Birds I'm Watching: California Thrasher (January 22, 2022)

Doing a bird survey on private property last weekend, I came upon a California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) along the Russian River, near Healdsburg. Not a truly rare bird, but unusual and always fun to see. They have some distinctive calls and sometimes mimic other birds. Notable for the long, decurved bill.

Birds I'm Watching: Bald Eagle at Howarth Park, Santa Rosa

Out for a walk this morning looking for birds. Not enough birds and far too many people walking, running, and biking without masks. Along the trail several people volunteered that they had seen a Bald Eagle earlier in the day near the lake by the parking lot I had parked in. As I rounded a corner near the spot he was supposed have been, there was no bird. Then someone said he'd flown away down the edge of the lake not long before, where I spotted him in the distance. Shortly afterward, he flew in much closer. I spent about 45 minutes getting some decent photos. First time seeing a Bald Eagle in Sonoma County, CA, which is about the southern edge of the Bald Eagle's historical range.

 

Went out for a short walk along a creek trail not far from home on Saturday (October 17). It's the autumn migration season for songbirds, so this is a good time of year to see warblers moving south for the winter and sometimes to see exotic strays not normally present in our area. Didn't see anything exotic and only one warbler species (a pretty Townsend's Warbler), but I did see a busy Pileated Woodpecker working on making a hole in a tree branch. North America's largest woodpecker species (Dryocopus pileatus).

Birds I'm Watching: First Bird of 2019

2019—First bird of the year: White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). This portends good birding in 2019, I think, as White-throated Sparrow is a relatively uncommon species here. I saw one under the feeder this morning as I pulled up the blinds on the living room windows. I've started putting out seed again after a hiatus of a couple of years prompted by the presence of young cats in the neighborhood. I'm hoping for the best now (but will remain vigilant).

To all my birder friends: I wish you a bountiful 2019 with many exotic, rare birds among the regulars.

On the Road: Munich to Leipzig (July 1, 2018)

On the ICE express from Munich to Leipzig by way of Nuremberg and Erfurt, the countryside is mostly wheat and corn fields but also I have seen large fields of vines trained up high on wires—surely hops for making beer. This is Bavaria after all. I didn't make it to a beer hall while in Munich, but I have a bottle of the local brew in my bag for later. The people of Munich certainly consume a lot of it. There are beer halls everywhere and beer bottles everywhere, too, although, in general the city is quite clean.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, English Garden, Munich
July 1, 2018

I spent the morning walking around the English Garden, which includes some surprisingly thick stands of large trees, as well as streams and lakes and large open meadows. A team of Indian or Pakistani amateur cricket players was using one of the meadows for some practice, sharing the space with a flock of geese.

Fieldfare
English Garden, Munich, July 1, 2018

I went to the garden to do some bird watching. I heard a lot of loudly singing birds, but, the singers tend to stay high in the trees and hidden, which is rather frustrating. That said, I saw the ubiquitous local blackbirds and many tits (Great Tits, I think in this case), and I did add two new birds to my life list: the Fieldfare (a Robin-like thrush) and the Great Spotted Woodpecker. I managed to get photos of both. It was interesting also to see female Mandarin Ducks, which look only subtly different from the females of our closely related Wood Ducks.

Female Mandarin Duck
English Garden, Munich
July 1, 2018

Birds I'm Watching: White-faced Ibises at Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility

White-faced Ibises at Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility (in Petaluma) have been a hot topic among Sonoma county birders the past couple of weeks. A group of nine of these birds (rare in our area) has been hanging out there since early January. Today I got some good photos. Also of interest were a large number of Green-winged Teals, among other ducks.

For more information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Birds I'm Watching: Magnolia Warbler at Bodega Bay (10/21/2015)

A stray Magnolia Warbler has been hanging out at Diekmann's Bay Store, in Bodega Bay. Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) is normally an Eastern species not found here. Once in a while a young bird will get lost west of the Rockies during its first migration south. I went to have a look and was lucky enough to get a good photograph of the bird. Warblers are such frantic foragers that I always feel lucky to capture one in focus (above).

A few days later I went again, but was unable to find the bird. I did, however, see a Nashville Warbler (Setophaga ruficapilla), also unusual here (although much less so). The birds can look similar in some plumages. Both have a complete white eyeing, a grayish head, and are otherwise greenish above and pale yellow below, but I knew this to be a Nashville because  of a number of differences--notably the lack of patterning in the wings, lack of a yellow rump, and the lack of the black and grey scalloping at the base of the tail present in the Magnolia Warbler (above). From underneath, it was all yellow except for a white patch at the base of the legs, which is typical of a Nashville (below).

