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Monday, March 1, 2021
Before I get into today, I want to show a couple of pictures from last week. I was down at Juanita Bay Park, but I didn't get anything for my February list, so I didn't write a report. I did get a couple of pictures of a male Spotted Towhee that I like, though, so here they are.
So, to today. A new month begins, and a new list for me. Before I left home this morning, I started my list with Mallard, American Crow, Spotted Towhee, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin, Song Sparrow, Steller's Jay, Feral Pigeon, European Starling, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and Anna's Hummingbird.
I headed north today, up to Skagit county, which is about an hour north of home. I got Red-tailed Hawk on the way, and when I got there I saw some swans and looked through them for a Tundra Swan, which is the less common of our two swan species, locally. I didn't find any, but I added the more common Trumpeter Swan to my list. I saw lots of Bald Eagles today, as usual in that area, and a Great Blue Heron flew across the road. There were gulls in a field, and I added Ring-billed Gull. There were American Wigeons in the same field, along with a few Northern Pintails. A Northern Harrier flew through, so it went on my list. There was a single Snow Goose in a muddy field, and I got this picture of it.
Snow Geese are usually in large flocks, and later I saw a huge flock, but this one was all on its own. In that same field was an immature Bald Eagle.
I drove through the Wylie Slough Reserve, hoping to find a Black Phoebe, but I missed that one today. On my way back to the freeway, I looked through another batch of swans, and this time I found a Tundra Swan.
The swan on the right is a Tundra Swan, with a yellow spot on its bill in front of its eye. The swan on the left is a Trumpeter Swan.
Next I drove up to the barn on Healy Road where I get Barn Owl each month. I have seen at least one on every visit for the last 10 months, and today was no exception. Along Cook Road, I also saw a male RING-NECKED PHEASANT, my first of the year.
After that I drove to the Samish Flats. I saw an American Kestrel in flight along Chuckanut Drive, and at one point there were a lot of American Wigeons in a flooded field. I found a Eurasian Wigeon in their midst. Along the Edison-Bay View Road, I spotted a Common Raven in a tree, and then a Rough-legged Hawk in a small tree. Here is the Rough-legged Hawk.
From that same point, I saw a Short-eared Owl flying around in the distance. I ate the first half of my sandwich at the West 90, but I didn't see anything new there. I drove to the overlook on Samish Island and looked around the bay with my scope. There were a lot of Surf Scoters, and then I saw some White-winged Scoters. Here are four male White-winged Scoters.
Here are some White-winged Scoters that include a couple of females, which are the ones without that little white squiggle over their eyes.
The two females are the birds on the far left and the far right. There was a male Common Goldeneye, and then I saw several Long-tailed Ducks, which was my main target there today. In the distance I saw dozens of Brant, which is a small goose seen on saltwater around here in the winter. As I drove away from there, I saw a couple of Eurasian Collared-Doves.
I headed toward home, and on D'Arcy Road, I got this picture of a female American Kestrel.
At the house with feeders on the corner of Valentine Road, I added House Sparrow to my list, but missed Purple Finch and Mourning Dove. I got this picture of a Pine Siskin.
Pine Siskins have variable amounts of yellow on their wings, and this one has a lot. A mature Bald Eagle flew in and posed for a couple of minutes. Here it is, kind of leaning forward.
It straightened up and stood tall for this next picture.
On Fir Island, along Maupin Road, I found the huge flock of Snow Geese. Here are some Snow Geese at the edge of the flock.
I stopped at Hayton Reserve, but the tide was way out, and there was very little around. I did see one Double-crested Cormorant in the distance and a few Green-winged Teal closer, but nothing else I needed. I drove through Wylie Slough Reserve again, but still couldn't find a Black Phoebe or anything else. There were a lot of Mew Gulls in a field near the reserve, and here is a picture of one of them.
Here is a male Northern Pintail.
I also noticed a couple of Canada Geese in the distance, and that was the last species I got for my list today.
I drove 192 miles today, and I was out there for about 7 hours. I started my March list with 43 species. The Ring-necked Pheasant brings my year list to 125 species.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Today I went over to the Snoqualmie River Valley, and my main target was American Dipper. It was supposed to be cloudy but dry, but instead it was drizzling when I left home. It sprinkled, and then it was raining lightly by the time I got to the valley. I drove across the valley, looking for birds in the light rain, but there were very few birds around. At Sikes Lake, I added Common Merganser, American Coot, and Pied-billed grebe to my March list. Here is a Pied-billed Grebe that I saw later in the day.
I continued across the valley in the light rain, and across the road from the old Carnation dairy, I saw a flock of geese. Most of them were Cackling Geese, which I needed for March. There were some Canada Geese there, too, but I had that one yesterday. At Chinook Bend, I added Northern Shoveler to my list.
By the time I got to the town of Carnation, the rain was stopping. At the house in Carnation with feeders, there were very few birds around. I waited in the car for five or ten minutes, and a few small birds started to come in, although there wasn't much seed out. Then a hawk swooped through, but it didn't catch a bird. It landed in the old apple tree in the yard, and I got out of the car and managed to get this one picture of the juvenile Cooper's Hawk, a good one for my list.
The owner of the house came out and we talked for a couple of minutes. He cleans his fence each day with a bleach solution, to help prevent a salmonella outbreak in small finches, and then he was going to put out more seed. I said I would be back later and moved on. I stopped at the Carnation Market and got a sandwich, and then I stopped at the Tolt River to look for dippers, but the water was too high. Next I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River. At the Blue Heron golf course, I took some pictures of birds on the pond. I had gotten Double-crested Cormorant yesterday, up at Hayton Reserve, but today I got this picture of two of them.
There were some Ring-necked Ducks on the pond, so that one went on my list. Here is a picture of a male Ring-necked Duck.
Here is a female Ring-necked Duck.
Here's the female and a couple of males.
I moved on to what I call my "sparrow spot" along that road, but today I could only call up a couple of Golden-crowned Sparrows, but at least I needed that one still. A little later I got these next two pictures of Golden-crowned Sparrows.
At the pond south of Jubilee Farms, I took this picture of a feral Muscovy Duck sitting on what looks like a nest to me. Being a feral escapee, it isn't countable, but I will be interested to see if some ducklings hatch.
Here is a Great Blue Heron sitting on a pole in that same pond.
There were two pairs of Buffleheads on that pond, too, and I needed that species. Here is a female Bufflehead.
Here is a male Bufflehead.
One of the male Buffleheads flapped his wings, and I got this shot.
Next I drove up to Tokul Creek to make my try for American Dipper. Sorry to say, I dipped on the dipper today. I see one there about 70% of the time, I would estimate, but today was not one of those days. I headed back toward Carnation and home. I detoured up Neal Road, just north of Fall City, and at a long pond there I added Hooded Merganser and Wood Duck to my list. At the end of the road, I saw a lot of Brewer's Blackbirds across the river at the dairy, so that one went on my list.
I drove into Carnation and ate my sandwich at the house with feeders, but the bird activity was still low, although now there was a lot of seed out. The hawk flew through again, which explained why there was so little bird activity. I saw some doves in a tree, and I needed Mourning Dove, which I see there sometimes, but today all I saw were Eurasian Collared-Doves, which I had counted yesterday. Here is one of them.
I drove back across the valley, but I didn't get anything else until I got home. When I came down the driveway, there was a Northern Flicker at the suet feeder, and I needed that species still. I got these three pictures of a female Northern Flicker.
I added 13 common species to my March list today, and now I have 56 species this month.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Today I took a ferry across Puget Sound, from Edmonds to Kingston, on the Kitsap Peninsula. While waiting for the ferry to depart at Edmonds, I saw a Pelagic Cormorant for my list. When we got to Kingston, I got out of my car while they were unloading earlier cars and spotted a male Barrow's Goldeneye for my list. I also added Pigeon Guillemot, and I got these next two pictures of Pigeon Guillemots. This first one is a bird that is still in its winter plumage, or perhaps it has started to change to its summer (breeding) plumage..
