half an hour away from Lair O’ the Bear, and we were about to find out that it was worth the drive – and putting up with the poor weather!
The main section of O’Fallon was less coniferous forests and more grass, but as you got deeper, it converged back into the usual pine groves. The park borders a small stream that, as with the stream at Lair O’ the Bear, would have attracted a good amount of birds on a nicer day.
As we pulled into the park, I noticed some more Audubon’s Warblers, as well as an American Crow, and a couple of Mallards and Geese. Then, I spotted a blue bird. Thinking that I was still in the east, I immediately thought that the bird was an Eastern Bluebird, and then quickly changed my frame of mind to western birds, and reevaluated the species as a Western Bluebird. Sure enough, as I examined the bird more closely, it was a Western Bluebird.
Western and Eastern Bluebirds are not hard at all to tell apart. If the range of the two doesn’t already tell you, there is one other identification tip that almost never fails. The male Eastern Bluebird has a solid blue back. This is not the case with the Western species. Male Western Bluebirds have a chestnut patch below their nape, their most obvious field mark.
As we continued down the path, still in awful weather, there was a flock of finches. A yellowish bird that stood out appeared to be a Goldfinch. No closer inspection could be made, as the bird flew away at the first sign of us approaching. I did catch a very quick glimpse, and in that time I saw that it looked like a Lesser Goldfinch. With no proof that it wasn’t just an American, I decided not to count it as a lifer.
The males of both species are very easy to tell apart (not cutting myself any breaks, but in poor weather, and a second’s look, they aren’t). Lessers have black only on their cap, wings, and tail. Their backs are an olive-green color, and their breasts and stomachs are yellow. The Americans, on the other hand, have black on their cap, wings, and tail, and yellow everywhere else.
After that, we continued in the freezing (no pun intended) weather. All that were in front of us were Chipping Sparrows and American Robins. At that point, the weather started to become very intolerable. We decided to head back to the car and grab some lunch.
As we briskly walked to the car, I saw a small, gray bird that seemed like a sort of sparrow. Upon closer inspection, the bird was a “Gray-Headed” Dark-Eyed Junco. This is a Rocky Mountain region subspecies of the Dark-Eyed Junco. As you can see in my (poor) photograph, it has an overall gray body, but black around its eye, and a chestnut patch below its nape. All of the Junco shots in previous posts have been “Slate-Colored” Dark-Eyed Junco, common to northern United States.
With the end of that last sighting, we headed back to the car to go get some lunch. As we passed the creek at the entrance, I saw a Nuthatch. There are only three types of Nuthatches to be found in Colorado – Red-Breasted, White-Breasted, and Pygmy. I knew that it wasn’t the former two, so it had to be a Pygmy.
Out of the two, Pygmy Nuthatches resemble White-Breasted Nuthatches the most, although they still have very distinct differences. There is not a single ounce of red on them, so there is no resemblance whatsoever with Red-Breasted Nuthatches.
Male White-Breasted Nuthatches are full of a multitude of vivid colors. They have midnight black on their cap and nape leading down to around their shoulders, much of their wings, most obvious on their primaries, and on parts of their tail. They have a light blue-gray color on their back (transitioning with the black on shoulders), mixed in with the black on their wings, and mixed in with the black on their tail. Almost everywhere else on their body is white, with the exception of a very light rust color on their ventrals.
Male Pygmy Nuthatches have white on their throats and cheeks, leading all the way down to their stomach, where it changes into more of a gray color. The rest of their body is a deep gray color, with the exception of some obvious black (and some white) on their primaries.
With that, there were no more new birds to be seen, and I swore I was getting some frostbite!
Finally, we got out of the park and on our way to lunch. With two confirmed lifers so far today, I figure that I am doing well so far, but my birding day is now over because of the intense blizzard conditions, which would undoubtedly get worse as our altitude increased…
Personally, I think this subspecies of Junco is much more interesting than our "Slate-Colored" back at home
Although birded in poor weather, this small park high up in Colorado yielded a variety of birds new to me, being from Pennsylvania
This flycatcher was seen near Pine, Colorado on May 19th, 2011. It was frequently bobbing its tail (around two times a second, no exaggeration). Buffy-white front.