For more about birds and birding in Sonoma County, see my Website: Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots. 

Birds I'm Watching: Odd Bushtit Behavior (March 31, 2014)

Spent the day indoors today (March 31, 2014) because of the rain, but I didn't have to go out to do some bird watching. The birds came to me--one bird, anyway--a female Bushtit that spent several hours flitting back and forth through the dense plant growth near one of my living room windows. I watched the bird on and off for quite some time. No sign of nesting material, but it was clearly occupied doing something--and alone, not in a flock. She pecked at the window repeatedly and for no apparent reason, making a circuit of a fixed number of perches near the glass over and over again. She was loud enough that I could hear her from upstairs. I'm wondering if she's looking for a nesting site? I got some good close-up photos of her. I wonder what she was up to? Perhaps just pecking at her reflected rival in the glass....

For more about birds and birding in Sonoma County, see my Website: Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots. 

Birds I'm Watching: Scaup at Lake Ralphine

On a recent visit to Lake Ralphine, the small lake at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa, I was pleased to see a good number of wintering ducks, including Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, A Gadwall, and a Ruddy Duck, but there was also group of about 10 Scaup.

Scaup come in two flavors--Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup. They are very similar and hard to tell apart. I think these were mostly Greater Scaup. I'm pretty sure that at least the female pictured above is a Greater. The male (lower photo) may be a Lesser.

For more about birds and birding in Sonoma County, see my Website: Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Birds I'm Watching: Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbirds are very common in Northern California. They come to garden flowers and often sit resting in low trees, making all manner of squeaky sounds that don't really sound like birdsong. They can be quite unconcerned by people at close quarters. Yesterday, this fellow posed for me about four feet away while I made a portrait of him against vivid yellow autumn leaves.

For more about birds and bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Birds I'm Watching: Warblers at Point Reyes (September 28, 2013)

I went to Pt. Reyes this past Saturday (September 28, 2013) joining a local Audubon Society group that went out looking for migrating warblers. Pt. Reyes is well known among birders as a place that sometimes traps stray warblers heading south to wintering grounds in Central and South America, usually first-year birds that get lost. Birders here get excited when eastern species normally not present show up in the trees at the Outer Point. On Saturday, we got to see two such birds--a Blackburnian Warbler (pictured above) and a Prairie Warbler, both birds I'd never seen before. These are life birds no. 417 and 418 for me. These were in the trees at the ranger residences at Chimney Rock.

For more about local bird watching, see my website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots

Birds I'm Watching: Unusual Heermann's Gull

On a recent pelagic birding trip I got to see many of the local birds that stay mostly far out to sea--birds that we rarely get to see on or from dry land. In particular, there was an unusually large number of Storm-petrels (four species--Ashy, Black, Wilson's and Fork-tailed Storm-petrel). Four birds were new to me--Cassin's Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, South Polar Skua, and Sabine's Gull, bringing my life list to 416--a small number, but not bad for only about four years of serious birding and birding done mostly in one area.

There have been a number of Blue-footed Boobies in the San Francisco Bay area this autumn, including around Bodega Bay, the area we set out from. We saw nothing so rare as a booby, but we did get to see an unusual variant of the Heermann's Gull, which is a fairly common visitor in Sonoma County during autumn migration and over the winter months. A few of these birds have a white patch in the wings that is not normally present and that I'd never seen before. I've heard various estimates of the frequency with which the variation occurs, ranging from one in a hundred to one in a thousand. I don't know, but I thought this bird very interesting. This particular individual has white in the secondaries, not just in the upper primary coverts, which is where the white normally occurs in birds that show this variation. Happily, the water was comparatively calm on this (my second) pelagic tour. On the first one, the water was so rough that many on the boat were sick the whole time, including me.

For more about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots

On the Road--Down South: A Day of Birding

Yesterday, June 15, was a day devoted entirely to birding, frustrating at first, but ultimately rewarding. In the morning I headed for Edisto Beach State Park, on the coast between Savannah and Charleston. Along the way I stopped at Donnelly Wildlife Management Area, a remote expanse of woods with a lonely road through it. I drove the road for miles, car windows down, listening and looking for birds. Eastern Wood Pewees, I recognized. I got a fleeting glimpse of a pair of sparrows, but they moved off too quickly to identify. They were most likely Chipping Sparrows. The road ended at what looked like a ranger station with a decaying barn and gas pump and a small cornfield. On the wires there I saw Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Kingbirds, and doves. On the drive back, I could hear woodpeckers and flycatchers, but most of the sounds were unfamiliar except for a Pileated Woodpecker in the distance and Cardinals singing everywhere. In the end, I saw very little, and was mostly left wondering what birds were making all the noise.

