Birds I'm Watching: Santa Rosa, Point Reyes (September 14-15, 2010)

I took a short walk along Melita Rd. yesterday afternoon thinking I might see some migrating autumn warblers. I was disappointed in that, but got to watch a large flock of Cedar Waxwings and some Western Tanagers stealing grapes from a small vineyard in the front yard of one of the houses there. I got a nice photo of one of the tanagers (above). I had much better luck with warblers today.

I joined a group from the Madrone Audubon Society that went out to Point Reyes this morning--in dense, bone-chilling fog. There were virtually no warblers to be seen in the early part of the day out toward the lighthouse, except a single bird that no one got a good look at and no one was able to identify. The highlight at the lighthouse was a Rock Wren, which was a new bird for me. I also got good, leisurely looks at a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches, another new bird for me.

After lunch, out at Chimney Rock (which the bird people seem to refer to rather loosely as "the fish docks") we had better luck, tipped off by a group that was leaving as we arrived. We eventually found a single (probably female) Magnolia Warbler (yet another new bird for me) and two Black-and-white Warblers (which I saw for the first time in my life just last week, out at Bodega Bay), along with some Townsend's Warblers, a couple of Warbling Vireos, and about six flycatchers that seemed mostly to have been Western Wood Pewees (photo), although--as is often the case with the flycatchers--no one seemed positive. Despite the cold, damp fog and poor visibility in the early part of the day, it was a worthwhile trip. With the addition of Rock Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Wagnolia Warbler, my life list now stands at 317.

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

Birds I'm Watching: Warblers at Bodega Bay (September 9, 2010)

Well, it's that time of year. Migration is under way. In the coming weeks there should be good opportunities to see unusual warblers and other birds passing through our area on the way to warmer climates to the south. One famous spot--famous among local bird watchers, anyway--for finding warblers at this time of year is Owl Canyon (not official; only bird watchers appear to know the place by this name), near Campbell Cove, at Bodega Bay (look for the eucalyptus trees on the right as you head out to the Cove).

For the last couple of days, a black-and-white warbler has been hanging out there. I went to find it yesterday--and succeeded. It was in a scraggly pine at the extreme right of the trees on that side of the entrance to the Canyon (the end away from Campbell Cove, a good 150 yards from the entrance). A very pretty bird. The day before, I saw a Macgillivry's warbler in the Canyon itself, low down and just inside the entrance. Two life birds in two days, bringing my total to 312, with 182 species in Sonoma County. Progress, but 312 is not even 3% of the number of bird species on Earth.

Illustration: Black-and-white warblers from The Bird Book, by Chester A. Reed, 1915 (public domain).

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