Most of the Pigeon Guillemots have changed by now to their summer plumage, and here is an example of one.
When I got off the ferry, I drove to Point No Point, which is at the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. I soon added Red-breasted Merganser to my list, and I got some pictures. Here is a male Red-breasted Merganser.
Females look quite different.
Here is a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, and just as I took the picture, the female was starting to dive.
I saw a couple of Common Loons for my list. Here is a Common Loon that has started to molt into breeding plumage.
There were hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls out on the water, a species I needed. There were also hundreds of Mew Gulls, but I had seen that species up in Skagit county on Monday. Today I added Glaucous-winged Gull to my list, too. I also saw a couple of Brant's Cormorants out in the water, and some Red-necked Grebes. There were also several pairs of Marbled Murrelets, a good one to get. Then I saw 5 or 6 Pacific Loons, too distant for pictures. I drove on to the next parking lot and saw 3 or 4 California Scrub-Jays, one of the specialties of the area. Here are a couple of pictures of California Scrub-Jays in difficult light.
It was sunny today, with temperatures in the high 50's eventually. It seemed like spring was almost here, but we are supposed to get some rain in the next several days, so spring is still a ways off.
Eventually I moved on, and my next stop was Port Gamble. I picked up Horned Grebe, Black Scoter, and Western Grebe there. My next stop after that was Oak Bay county park, in Jefferson county. I have seen Black Oystercatcher there, but not today. Next I tried for oystercatcher at Lagoon Beach, which is part of Indian Island county park, but I missed them there, too. My last destination of the day was Fort Flagler, at the northern tip of Marrowstone Island, across the bay from Port Townsend. On my way there I picked up Greater Yellowlegs in the little town of Nordland. Here is a Greater Yellowlegs.
At the campground at Fort Flagler State Park, I added Harlequin Duck, as usual. Here is a pair of Harlequin Ducks.
Sometimes I see Black Oystercatcher there, but not today. I did get all the regular shorebirds that I had hoped for, though. Here are a couple of Dunlin, with their drooping bills..
Later I was watching a small flock of Dunlin, and just as I was taking this next picture, they all took off and flew away in a flock. The picture was taken just an instant before they took off, and I think it is interesting how they are all alert and looking in the same direction, getting ready to take off.
I saw several Sanderlings and several Black-bellied Plovers as well, but they were too distant for pictures. Here is a distant shot of a Black Turnstone, another shorebird I needed.
That was it for me today, and I boogied for the ferry and got home about 3:45. As I came down our driveway, Red-winged Blackbirds were feeding at our seed feeder, and I stopped the car and took pictures. Here is a male Red-winged Blackbird in the afternoon sun.
For comparison, here is a female Red-winged Blackbird.
I enjoyed the sunshine and the day out, and I added 21 species to my March list, which exceeded my expectations by about 5 birds. Now I have 77 species in March.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Today I didn't feel like having a big day of birding, but I went down to Juanita Bay Park and walked up and down the fire station road. There wasn't much around, but after playing Virginia Rail calls up and down the road, one finally responded, so that one went on my March list. Then a Red-breasted Sapsucker flew in, unprompted, but it flew off again before I could get a picture. I gave it up with those two species for my list. I stopped at the store and went home.
Later, a small flock of Bushtits came to our suet feeder, but they left before I could retrieve my camera from the car. Then a little later a female Downy Woodpecker came to the suet. That gave me four species for the day, bringing me to 81 for the month. Now we have some rainy days coming up, and I don't know how much birding I am going to be able to work in.
Saturday, March 6, 2021
We had a dry day today, and I went out to the Snoqualmie Valley. Going across the valley, I got this picture of a female American Kestrel.
At Sikes Lake I saw 4 or 5 Tree Swallows, my first of the year. All the swallows will be coming back in the next month or so. At the pond at Chinook Bend I added Gadwall to my March list. Here is a pair of Gadwalls, with the female in the lead.
There was nothing around at the house with feeders in Carnation and no seed on the fence, so I moved on. I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market and drove in to Tolt-MacDonald Park. A Ring-necked Pheasant was crossing the road in front of me. I had that species already this month, but I got a couple of pictures of the male Ring-necked Pheasant.
I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River, but I couldn't call up any sparrows I needed at the places I stopped. Next I went up to Tokul Creek to try for my main target of the day, American Dipper. I looked downstream from the bridge and didn't see one, so I looked upstream. Nothing there, either. I was about to give up, but I looked one more time downstream, and I spotted one of the little darlings. Here are some rather distant American Dipper pictures.
After that I drove back north to Carnation, but there still weren't any birds around at the feeder house. I drove up to Duvall and ate my lunch in the car, then drove up the west side of the river. I didn't get anything I needed, but I did see that Great Blue Herons have claimed nests at the rookery across the river. Here is a Great Blue Heron standing in a nest.
Note how the wind was blowing its plumes around. Here is a shot showing the remaining two nests in the original tree that they started nesting in a few years ago. There used to be four nests in that tree, I think.
Last year they started nesting in nearby trees, and here is a shot of two Great Blue Herons at a nearby nest.
That was it for me today. I added three species to my March list, and now I have 84 species this month. Tree Swallow was new for the year for me, and now I have 126 species this year.
Sunday, March 7, 2021
The weather today was windy with showers. We had rain, sun, more rain, more sun, hail, and more rain. There were probably more sun breaks and more rain showers than that, too. We briefly had a nice rainbow, after one of the showers. All through that, it was windy.
I picked a time in mid-morning between showers and went over to the University of Washington and looked out over Union Bay with my scope, looking for ducks. On my way over there, I stopped at the house in Lake Forest Park where I see Band-tailed Pigeons, but I didn't see any this morning.
Out on Union Bay, I picked out one male Redhead (an uncommon duck species), but I couldn't find any Canvasbacks, the other uncommon species I was looking for. Nearer to shore, I found both Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup, two more duck species I needed.
I stopped again on the way home at the Band-tailed Pigeon site in Lake Forest Park, but again I dipped on the species.
I added 3 duck species to my March list, and now I have 87 species this month.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
I started my birding today at St. Edwards State Park, in Kenmore. I attracted a Pacific Wren with its song, but I couldn't call in a Brown Creeper. Next I drove to Juanita Beach Park and took my scope out onto the dock. I added Killdeer and Wilson's Snipe to my March list there. After that I drove around the bay to Juanita Bay Park and near the parking lot, I called up a Golden-crowned Kinglet, but I missed on Brown Creeper again. Finally, I drove across the road to the fire station road and found a Marsh Wren at the end of the road. None of my birds today would stay still long enough for a picture. I added 5 species to my March list, and now I have 92 species this month.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Finally I got some pictures again, such as they are. My search for birds took me up to Edmonds today, about a half hour northwest of home. My first stop was the house in Lake Forest Park where I see Band-tailed Pigeons. I missed them on Sunday, and when I got there today, I didn't see any at first. Then one flew in, and a short while later, two or three more showed up. They were pretty far away, but here are a couple of pictures of Band-tailed Pigeons.
They are native to this area, and they are a bit larger than the feral pigeons that one sees all over the world.
After that success, I drove up to the town of Woodway, to my California Quail site, which is on a short cul-de-sac adjacent to some undeveloped land. I didn't see any quail when I got there, but I parked and soon distinctly heard two or three calls from California Quail. I stayed a little longer, and quail started coming out of the bushes and making their way across some grass to a house that has feeders. They were pretty distant, and the lighting was very difficult, but here are some mediocre pictures of California Quail.
In addition to the lousy lighting, they were mostly scurrying across my view, like the pair above and the pair below.
Here is a male California Quail on his own.
The one in the middle in the picture above is a female. Here are two males.