Back on the main highway, heading for Edisto Beach again, I spotted an unfamiliar-looking hawk. I hastily pulled over and found myself in a patch of trees around a little-visited cemetery. The flowers on the graves were plastic, faded, and grey with dust. Slipping through the trees to get a view of the sky above, I saw that the hawk was nothing unusual--a Red-tailed Hawk--and my attention was quickly called away by unfamiliar singing in the trees. I spotted a warbler-sized bird (possibly a warbler) with a brilliant yellow throat, a collar of patchy grey, and a pale yellow-white breast and belly. It seemed greyish above with two thin white wing bars, but I never really got a good view. Its vocalization was distinctive, though--a fairly flat trill that reminded me of an Orange-crowned Warbler (but without that bird's characteristic change in pitch during the trill), finished off each time with a single chirpy note. I heard the same bird on the trails around Edisto Beach, so it's probably common. I don't know what it was, but I was able to record the song. I'm hoping to figure it out later*. Before I left I also saw a Carolina Wren in the trees.


At Edisto Beach, the usual birds were at the ocean--Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans flying in lazy rows, and a few Royal Terns out over the water. For lunch near the beach I tried a shrimp Po' Boy. The shrimp was good, but I wasn't terribly impressed by the sodden iceberg lettuce and white roll it came in. After lunch, I drove to a small visitor center and campground registration post where I parked and started on a long loop through woods with an extension back out to the coast. I spent the rest of my day walking trails winding through the woods and here and there muddy expanses of sea grass nearer the ocean. These marshy areas are strangely empty of birds except for Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets here and there, but the woods were active. I mostly saw Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, but got another good look at a Red-bellied Woodpecker. There was a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher in an isolated stand of trees close to the coast--a bird I hadn't realized lived in South Carolina. On the walk back through the dense woods I saw a flash of red that wasn't a Cardinal. It was a male Summer Tanager. A second one appeared and two females as well, for life bird No. 19 on the trip. Finally, when close to returning to the car, a small bird caught my eye. I put my binoculars on it and was thrilled to see it was a plump male Painted Bunting--one of the birds I most hoped to see while in the South (life bird No. 20 for the trip). It obligingly flew to a nearer, well-lit perch and allowed me to photograph it at my leisure before it flew away. The whole day was worth the tanagers and the bunting (top photo). Along the way, I passed a funny little post office, the name of the town painted on by hand.

*I was subsequently able to identify my mystery bird as a Northern Parula (life bird no. 18 for the trip).

On the Road--Down South: Savannah's Forsyth Park, Colonial Cemetery, and Another Visit to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

I got up early yesterday morning to go birding at Savannah's largest park, Forsyth Park. It was somewhat disappointing, but not entirely unfruitful. Most of the birds were House Sparrows, Robins, and Starlings (not to mention the ubiquitous Mockingbirds), but there was also a contingent of Brown Thrashers--one of those birds I may have seen as a child but certainly haven't seen since I was very young. It was fun to watch them hopping around the lawns tossing aside magnolia leaves looking for food. A very pretty, rufous bird. They seem to be common here.

Afterward, I decided to make one last visit to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, this time driving the "Wildlife Tour." Most of the people on the route seemed to be looking for alligators, but there were birds around. Although I saw nothing new, I got to see more Anhingas, Moorhens, Purple Gallinules, Cardinals, Blue Jays, a lustily singing Indigo Bunting, a pair of Cattle Egrets, and, overhead, Great Egrets, Mississippi Kites, and even a couple of Glossy Ibises.

Later in the day, I went to see the Colonial Cemetery again, as it was considerably cooler today than it has been in the last few days. Clouds threatening rain that never developed were welcome. The cemetery was the second built in Savannah. It appears to have been used actively between around 1750 and 1850. Many of the graves are from 1820, a year marked by an epidemic of yellow fewer that killed more than 700 citizens of Savannah. The cemetery is now a city park. This was the original resting place of Major General Nanthanial Greene, one of Washington's most important generals (later moved to Johnson Square). Other notables of the Revolutionary War period and others include Joseph, James, and John Habersham; Joseph Clay; Samuel Elbert, Colonel John S. Macintosh, General Lachlan Macintosh, Edward Greene Malbone, a miniaturist; and Captain Denis L. Cottineau de Kerloguen.