This flycatcher was seen near Pine, Colorado on May 19th, 2011. It was frequently bobbing its tail (around two times a second, no exaggeration). Buffy-white front.
Much different from our "Myrtle" back home
Although it has been a little over a month since my last post, I can assure you that my passion for birds (or writing) has not decreased at all. My lame excuses are – my parents have been busy with work around the house, and the weather has been awful lately on the weekends (but I have had time for a birding trip during this time, although that is for another post). The truth is, on the few days that were suitable for birdwatching (but I didn’t have anyone to take me birding), I have been in my backyard, not completely idle in the bird world. I have been making a trail.
In the very back of our property, there is a narrow strip of woods where the birds are often abundant. I have decided to clear a rustic path through those woods so I can see what birds my yard really can produce (“really” meaning not just at my feeders). I am very excited because come migration and breeding season, I believe there will be a plethora of species to be found.
My interest in the birding opportunities that my yard presents started one fall day at around dinnertime. We were eating outside when I noticed “flitting” in the tops of some of our trees. I grabbed my binoculars (unfortunately I didn’t have a scope) and went to the back (where the tree with activity was). I knew that I was dealing with Warblers, and, since I couldn’t tell what species they were, I just could hope that they came down to a lower level in the trees. My hope paid off.
Discouraged, I headed back to the table to agitated parents saying “We were in the middle of a meal. Why did you leave?”. I said “Well, I thought I saw some birds that I had never seen before.” Then, before they could reply, I was up out of my seat, and off to the back once again.
I slowly approached the back, careful not to scare my targets. Then, a small bird darted across my field of view. It landed and stayed put long enough for me to put a name to it. It was a Blackpoll Warbler. Excited at my discovery, I got a good final look at the Blackpoll and headed back to the dinner table.
I was now at the table, a wide grin stretching across my face. But instead of looking at me and lecturing me once again about leaving the dinner table, my parents had their binoculars and were staring through them at a looming Birch Tree situated next to our patio. I found what they were looking at, got a look at it through my binoculars. I identified it as a Northern Parula.
Now, I know that the majority of you are probably thinking “Umm… wow *sarcasm*! A Blackpoll and a Parula. Incredible sighting!” Don’t get me wrong, these species are beautiful birds, but seeing them in our area at that time of year is not rare to any extent. The thing that makes this sighting exciting, though, is the fact that I have never seen a Warbler in our yard (with the exception of a Yellow-Rumped a few years back), let alone two in one day! So, I can conclude from this that there are, in fact, Warblers in our yard, and it has merely been a case of me not being in the right place at the right time to see them!
So now I am very excited for migration this season so I can view, in my own backyard, many of the birds that I would usually travel many miles to see. Just one more note – I had said that I was excited for breeding season at “The Trail”. This is because there are many woodpecker cavities that I have noticed Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers all investigating, so I have a feeling that we’re going to have some nesting action!
Good birding!
This is the main part of my trail.
The Mayapple, one of the few native wildflowers growing along the trail.
One of the sections of my trail. Not yet a bird magnet, but Im hoping that come migration, it will be.
Another section of my trail.
Falling trees are a hazard of my trail, thanks to Poison Ivy, English Ivy, and Wild Grape. They have killed many of the trees along my trail (which is what makes it a prime area for Woodpecker watching).
Another section of my trail.
This is the main part of my trail (the clearest). I am not aiming to thin out the invasive groundcover species (most of the bushes in this shot) all right away because, for instance, the berries of the Japanese Multi Flora Rose is a favorite for species like Northern Mockingbird. Also, if the woods has limited ground cover, then I may just be working against myself - making the trail less desirable for birds instead of being able to view loads of them.
Birdkid's Blog 