There must have been 20 or 25 of them in all, scurrying around, in and out of the shade, with the light coming from behind them. They were probably 60 or 70 feet away, too. I'm glad to have gotten any pictures at all, but I have had a whole lot better ones of qauil.
After that I went to Deer Creek Park in Woodway, mainly to look for Brown Creeper. I walked in the woods and played various bird calls, but the only thing I was able to call up was a Pacific Wren, a species I had gotten yesterday. I was hoping for pictures, but it never stayed still long enough. Finally, as I was just about back to my car, a Brown Creeper showed up and I got pictures. It was in the sun, too, which is unusual, since they are usually deep in a forest. They fly to a tree trunk, near the bottom, and work their way up the trunk, looking for bugs in the bark. Then they fly to another tree and repeat the performance. They never stay still for long. Here are some Brown Creeper pictures.
Those two pictures are typical of what I get when I shoot Brown Creepers, but this next one is a bit different because the bird had its head turned a little, and you can see the eye and the curve of the bill.
I moved on to Sunset Avenue in Edmonds, hoping to find a Rhinoceros Auklet, but I never saw one. There were some Brant near the shore, though, so I took their pictures. Brant is a small goose that is found on saltwater around here in the winter, in the right places.
I didn't get my Rhino Auklet, but I saw some good birds. There were several pairs of Black Scoters around, maybe a dozen Pacific Loons, and a whole flock of maybe 60 Western Grebes, way out in the sound. I already had all those species this month, though. My last stop for the day was on Ocean Avenue, north of downtown Edmonds. I saw more Western Grebes, more Pacific Loons, and then a single Red-throated Loon, which was one I still needed for March. After that I gave it up and went home for lunch.
I added 4 more species to my March list today, and now I have 96 species this month.
Friday, March 11, 2021
Today I went in search of Black Oystercatcher. I had four places in mind, in western Skagit county and the north end of Whidbey Island. I planned to stop other places in Skagit county as well, and I had three secondary targets on my radar. I stopped and picked up a Subway sandwich and was at Wylie Slough about an hour after I left home. I drove through the reserve and got this picture of a Golden-crowned Sparrow, a species I already had.
I saw a Black Phoebe, high in a tree. That was one of my three secondary targets. I moved on from Wylie Slough and along Fir Island Road, I saw a dove on a wire. I thought it looked like it might be a Mourning Dove, which was another of my secondary targets for the day. I turned around and went back, but it was only a Eurasian Collared-Dove, which I already had this month.
I drove through Hayton Reserve, but I didn't get anything there. At the house with feeders on the corner of Valentine Road and Dodge Valley Road, I saw a male Purple Finch as soon as I drove up. That was another of my secondary targets for the day. Here are three pictures of the male Purple Finch and a male House Finch. The Purple Finch is the one in back.
I got this picture of a Black-capped Chickadee there, too.
As I drove up Valentine Road, there was a large hawk in a tree, and it looked interesting. It flew before I could get a good look at it, but it landed across a field. Here is a distant picture of a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk, a good species that I already had this month.
Farther up Valentine Road, a couple of Mourning Doves flew across the road right in front of me. That was my third secondary species I was looking for today. All I needed after that was my main target, Black Oystercatcher. I decided to drive around March Point to look for oystercatchers. That was one of my four sites for the species that I planned to visit today, if necessary.
At the base of March Point, I spotted a female Belted Kingfisher, a bonus species for my March list.
There were five Greater Yellowlegs there, too. I didn't need the species for this month, but the light was good, so I took these next two pictures. Greater Yellowlegs.
Farther up March Point Road, I took this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk.
Note that the end of its bill is broken off. It should be hooked, like the bill of this next Red-tailed Hawk, which was just up the road a short distance.
I drove to West Beach in Deception Pass State Park. There weren't any oystercatchers on the offshore rock, so I planned to move on to my last two oystercatcher sites. It was lunch time, though, so I ate half my sandwich in my car, while watching the water and the rock. I had about two bites left in my half sandwich when two Black Oystercatchers flew in and landed on the rock. I jumped out of the car and got these next two pictures.
So, I had my four target species and the oystercatcher search was successful. I headed back toward home, planning to stop at Wylie Slough again, in the hopes of getting a picture of a Black Phoebe. On the way, I stopped on Rawlins Road to try to call up a Lincoln's Sparrow, but all I got was this picture of a male Anna's Hummingbird.
As I approached Wylie Slough, there was a large flock of Snow Geese in some fields. People had stopped along the road and were taking pictures and enjoying the birds.
You can see on the right side of that picture that the flock extended way down the road, and there were more cars down there. There were Snow Geese and cars behind me, too. Here is an adult Snow Goose.
Here is a juvenile Snow Goose, hatched last year in the far north of Canada or Alaska.
As I drove slowly along the road, I spotted a rare dark morph Snow Goose, called a Blue Goose by some people. Here are a couple of pictures of the Blue Goose.
I like to take pictures of flying birds, and here are some flying Snow Goose pictures.
I drove through Wylie Slough again, and this time I got out of my car in the area where I had seen a Black Phoebe in the morning. I saw a couple of Black Phoebes briefly, but they were high in trees, and I couldn't get a picture. While I was looking for a Black Phoebe, I saw a little bird in a distant tree, and it was one I needed, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I was thinking about whether I wanted to walk out along the slough to look for a species that has been reported there recently, when a group of about 7 or 8 shorebirds flew over. They were LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, a year bird, and the one I was thinking of when considering the walk. After seeing them, I decided not to walk, and I headed for home.
It was a beautiful sunny day and a successful birding day. I added 7 species to my March list, including all four of my target species. Now I have 103 species this month. Long-billed Dowitcher brings me to 127 species this year so far.
Friday, March 12, 2021
Today I had a lunch appointment up in Everett, and I went to the Everett water treatment ponds first, hoping to find a couple of ducks. I found lots of Ruddy Ducks, but no Canvasbacks, sorry to say. Next I went over to the 10th Street boat launch parking lot, on Port Gardner Bay, to look for gulls. Unfortunately, the tide was fairly low, which means that the gulls were off feeding, rather than loafing on the parking lot like they do when the tide is too high to feed easily. There were only a handful of gulls there, rather than the usual dozens, and I couldn't find a California Gull, which is normally easy. No Herring Gulls either.
I did see an interesting gull that I thought might be one I needed. I took pictures, and when I looked at them this afternoon, I decided it was an ICELAND GULL, an uncommon gull that I have a difficult time identifying. The subspecies of Iceland Gull that lives around here used to be a separate species called Thayer's Gull, but they combined the two species a couple of years ago, and now they are all Iceland Gulls. Here is the gull in quaetion.
It was the short, pink legs that got my attention. Here is the description from my field guide of Iceland Gull (well, actually, the description is for Thayer's Gull, but the field guide is a few years old). "Fairly large, short-legged, deep-chested gull with a fairly steep forehead and high rounded crown…bill is relatively short...legs reddish pink." Here is a close up of the head.
It goes on to say that the gull has a purple to reddish orbital ring around the eye, which this bird does have. I'm certainly no expert, and I haven't seen Thayer's or Iceland Gull very often, but I'm calling this one an Iceland Gull. The short reddish pink legs are the best tip off, in my opinion, but the head shape and the bill length are also indicative..
So, I got two more species for my March list today and one for my year list. Now I have 105 species this month and 128 species in 2021.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Today I went over to Magnuson Park, in north Seattle, and it turned into a big picture day. My main target was California Gull, and I found one on the swim platform in the lake, among many Mew Gulls and a single Ring-billed Gull. Here is a California Gull, with yellow legs and a yellow bill with both a red and a black spot on its lower bill.
With that one in my pocket, I walked to the field of hawthorn trees where I have seen Cedar Waxwings in the past. Sure enough, I found about 8 or 10 Cedar Waxwings in the hawthorn trees. Here are some pictures of Cedar Waxwings, an excellent one for my March list.