The highlight of lunch was a fat crab cake on a layer of grits with a tomato bisque sauce at a place called Soho South Café. The service left a little to be desired, but the food was good. I had an Ace pear cider with my lunch. I finished off the meal with a slice of Georgia pecan pie. I've always loved pecan pie. I assumed it would be good here in Georgia, and it was--note that the filling is mostly pecans, not gelatinous goo. A great way to wrap things up.

On the Road--Down South: Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (continued) and Charleston

I went back to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, over the Talmage Memorial Bridge again, this time hoping to see new birds while walking one of the forested trails. The day before, I had walked out in the sun--not a tree in sight--and felt unwell afterward. Yesterday's forested trail was shady and somewhat cooler--not to mention shorter. There was a fair amount of bird song, but, frustratingly, I saw almost nothing. Not knowing the songs here that well, I didn't always know what I was hearing, either. I did recognize Cardinals and Towhees in the distance, but there wasn't a lot going on.

Later in the day, I decided to drive up to Charleston. I mainly wanted to see Fort Sumter, but I arrived about ten minutes too late to take the last ferry over for the day. I was annoyed. I can't imagine why the ferries stop running at 4:00PM in the middle of June, and you'd think there would be private boats willing to take tourists the short distance to the island, which looks about two miles out in the bay, but I could find no way to get there. From what I read at the ferry pier, however, the fort looks nothing like it did during the Civil War. First, it was reduced to rubble during the long siege that it suffered, and at some time well after the Civil War a large, modern artillery battery was built in the middle of what was once the parade ground. It was enough just to see the position of the fort and to see the place the first shots of the Civil War were fired from, a place called Point Johnson on the shore. I watched the water for a while. Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls were fishing or stealing bait (the gulls) from fisherman on the piers. I looked at Waterfront Park and later Battery Park, which has a nice pineapple-shaped fountain in it. Lunch on the way into Charleston was a truly delicious pair of grilled shrimp flour-tortilla tacos at Yo Bo Cantina Fresca.


I spent the rest of the day just walking around Charleston, which has a lot of interesting architecture. The oldest houses seem to be mostly brick and from around the Revolutionary War period. You could spend days looking up at the cornices of the bigger buildings or peering into courtyards lush with ferns, or looking into shop windows. Much of the old downtown in Charleston (and Savannah as well) still has gas lamps burning. I had a quick dinner and then made the drive back to Savannah, about two hours. This morning I feel tired and somehow don't want to go out into the heat at all, but I'll think of something interesting to do.

On the Road--Down South: Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (June 11, 2013)

On June 11, I got up fairly early and headed to the Savannah National Wildlife Reserve, a short drive North from Savannah, just across the South Carolina border. The road takes you across the Savannah River on the Talmage Memorial Bridge, an attractive cable-stayed bridge completed in 1990 that has become a symbol of the city, although it's a bit removed from the center of things. I walked a weedy, trail along an embankment for a couple miles, but turned back early because of the oppressive heat and humidity. I later learned that it had been over 105 degrees. The trail is completely exposed--not a single tree to shelter under. The embankments are the remnants of an old rice plantation that operated here. Despite the heat and the aborted walk, I had the pleasure of seeing a Red-bellied Woodpecker shortly after I started walking (life bird No. 12 for the trip). A little further along I saw female Orchard Oriole, and a pair of Indigo Buntings. Yellowthroats were singing in the small trees in the swampy areas below the embankment. Anhingas (life bird No. 13 for the trip), Great Egrets, and Little Blue herons flying overhead kept me looking up and, before long, a couple of Wood Storks flew by (life bird No. 14 for the trip)--very large birds with broad white wings and black primaries, much like a White Pelican in coloration.

Before long I started seeing unfamiliar raptor-like birds that turned out to be Mississippi Kites (life bird No. 15). Other birds included Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Eastern Kingbirds. On the way back, walking slowly to keep from getting overheated, I noticed a group of about 30 birds circling in the distance. When I looked at them with binoculars I was surprised to find that they were mostly kites, with Swallow-tail Kites among them (life bird No. 16). The Swallow-tail Kites have a strange combination of fierceness of aspect and elegance that makes them fascinating to watch. In California, our kites, White-tailed Kites, are occasionally seen in small family groups during breeding season, but they are otherwise mostly solitary. I wonder if these Southern kites normally fly in groups like this? In the end, the walk turned out to be quite productive, if uncomfortable.


After recuperating with a cold beer and a lunch of wild Georgia shrimp and avocado quesadillas at the Kayak Kafé back in Savannah, I decided to drive out to Tybee Island, another spot supposed to be good for birds. Along the way, I stopped at Fort Pulaski, a low, brick Civil War fort that was worth a quick wander through. The island has powdery sand beaches and a lot of restaurants with a look that suggests their focus is scooping up tourist dollars rather than serving good food. I was going to stay and have dinner on the island, but couldn't find a respectable-looking restaurant or even an inviting outdoor table. Before leaving I walked down to the beach and watched a group of people playing bocce ball and kept an eye out for birds. It was mostly Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans, but there were also terns flying further out, occasionally hovering and then diving headfirst into the water for fish. They turned out to be Royal Terns (life bird No. 17 for the trip). I ended up going back to Garibaldi's again for a late dinner and a glass of wine after a much-needed nap.

On the Road--Down South: Rained Out (June 9, 2013)

I left Gulfport, Mississippi this morning (June 9), heading south and east, aiming to visit the bird sanctuaries at and near Dauphin Island on the Gulf Coast, but it soon began to rain as I started out and it was coming down in sheets by the time I got to the coast. I sat in the car a while and watched Laughing Gulls (life bird No. 10 for the trip) and Brown Pelicans flying along the shore. I had seen Laughing Gulls earlier, in a Gulfport Walmart parking lot (where I stopped to buy sunscreen), but got a much better look at the birds by the sea. When the car radio suddenly stopped and the emergency broadcast system croaked on to warn of severe thunderstorms and gale force winds on the way, I retraced my route then headed east and north in the hope of finding clear skies and something of interest to do. I ended up driving most of the day in the pouring rain on I-10, heading toward Pensacola, Florida. A large billboard said "Pray." Another admonished "Know Jesus." Most of the way I was able to find an NPR station on the radio. I listened to the same episode of "The Prairie Home Companion" that I'd heard the day before. Along one stretch of highway, the NPR station and a religious broadcast began to come in virtually simultaneously. Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" was interviewing a TV writer talking about writing gay characters. The religious voice was talking about the inspiration of god's love. Sometimes a sentence begun by one was finished by the other. Eventually, god won out and I pushed the scan button to find solace in the voice of NPR again. The sunscreen could have waited.

I ended up in Albany, Georgia, the only town that seemed likely to have hotel rooms between where I found myself with sunset coming on and the coast (this time, the East Coast). I passed through Dothan and Blakely. In Blakely the road signs, if followed strictly, will put you in perpetual orbit around the town square. I had to flag down a car to ask which road to take to get to Albany. Along the way, near Arlington, I spotted a group of vultures in the pines along the road. I had seen a Turkey Vulture not long before, but these birds lacked the familiar red head of the Turkey Vulture. I turned back for a better look and confirmed that they were Black Vultures (life bird No. 11 for the trip). My lens, cool from the air conditioning in the car, fogged over as soon as I stepped out into the hot, sodden air, but I got a few shots, before heading back quickly to the car to avoid mosquitoes. So far the bugs haven't been as bad as I feared they might be, but the trip has just begun. The people have been friendly. Tomorrow (June 10) I head for Savannah.

On the Road--Down South: New Birds (June 8-9, 2013)

On my first day of real birding in the South, June 8, I headed south and east from Lake Charles by the back roads--Highways 90, 101, and 14--to Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, which turned out to be very poorly marked. Eventually I found it by turning down an unlikely looking road marked for "Lacassine Pool." Although the scant signage said I was in the refuge area, I never found the Refuge proper, but it didn't matter. The pool (an open expanse of water covered in yellow lotusus) was more than sufficiently interesting. I walked along the roads some and took the self-guided "wildlife tour" by car that was offered. On the drive down from Lake Charles, I spotted a scissor-tailed bird on a power line. I stopped, and drove back only to see it fly away into a field. Luckily it landed not far off, allowing me a good look. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Life bird No. 2 on this trip. In Lake Charles, while waiting for a book store to open so I could buy a field guide (I stupidly forgot to pack one) I saw a pair of White-winged Doves, also a new bird for me. Mockingbirds everywhere. At first they confused me. They are much browner than the Mockingbirds I'm used to in California. Also saw a Blue Jay and a Cardinal, both for the first time in a long time. Heard a Killdeer in the distance. Cattle Egrets here and there.