The bird in this last picture has a weird posture. It looks quite fat and round.
Next I played Lincoln's Sparrow songs, and one responded and posed for me. It was another good March bird.
It flew across the path to a hawthorn tree, and I got this shot from the front that shows the black spot that some Lincoln's Sparrows have in the middle of their breast.
A Spotted Towhee flew in and posed for me, too, and I couldn't resist taking a picture.
After that I drove over to the wetlands and walked around a bit. I was hoping to see one or both of the two swallow species I still need in March. Swallows are just now getting back from their winter migration south. I never saw a swallow today, though.
I ended up sitting on a bench for about an hour, taking pictures of ducks and other birds. Here is a pair of Ring-necked Ducks. The male is on the right.
Here are two male Ring-necked Ducks.
This is a Pied-billed Grebe.
A pair of Gadwalls were swimming around the area. Here is the female Gadwall.
Here is the male Gadwall, with his intricate patterns and interesting feathers on his back.
There were some Buffleheads there, too. Here is a male Bufflehead, showing the iridescence on his head. Usually, the head just looks black, but when the light is right, you see the iridescence.
Here is the much different looking female Bufflehead.
Here is the female Bufflehead being escorted by two male Buffleheads.
At one point a male Downy Woodpecker flew in, and I got this distant picture of him.
Here is a male Green-winged Teal.
A single American Coot came around eventually.
There was another species I needed that was fly catching all round me for the whole time I was there. Here are some pictures of my first YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS of the year.
Here is one that is showing its yellow rump to us.
They didn't stay still for long, and they were mostly not very close, but I kept trying and got more pictures of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
A Ruby-crowned Kinglet flew in briefly, too, and I got one picture of it.
I spotted a distant hawk in a tree, and I took some pictures. It was the old debate - Sharp-shinned Hawk or Cooper's Hawk? I went back and forth, and when I left the park, I thought I had my first Sharp-shinned Hawk of the year. When I got home and looked at my pictures and my field guides, I decided it was most likely a male (smaller than female) Cooper's Hawk. I won't go into all the details of my analysis, but here are some pictures.
Those three pictures look alike, but the second two were actually taken more than 40 minutes after the first one. The hawk had left and then returned later to the exact same spot. In the second two pictures, you can see a metal band on its ankle. Here is a picture that shows the hawk and a crow in adjacent trees, approximately the same distance away. I took it for a size comparison.
Size is an inadequate way of telling the two species apart because in both species, the females are quite a bit larger than the males, and there are also individual variations among birds, too. From the coloration of the head and the size, I decided that it was most likely a male Cooper's Hawk, which is only slightly larger than a female Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Anyway, it was a very enjoyable morning, sitting in the sun and taking pictures of various birds that came around, and all of that was after getting my California Gull, Cedar Waxwing, and Lincoln's Sparrow. I added 4 species to my March list, even after taking away Sharp-shinned Hawk, and now I have 109 species in March. Yellow-rumped Warbler brings my year list to 129 species.
Monday, March 15, 2021
Yesterday was a rainy day, and I stayed home. Today I went out to the Carnation Valley, around Carnation. While driving across the valley, I stopped at one of my sparrow sites and managed to call up a Fox Sparrow for my list. I got a good binocular look at it, but it flew off before I could get a picture, and I couldn't get it to come back.
At Sikes Lake, there were swallows flying around. I parked and got out to look at them. All I could identify at first were Tree Swallows, which I already had this month, but then some of them landed on a wire right over the bridge. One of them was a VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, my first one of the year. Here is a Violet-green Swallow.
Note the green color of the back and the white that curls around behind and over the eye. Here is a Tree Swallow, with a blue back and a straight line between the white and the blue on the head, leaving the eye in the blue.
Here is a Violet-green Swallow (on the right) and a Tree Swallow together for comparison.
A close up of a Tree Swallow.
Another Violet-green Swallow.
The ones on the wire were preening most of the time, and here is a Tree Swallow that was just about to preen under its wing.
I drove on into the town of Carnation and went to the house with feeders. Nothing was around, and there wasn't much seed out. I headed south out of Carnation, toward Fall City, and along the way I spotted my first TURKEY VULTURE of the year. It is early for them to be coming back from their winter vacations, but I had seen a few reports, so I was on the lookout.
I continued south to Neal Road and drove up that dead end road to the end. On the way I saw some sparrows and one was a White-crowned Sparrow, one I needed still for March.
There were some Golden-crowned Sparrows with it, and here is one of them.
At the end of the road, I got out my scope and looked across the river to the dairy. I had read that the numbers of Brown-headed Cowbirds there had been increasing, and I needed that one for March. A couple of dozen birds flew up into a tree, and the second one I got my scope on was a male Brown-headed Cowbird. There is supposed to be a single female type Yellow-headed Blackbird and at least one Rusty Blackbird there, too, but there are many hundreds of blackbirds around that dairy, and I didn't waste my time looking for the rarities. The vast majority were Brewer's Blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, and European Starlings. I was quite satisfied with my Brown-headed Cowbird.
On the river there was a pair of Common Mergansers. I had that one this month, but I got sort of distant pictures anyway. Here is a male Common Merganser.
Here is the quite different looking female Common Merganser.
I backtracked down Neal Road and went through Fall City to the road going up the west side of the river, back toward Carnation. I stopped to play sparrow songs from time to time, hoping for White-throated Sparrow. At one point, I saw a bird fly into a tree, and it looked interesting for some reason. It was too far away to identify with the naked eye, but when I got my binoculars on it, I could see it was a Varied Thrush, an excellent bird for my March list. Here is a distant picture of the Varied Thrush.
At one of my sparrow stops, I got this picture of a White-crowned Sparrow that I like.
That is an adult bird. For comparison, here is an immature White-crowned Sparrow.
In this next picture, the immature Whote-crowned Sparrow bowed its head to show off its crown.
When I got back to Carnation, I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market and took it to the house with feeders. This time there were some birds around, although there still wasn’t a lot of seed out for them. I added another one of my targets for the day, American Goldfinch.
There were Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches taking turns at the seed feeders. Here are two shots of a Pine Siskin (on the left) and an American Goldfinch.
After that I drove across the hill to Marymoor Park in Redmond. I looked for meadowlarks, but didn't find any. I wanted to eat the second half of sandwich while watching the feeders at the headquarters building, but they had been taken down, presumably because of the salmonella outbreak among Pine Siskins. I ate it in the parking lot there, but I didn't see any birds while eating. When finished, I got out and played Red-breasted Nuthatch songs on my phone, while walking around. Eventually I attracted one, so that one went on my March list. It was in an evergreen tree, and I couldn't get a picture, but then it flew across the path to a leafless tree and perched for a while, posing for pictures. Here is the Red-breasted Nuthatch.
After that I drove over to the community garden to try to call up a Bewick's Wren. While trying to do that, this Spotted Towhee posed for me, and I can't resist taking pictures of Spotted Towhees. I think they are very attractive and photogenic.
Eventually a Bewick's Wren came around, and I got two pictures of that little cutie, one for my list.
After that I called it quits and headed for home. It was a very successful day of birding. I added 9 species to my March list, and now I have 118 species this month. Two of those were new for the year for me (migrants just now returning for the summer), and now I have 131 species in 2021. Most of them were fairly common species, except Varied Thrush, which I don't see very often, but it was satisfying to get so many today. Now I really don't have many left to get for March, but there are a few I can go after.
Friday, March 19, 2021
Tonight I’m in Ellensburg, Washington, which is over the Cascade mountains from home. This is the first night that I have spent away from home in 14 months. I don’t think I have ever before in my life gone 14 months without sleeping away from home for at least one night in any 14 month period, certainly not in the last 55 years that I can remember well. The Old Rambler is rambling again!
I got off the freeway just east of Cle Elum, and my first stop was on Lambert Road. I played a couple of bird songs, and a MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE flew in and posed for me. (The use of ALL CAPS indicates that a species is new for the year for me.)
Note the white “eyebrow” that distinguishes this species. I was happy to get Mountain Chickadee because I don’t always see them, although as it turned out, I saw a couple more later on.
I drove from there along Red Bridge Road and then to Ballard Hill Road. I heard Western Meadowlarks singing all day long, and I got my first one of the day along Ballard Hill Road. Later I got this picture of a singing Western Meadowlark.
I also saw my first BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE there, but it was too far away for pictures. I stopped at my spot on Ballard Hill Road for another species and managed to call in a PYGMY NUTHATCH for a couple of pictures, although it took a long time and I had almost given up.
I drove through the old Swauk Cemetery, but I didn’t see any birds there except American Robins. Along Ley Road I spotted my first SAY’S PHOEBE of the year, sitting on the top of a barn. It was too far away for pictures, but I got some Say’s Phoebe pictures at the end of the day. Along Swauk Prairie Road I added WESTERN BLUEBIRD to my lists. Here is a female Western Bluebird.
Here is a male Western Bluebird.
I tried for White-breasted Nuthatch along the east end of Swauk Prairie Road, in the pine trees, but I couldn’t call one up. Next I drove to Bettas Road, but I couldn’t call up a Vesper Sparrow anywhere along there. I drove along Hayward Road, figuring I would get Horned Lark, but I never found one. I did see a lot of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, though. Here is a female Mountain Bluebird.
I couldn’t get a close picture of a male Mountain Bluebird, and this was the best I could do today.
I had brought my lunch from home, and I started eating it then, while continuing to look for Horned Lark. Eventually I moved on and drove through Ellensburg and Kittitas to Parke Creek Road. I got this distant picture of a Black-billed Magpie along that road.
It was too early in the year for the Yellow-headed Blackbirds I usually see along Parke Creek Road, so I drove up into the hills. At the entrance to the Wild Horse Wind Farm, I played the song and a SAGE THRASHER showed up for me. Here are a couple of pictures of the Sage Thrasher.
That’s sage it is sitting on, appropriately.
Down the road where the corrals are located, I got out and played more sage species songs. I haven’t seen any reports of Brewer’s Sparrow being back from migration yet, but they are due any time, so I tried it. No luck. I did attract a couple of SAGEBRUSH SPARROWS (formerly called Sage Sparrow), and I got a couple of pictures.
Here I got a picture of a Sagebrush Sparrow sitting on some sagebrush.
I continued on down the Old Vantage Highway toward the Columbia River, and a bird flew across the road in front of me. I slowed and stopped, while watching it land on the side of the road. I got close enough to see it was a HORNED LARK, the species I had looked so long for earlier, but my pictures are out of focus. A car came along and spooked it, but it landed close enough for a couple of distant pictures. Here is a Horned Lark.
Near the bottom of the hill, I turned on to Recreation Road and stopped a couple of places to play some Canyon Wren songs. I never attracted a Canyon Wren, but a ROCK WREN responded, and I got some distant pictures of it. Here is the distant Rock Wren.
Near the end of the road, a Say’s Phoebe was chasing flies, and I got three pictures.
That was it for my birding for today. I drove back up the Old Vantage Highway, stopping to play Vesper Sparrow songs in several places and watching for other species, but I didn’t get anything else or any more pictures.
It was a very successful day of birding. I had hoped to get 8 to 10 species for my March list, and I ended up adding 11 today. Now I have 129 species this month. Ten of the species today were new for the year, too, and now I have 141 species for 2021. That’s what happens when you bird in a new area for the first time in the year. I’ll try to get one or two more species tomorrow, but I did so well today that there isn’t much left to get. There will be more species returning from migration over the next month or so, and I hope to get back here in April. Now I just have to get back across the mountains tomorrow, when there is snow forecast all day long. Fortunately, the temperature is supposed to be in the mid-30’s, so it shouldn’t be icy, anyway. My trusty 4WD Highlander should get me through if I take it easy, GWATCDR.
Sunday, March 21, 2021
On Saturday, I drove up on Umptanum Road to Ellensburg Pass, hoping to find White-headed Woodpecker or White-breasted Nuthatch, but I didn't get any thing I needed. I went back to my hotel and checked out about noon. The drive home over Snoqualmie Pass was uneventful. It rained most of the time, with a little mixed snow and rain at the summit, but the road was bare and wet, and the temperature was about 37 at the pass.
On Sunday, It was windy and cold, but I drove over to the University of Washington, to the small boat marina, and scoped the bay for ducks. They were spread out, but I found one Canvasback, which was the species I was looking for. That brought my March total to 130 species.
Monday, March 22, 2021
Today I used a short break in the rain to go over to Marymoor Park. I parked and went up on the viewing mound. I looked around, but I was unable to find anything I needed, although I did see a Western Meadowlark, a good bird, but one I had seen east of the mountains on Friday.
I walked down the west side of the East Meadow, playing the song of Savannah Sparrow, a species that is just now starting to return from migration. I couldn't call one up today. I sat on the bench at the south end of the East Meadow, watching for a hummingbird species that is also just now returning from migration. There were at least three Northern Flickers in the area, calling all the time and flying around. Here is a female Northern Flicker that flew in close.
After a while I got up and walked farther south along the trail, but I still didn't see my hummingbird. Back at my bench, a male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD finally showed up, after about 40 minutes of waiting. The only reason I waited so long was that it was pleasant sitting there in the sometimes sun. Here is my first Rufous Hummingbird of the year.
That was taken from my bench, and I got up and moved closer for this next picture.
Because I had to get up and get closer to get pictures, I happened to notice another bird up the path, one I wouldn't have seen if I wasn't chasing the hummingbird. It was my first Northern Shrike of March, and I got pictures of that one, too.
So, that was really great. I had two of my three main target species for the day. I walked back up to the parking lot, playing Savannah Sparrow songs all the way, but I still couldn't attract one. It started to rain as I walked, and when I got back to the parking lot, I noticed a robin taking a bath in a puddle. Here are some pictures of the American Robin taking a bath.
The rain stopped about then, and the robin flew off. I walked up on to the viewing mound one more time, and as I approached, I saw a sparrow-like bird foraging on the ground. I had hopes for my Savannah Sparrow, but it turned out to be a Golden-crowned Sparrow, one I already had this month. Here is the Golden-crowned Sparrow.
It was time to head for home and lunch, so that was it for my birding today. I added 2 more species to my March list, and now I have 132 species in March this year. Rufous Hummingbird brings my 2021 list to 142 species.
Earlier in the month, I didn't think I had the slightest chance of matching or beating my March numbers from the last three years, but a couple of excellent days and my trip over the mountains has done it. In 2018, I got 131 species in Washington in the first 23 days of the month. (I went to California for the rest of the month). In 2019, I had 127 species in 22 days, and then headed for California. Last year I had my best March, and I got 132 species in 22 days, and I never got any more after that. So, despite my earlier pessimism, I have tied my best March here in Washington since I started keeping monthly birding lists. I have 4 more days this month to try to increase my number for March in Washington, and then I am flying to San Diego on Saturday (GWATCDR). There aren't many species I could still get, the weather looks pretty iffy, and I have things to do before I leave for California, but maybe I can get one more species somehow. We will see.
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Today I visited a local place I hadn't ever birded before, Big Finn Hill Park. It is only about 5 or 10 minutes from home, but somehow I had always overlooked it. It got my attention today because two woodpecker species I need have been seen there recently. First I visited the eastern part of the park, near an elementary school. I walked in the woods and played woodpecker calls, but I didn't see anything interesting.
I drove around to the western part of the park and again walked around a bit. I kept hearing woodpecker calls, but I couldn't be sure if they were from Northern Flickers or from one of the species I was looking for. I sat on a bench for a while, playing calls, and a woodpecker flew in. It turned out to be a Downy Woodpecker, though not one of the ones I needed. Here is the Downy Woodpecker that graced me with its presence.