At Lacassine Pool I saw many Grackles. I believe both Great-tailed Grackles and Boat-tailed Grackles, but I'm a little confused about the grackles. Purple Gallinules and Common Gallinules were all over the watered areas, many with chicks, walking on the big lotus leaves. Barn Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds (with the yellow bar that our California birds lack), Mourning Doves (a darker, richer brown than ours), Great Egrets, a few Coots, and many Eastern Kingbirds. Along the road I found a pair of Kingbirds with three newly fledged young. Later I got to hear a very vocal Common Yellowthroat singing out in the open. Saw a Brown-headed Cowbird and a Great Blue Heron. With the exception of the Eastern Kingbird, these are all birds I've seen before. If I've seen an Eastern Kingbird, it was long ago. Likewise the Glossy Ibises flying over, so I'm not sure whether to count these as new life birds until I can check my records at home. I therefore count White Ibis as life bird No. 3 on the trip. Pretty birds with pinkish heads and bills. The very tips of the primaries are black.

Heading further east, I had planned to visit Avery Island, the home of Tabasco Sauce, but arrived in Lafayette too late to make the detour and then make any headway toward the coast. I had wanted to see the salt dome there and to do some birding as well. I stopped in at the Lafayette Tourist Information Center, where the very helpful people suggested I visit Lake Martin instead, which turned out to be a wonderful idea. The main bird walk was closed for alligator nesting season, but I walked the boardwalks that were open. Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, and Prothonotary Warbler in the cypresses gave me life birds No. 4, 5, and 6 for the trip. A female cardinal was a bonus. Watched Tufted Titmice tussling in the trees. I was about to leave when I talked briefly to a docent who told me there was a rookery further up the road with Little Blue Herons nesting (checking the map later, this appears to be called Rookery Rd.).

As I pulled up to the rookery a few minutes later--a stand of low trees studded with white and blue-black birds--I came upon a rather docile pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (life bird No. 7 for the trip; pictured below). The Little Blue Herons made it eight life birds for the day. Among the herons were Great Egrets and a few Roseate Spoonbills. I've seen spoonbills in Europe, but, these are a different species--pink, as the name suggests. Roseate Spoonbill for life bird No. 9. A very satisfying day, although the many white herons at the rookery remain a puzzle to me, with their pale bluish legs, they are not any of the herons or egrets I recognize. Could they all have been juvenile Little Blues (which are white, according to the field guide)? Drove east then as far as Gulfport, Mississippi, where I spent the night. Saw some fairly immense thunderstorms along the way, one with lightning flashes and a persistent quarter rainbow looking like a handle lodged in the side of a black thunderhead. After a shower, I had a mediocre meal at Half-shell Oyster House. Today, June 9, planning to head to coastal birding areas nearby, if weather permits.

Birds I'm Watching: Rarities at Bodega Bay (May 23, 2013)

Yesterday I rushed out to Bodega to see two rare birds there. An immature Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) appeared at Campbell Cove on May 22. It's the first time the species has been seen in Sonoma County. Normally Brown Boobies live in Mexico. Their presence is rare anywhere in California but particularly so this far north. I had to wait around for a couple of hours, but eventually the bird appeared. Fishing, apparently fruitlessly, the bird made numerous dives but never seemed to come up with anything.

Also a rare visitor to the area is a Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan) that's been hanging out on the mud flats a little beyond the entrance to Doran Beach at Bodega Bay. It's an adult bird in full breeding plumage. We rarely see any of the so-called "hooded gulls" (gulls with completely black or dark brown heads in breeding plumage) here. Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia), a hooded gull, is a common winter visitor in Sonoma County, but we see that bird normally in winter plumage.

For more about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots

Birds I'm Watching: The Common and the Not-so-common (January 10, 2012)

Last month was the busiest December I've had work-wise in my 12 years here as a freelance translator. Usually, December is quiet. As a result, I've had little time for chasing birds recently, but a quick trip to San Rafael on Tuesday (January 8) on a tip about a Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) was worth the dash. What a magnificent bird. They are rare here. Not more than one or two show up each year in the area--if that. So, I was pleased to be able to add this fellow to my life list.

I also got some interesting photographs of the many Yellow-rumped Warblers that were flitting about. These are our single most common warbler. They are abundant in the winter months. Some birds are not well named. Others, like the Yellow-rumped Warbler, are rather aptly named, as the photo below should demonstrate.

For information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.