I kept hearing a woodpecker drumming, nearby. I couldn't spot it, but then a mom and her little kid came along, and they heard it, too. They were looking up into a tree, and the kid spotted the bird. I went over there and it turned out to be another Downy Woodpecker, a male this time. I think the first one was a female. Here is the male Downy Woodpecker that had been drumming on that dead branch.
I had been there for over an hour, and I was ready to give up, but I drove across the parking lot to try one more time in another part of the park. As I drove, I spotted a blob in a tree in the distance, and I pulled over and took a look. It turned out to be my first PILEATED WOODPECKER of the year! I got these next two distant pictures of it before it flew off.
I never found a Hairy Woodpecker, which was the other woodpecker species I was looking for. Downy Woodpecker is our smallest woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker is our largest.
Pileated Woodpecker brings my March total to 133 species now, beating out the last 3 years for March. It also brings my year total to 143 species. I probably won't go out birding again before I fly to San Diego on Saturday.
Saturday, March 27, 2021
I’m in Rancho Santa Fe, in north San Diego county. Today I played the airplane game, and I survived. There was a lot of walking, while schlepping my carry on bags, and a lot of waiting in lines, but the flight itself was easy, since I paid a little more to fly first class. It was amazingly cheap, because of the reduced travel these days, no doubt. Car rentals, on the other hand, are through the roof. I booked a car a couple of months ago, and I paid $397 for 9 days, which I thought at the time was high. Well, now that same car is anywhere from $800 to $1200 for those same 9 days. They have so few cars that I had to wait for about 15 minutes for them to get me one. I had been hoping for $300 for 9 days, but I’m sure glad I booked it when I did. As I was waiting for them to get me a car (it had just been turned in, obviously), a woman at the next window was outraged at the price they quoted her. She hadn’t booked in advance, I guess. I think the car rental companies sold off a lot of cars when the business travel disappeared, and now they are short of cars.
Anyway, I survived and I was glad to get here to my sister’s house, where I will be very comfortable, I’m sure. Before dinner there was a bird at her oriole feeder, which is filled with jelly from the 99 cent store, she said. At first I thought it was a female oriole, but I decided eventually it was too small for that and the bill was wrong. Here are 3 pictures of the bird.
I decided it was an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, a species I fully expected to see here in Southern California, but new for the year for me. That one gives me 134 species for March and 144 for the year. Tomorrow the real birding starts, GWATCDR.
Sunday, March 28, 2021
This morning the Orange-crowned Warbler was back at the oriole feeder, and I got a better picture of it.
It still looks large to me for a warbler, but I don’t see how it could be anything else.
Today I went south, almost to the border. I added GREAT EGRET to my March list from the freeway, at 70 mph. At 70, most people are whizzing by me, but if I go any slower, I am impeding traffic. Oddly, I never saw another Great Egret all day. Reminder: When I use ALL CAPS, it indicates the first time I have seen that species this year. Almost all of my March birds today were new for the year, because I am birding in a new place, over 1000 miles from home.
My first stop was Dairy Mart Ponds. I was hoping for Bell’s Vireo, but it is a bit early still for them to be back from migration. I heard a bird singing that could have been a Bell’s Vireo, but I am so hopeless with bird calls and songs that I just don’t know. I never saw it. I did see a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, which was an excellent species that is migrating through here now, but I couldn’t get a picture. I’ll see them back at home later in the spring and in the summer.
At the smaller pond, I first heard and then saw a CALIFORNIA THRASHER, and I got this picture of it singing.
I saw a couple of COMMON GALLINULES (formerly called Common Moorhens), but no pictures. I missed seeing Cinnamon Teal there, like I usually do. I saw a raptor flying around in the distance, and I was able to determine it was a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. It landed on a pole, and I got this extremely distant picture of the Red-shouldered Hawk.
As I drove west from Dairy Mart Ponds, I saw a couple of CASSIN’S KINGBIRDS flycatching from high in a tree. Here is a rather distant picture of a Cassin’s Kingbird.
I saw an interesting looking bird on a wire, and I turned around and went back to check it out. It turned out to be a female PHAINOPEPLA, not a species I was expecting today. I wasn’t able to get a picture of the female, but just down the road I got this picture of a male Phainopepla.
He seemed to be gathering nesting material, and here is a picture of him with some in his bill.
I stopped at the Bird and Butterfly Garden, and drove to the back parking lot, just to see if any birds were around back there. I got out to use the outdoor bathroom, and while I was doing my business, a WHITE-TAILED KITE flew right overhead. That was an excellent one to get. Back at the main part of the gardens, I walked around. I heard a bird singing loudly and I couldn’t identify it, of course, but I kept looking for it. Finally I found it near the top of a small tree, and it was a HOUSE WREN, a species whose song I should have recognized. Here are a couple of pictures of the House Wren.
There were swallows around, as usual there, and I got NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and CLIFF SWALLOW for my lists. I walked around the gardens, and saw about a half dozen COMMON GROUND-DOVES feeding on the ground. They were skittish, and this was the best picture I could get.
I spotted a GREATER ROADRUNNER, a species I have seen there before, but I don’t expect to see it anywhere else on this trip. It had caught a lizard, and it held on to it as it scurried away. Here is the roadrunner with its meal.
In that picture, and the next one, the roadrunner has its crest raised.
In this next picture, the roadrunner has lowered its crest, giving it a somewhat different look.
I saw a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, but it was difficult to get a decent picture. This was the best I could do.
I moved on from there and stopped at the community gardens up the road. There were a couple of dozen goldfinches that kept flying up into a tree without leaves, and then they would go down again to the ground. Most of them were American Goldfinches, like this male.
A few of them were LESSER GOLDFINCHES, though, and I got this picture of one of the male Lesser Goldfinches.
I started to eat the sandwiches and veggies I had brought from home at that point, and I continued to eat while I drove to the sports park in Imperial Beach. There I saw a couple of YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS at a nest in the usual tree, but I couldn’t get a picture through the thick branches. I headed back north, and I stopped at the J Street Marina in Chula Vista. The tide was going out, and there were birds to be seen. There were three SNOWY EGRETS feeding in the shallows, and here is one of them.
There were also several Marbled Godwits around, with their long, upturned bills. Here is a Marbled Godwit with the light coming from the wrong direction.
I saw a single CASPIAN TERN fishing, and a whole batch of dowitchers, which I decided were SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, the dowitcher species I hadn’t seen this year yet. There were also at least a half dozen AMERICAN AVOCETS feeding, and I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of that beautiful bird. There were a lot of terns, and I was able to identify ELEGANT TERN and ROYAL TERN for my lists. There were also WILLETS around. Across the bay I saw a couple of OSPREYS at a nest on a platform. Ospreys hadn’t yet come back to the Seattle area when I left, but they will be around when I get home, I imagine.
That was a nice haul of shorebirds and terns, but it was lousy for photos because I was looking south, right into the sun. I next drove up to the mouth of the San Diego River, where you can see the birds while looking north from Robb Field. The traffic was absolutely terrible around Ocean Beach, but I patiently made my way to Robb Field to look at the river with the tide out. There were hundreds of terns on the sand, mostly Elegant Terns. Here is a batch of Elegant Terns.
Mixed in with the Elegant Terns were a few Royal Terns. Here is a picture of one Royal Tern (the more distant bird) and two Elegant Terns.
They are very similar, but the Royal Tern is larger and the bill is a bit thicker. I added BLUE-WINGED TEAL, but they were all too far away for decent pictures. There were a lot of Western Gulls, too, which I needed for March, but I had already seen one earlier this year in Everett, in Washington. There were also many dozens of BLACK SKIMMERS dozing on the sand in the distance, too far for pictures. Black Skimmer is a member of the tern family, and maybe I can get a picture later in the trip, because they are very strange looking.
About that time I spotted a REDDISH EGRET, an excellent bird to see. Here is a distant picture of the Reddish Egret, a not very colorful example of the species.
A single FORSTER’S TERN was sitting right across a channel from me, and I got this picture. Note the short orange legs and the black-tipped bill of this smaller tern.
There were a few Black-bellied Plovers around, a species I had seen in Washington already this month. Here is one of the Black-bellied Plovers in winter plumage.
In the summer, their whole underside is black, giving them their species name. Here is a Black-bellied Plover that is just starting to get his black belly feathers.
There were some BROWN PELICANS, too far away for pictures. A LITTLE BLUE HERON came walking along the far side of the little channel, right across from me. Here is the Little Blue Heron.
Little Blue Heron looks a lot like Reddish Egret, but the head and bill are different. Here is a shot of another (or maybe the same) Reddish Egret for comparison of the heads and bills.
Here is a picture of a LONG-BILLED CURLEW, one of 2 or 3 I saw today.
Because of the stripes on the head, I kept trying to turn it into a Whimbrel, but the bill was just too long, and the plumage is wrong for Whimbrel, too.
That was it for the San Diego River. I fought the traffic again and stopped at Crown Point on my way home. I added WESTERN SANDPIPER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER there, and I got some pictures. Here are two Western Sandpipers in winter plumage.
Here is a Western Sandpiper that has started to molt into its summer plumage.
Like most of the shorebirds I saw today, Western Sandpipers will migrate all the way to the arctic circle to breed this summer. I’ll see them in Washington as they come through later this spring and again as they head south in August.
Here is a Dunlin, a shorebird I saw in Washington already this month.
You can see that it is larger than the Western Sandpiper in front of it, and the bill is slightly downturned. There were Semipalmated Plovers there, but the only picture I ended up liking at all was this juvenile one that isn’t very strongly marked.
It was getting late, so I boogied up the freeway toward my sister’s house in Rancho Santa Fe. I detoured at the old polo fields, though, to try for a couple of species. I didn’t get anything I needed, but I did get a couple of pictures that I like, of species I had already seen in March up north. Here is a Say’s Phoebe that seems to have been gathering nesting material.
I saw a yellow bird on a fence, and I assumed it was a kingbird, but it was a Western Meadowlark, and I got this close picture of it, in good light.
So, it was a long day for this old rambler. I left at 9:30 and got back at 5:00. I added 36 species to my March list, and now I have 170 species this month. 35 of those were new for the year for me, and now I have 179 species in 2021. I took 167 pictures, and I showed 32 of them in this report. Now it is time for bed. Whew.
Monday, March 29, 2021
This morning a male HOODED ORIOLE came to the feeder in my sister’s back yard, but it flew off before I could get a picture, and it never came back. An Allen’s Hummingbird, a species I had seen yesterday, came to the water feature in her back yard and took a bath. I got pictures of the male Allen’s Hummingbird bathing.
Shortly later a male Anna’s Hummingbird came to the feeder.
Here is the male Anna’s Hummingbird at the top of a tree.
After breakfast, an old friend, John, came by, and we hit the road for Orange county, where we planned to stay overnight with another old friend by the name of Chris. We picked up Chris at his house and dropped off our stuff. Then we went to lunch at In ‘n’ Out Burger in Irvine. You could order inside, but not eat inside, and we got lucky as we came out and found a table to eat at. Otherwise, we were going to go to a local park.
After lunch we drove to the nearby San Joaquin Sanctuary, which is actually a water treatment plant with a number of ponds and nice trails and plantings. I picked up AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN as we drove in, and I saw some CINNAMON TEAL in the creek along the entrance road as well. Before we even left the car, I added BLACK-NECKED STILT and got this picture from the car
There were American Avocets feeding in the same shallow pond as well. I had seen that species yesterday, but didn’t get pictures. Here are two pictures of American Avocets.
We parked and walked around in the pleasant sunshine. A nice breeze kept it cool, and we had an excellent walk among the ponds and vegetation. I added CALIFORNIA TOWHEE and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, but got no pictures of either species. At one point I spotted a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON far across a large pond. Here is a very distant picture I got of the Black-crowned Night-Heron.
There were quite a few other birds, but nothing else I needed, mainly because I had done so well yesterday. When were finished there, we drove to nearby Mason Regional Park and drove around the large park looking for Egyptian Geese, which we never found. I got this picture of a Yellow-rumped Warbler on the ground. There were a lot of them around.
We saw several Western Bluebirds, and here is a picture of a male Western Bluebird.
After a while we parked and Chris and I walked around a small lake, while John rested in the car. There were Ruddy Ducks on the lake, and here is a male Ruddy Duck in transitional plumage, halfway between winter and summer plumage.
In the winter, there would be less contrast on his head, and the back would be gray. In the summer, his back will be a brighter red color and his bill will be bright blue. Here is a female Ruddy Duck, which looks pretty much the same in the summer and winter.
There were several Pied-billed Grebes on the lake, too, and I got this picture.
While resting on one of the benches, I spotted a bird I needed for March. Here is an Eared Grebe, a species I saw in January at home. This one is transitioning to its summer plumage from its very drab gray and white winter plumage.
There were some Northern Shovelers on the lake, too, and I got this picture of a male Northern Shoveler in the sun.
That was all the birding I did today. I added 8 more species to my March list, and now I have 178 species this month. Seven of those eight were new for the year, and now I have 186 species this year.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
After a great breakfast at Chris’s house, one highlight of which was homemade cinnamon rolls made by Chris’s wife Carol, John and I headed back south. I took a back way through the hills to my sister’s house, and on the way, I drove along one edge of a golf course, looking for birds. I have seen Western Kingbirds there in the past, but all we found today were a couple of Cassin’s Kingbirds, the more common kingbird species here, and one I already had this month. Here is a picture of one of the Cassin’s Kingbirds.
It was a difficult picture because I was looking up into a bright sky, but it shows the characteristics of Cassin’s Kingbird – the white “dash” under the eye and the brown undertail color, as opposed to the jet black of Western Kingbird. Then I spotted my first NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD of the year. It flew down from the wire it was on, into a yard, and I eventually got this picture of it with a flower to add a little color to the picture.
I drove back and forth along that stretch of road a few times, hoping to see a Western Kingbird, and on one pass, I got this picture of a California Towhee.
I laws glad to see that bird because yesterday I had counted it for my lists, but it was a very brief look and I wasn’t 100% sure of it. When I see another bird of a questionable species that I counted already, I call it insuring the species, and I insured California Towhee today.
John headed off to home, and after I had a little lunch and caught up on some online stuff, I went over to the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center. I had to wait to get a parking place, but after I parked my car, I walked out on the trails a little. I played the call of RIDGWAY’S RAIL, and I got a response. Since I count “heard only” birds when I am sure of the call, it went on my list. As it turned out, a little later a guy I passed on the trail told me where he had seen a Ridgway’s Rail, and I went there and found it. Here are a couple of pictures of a Ridgway’s Rail (formerly called Clapper Rail).
I was going to play the song of another bird I knew lived there, but I spotted one before I could do that. Here are a couple of pictures of my first SAVANNAH SPARROW of the year.
Here is a rather distant picture of a Willet that was across the channel from me.
The Song Sparrows around here are much lighter in color than our Song Sparrows at home, and it always throws me off when I first see one here. Here is a very light-colored Song Sparrow.
Along the boardwalk a Black Phoebe was posing for me. I don’t know why the species is called Black Phoebe when they are obviously brown, but here is a picture of a brown Black Phoebe.
I guess they look pretty black in poor light.
I couldn’t call up a Wrentit or a California Gnatcatcher there, so I moved on. My next stop was the San Dieguito River, at the overlook where the old bridge went across the river. I was hoping for Spotted Sandpiper or Whimbrel, both of which I have seen there, but the tide was maybe too high, and I didn’t see either species. There was a Common Loon in the river, though, and I got a couple of pictures.
I see Killdeer a lot at home, but this was just about the first one I have seen here on this trip.
A Long-billed Curlew was working its way up and down one shore, and I got this picture of it.
At about that time, a woman came along and asked me if I had seen the “Green Egret”. She meant Green Heron, and I hadn’t seen it. She pointed it out, and I took a lot of pictures since the light was great and it is such an excellent bird. Here is my first GREEN HERON of the year.
I finally dragged myself away from there and headed back toward Kathy’s house. I stopped one more time at the eastern part of the San Dieguito Reserve, though, and walked a little on the trail. At first I didn’t see anything, although I was playing the calls of a couple of species. Then there was some activity, though, just as I was turning back toward my car. Here is a Northern Mockingbird.
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A California Thrasher called and then showed itself. I couldn’t decide which of these next two pictures to show, so here are both of them. California Thrasher is an excellent species I don’t see very often usually, although this was the third time I had seen one on this trip.
A sparrow appeared, and it seemed different. I guess it was just an immature White-crowned Sparrow, but I kept trying to make it into a Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Here is the immature White-crowned Sparrow.
I heard a bird I needed make a single, unmistakable call, and I was prepared to count it. It was one of the species I had been trying to attract with playback, and eventually, a WRENTIT flew in and I got three pictures. I always forget how long the tail is on this quite small bird.
I wasn’t ever able to attract a California Gnatcatcher, unfortunately. Maybe I will try again tomorrow. As I left, a Northern Mockingbird flew by and landed on the top of a very high power pole. It is a distant picture, but it came out well, so here is one last picture for the day, a Northern Mockingbird up high.
I only birded for about three hours today, and I got 5 more species for my March list. All 5 of them were year birds as well. Now I have 183 species in March and 191 species this year. I have one more day to add to my March list, but there aren’t very many species I can go looking for with much chance of success. There are three or four species I could get at La Jolla, and maybe in the morning I will brave the crowds and traffic and venture over there.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Today I ventured over to La Jolla, and the traffic was horrendous, as expected. Most of the cars were circling around trying to find parking, once you got to the popular area, and there were mobs of people everywhere. I managed to luck into a parking place reasonably close to where I wanted to go, so I got out and walked a bit. I soon saw a SPOTTED SANDPIPER on a big rock, and got this distant picture.
I walked along the cliffs to La Jolla Cove, and I soon added HEERMANN’S GULL to my lists. I saw several immature Heermann’s Gulls, but never saw an adult bird, or at least, not one in summer plumage, which is what I am used to. Here is what I think is an immature Heermann’s Gull.
There were a lot of Brandt’s Cormorants (a species I got in the Seattle area this month) nesting on the cliffs, right next to the sidewalks at the top of the cliffs. Here is a Brandt’s Cormorant with two young ones (you have to look closely to see the second one. Hint – it is in the middle of the picture, bellow the adult, looking right at the camera).
Some of the cormorants still had eggs, and some had larger chicks. Here is a Brant’s Cormorant with two fairly large chicks.
I don’t think the chicks are going to win any beautiful baby contests. There were Black Turnstones (another species I got in the Seattle area this month) scuttling around among the cormorant nests. Here is one of the Black Turnstones.
There were a lot of Brown Pelicans roosting on the rocks. Here are a couple of pictures of Brown Pelicans.
Here’s a shot of La Jolla Cove.
I made my way back to my car and moved on, fighting the traffic again to leave La Jolla. My next destination was Tecolote Canyon, just inland from Mission Bay, north of downtown San Diego. As I arrived, I started getting some kind of visual hallucination that was kind of unnerving. It took the form of a large letter C with segments that kept changing from bright to dark, several times a second. It didn’t interfere with my driving, but I didn’t feel like venturing out onto the trail in the heat of the day, and I don’t know if I could have used binoculars or not. Anyway, I decided to head back north to my sister’s house, in case it got worse or was an early symptom of a bigger problem.
As it turned out, it gradually moved off to the left of my visual field, and disappeared. By the time I got out to the north county area, it was gone. It was getting on for lunch time by then, so I got off the freeway at Encinitas Blvd and drove toward my sister’s house by the “back way”. I was heading for a couple of parks where Acorn Woodpecker and Nuttall’s Woodpecker had been reported recently. I parked at one of the parks and ate my humble lunch that I had brought from home.
After lunch I drove up El Secreto Ave, to another place where Acorn Woodpecker had been reported. I didn’t find any woodpeckers, but coming back down the street I spotted a kingbird on a wire. I stopped and got out, and the kingbird flew across the road and perched at the top of a tree. It turned out to be a WESTERN KINGBIRD, the kingbird species I still needed. The very similar looking Cassin’s Kingbird lives here year round, but Western Kingbirds are only here in the summer. They are just now starting to return, so it was great to see one. Here is a picture of my Western Kingbird. Note that the throat and upper breast are all the same color of light gray, and the underside of the tail is black, with thin white stripes along the edges for most of the way. That is how to tell a Western Kingbird from a Cassin’s Kingbird.
I hadn’t found any Acorn Woodpeckers, and they only live in a few places around here, mostly up in the mountains, I think. I knew of another location for them, at Lake Hodges, and I found with Google Maps that it was only 14 minutes away. I drove there and when I got to Lake Hodges, I saw another species that lives in a limited number of places around here. There were some Western Grebes out on the lake, but I found a few CLARK’S GREBES as well. The differences are very minor, and they were really too far away for me to tell the difference with my binoculars. I hadn’t brought my scope along today (because I didn’t want to leave it in the car at La Jolla), so I used my camera as an aid. Western Grebes have yellow-green bills and Clark’s Grebes have orange bills. Also, the black on the top of the head of Western Grebe comes down over the eye and hits the bill. On Clark’s Grebe, the black on top of the head doesn’t cover the eye, and it doesn’t come all the way down to the bill in front. Here are some pictures, for my own future benefit mostly, that show the two species. First, here are two pictures of Western Grebes.
Now here are two pictures of Clark’s Grebes, with orange bills and less black on the head.
Note that the black does not meet the bill (when viewed from the side) on the Clark’s Grebes.
I drove to the place where I had seen Acorn Woodpeckers in the past, but there were people there, and I moved on and drove to the end of the road at the boat launch. I parked and walked on a trail for a short time, playing the song of California Gnatcatcher, but got no response. It was 89 degrees by that time, and I didn’t walk for long. I drove back to the Acorn Woodpecker site, and parked. Acorn Woodpeckers are quite vocal, and they stick around the same area, so I sat in the car and listened, while looking at my grebe pictures to determine if I had actually seen Clark’s Grebe. Soon I actually saw some movement in a tree, and I had my ACORN WOODPECKER. Here are two pictures of that little beauty.
I stayed there longer and ended up getting more pictures, without even leaving the car. I heard and saw more Acorn Woodpeckers, too. Here is a Mourning Dove.
A male Western Bluebird landed on that same branch, so I took his picture, despite the terrible lighting conditions. The pictures didn’t come out very well, but the colors on the bluebird’s back and wings seemed unusual, so I am showing a couple of pictures of him.
I don’t recall seeing that brown color on a bluebird’s back and wings before, but there it is. I wonder if a first-year male has that brown on it.
A California Towhee made an appearance, so I took its picture, too.
The Mourning Dove flew down to the ground, so I took another picture of it.
That was it for my birding today. I only got 5 more species for my March and 2021 lists, but I had already gotten most of the easy ones. I am ending March with 188 species and I have 196 species so far this year. Before I left home, I made a spreadsheet with percentages for new March birds in Southern California, and it indicated I would get about 47 additional March species. I actually got 55 more species for March on the trip, so it has been quite successful as far as numbers are concerned.
I’m halfway through my trip now. I had a travel day to get here, then I had 4 days to add to my March list. Now I have 4 days to start my April list, and a travel day to get home, next Monday. What a life!