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: Lake Ralphine, Santa Rosa (August 21, 2012)

I shouldn't complain about work, but I've had rather a lot in the past week, which has kept me mostly stuck at my computer. Yesterday I managed to take a quick break for a walk around Lake Ralphine, at Howarth Park. It was the middle of the day, and not much was going on--almost no birds at all, until I stopped at a secluded spot on the far side of the lake to look for the bird making what at first I thought was a Spotted Towhee's cranky call. It turned out to be a Bewick's Wren (photo) making similar sounds. Flitting over my head was a mix of small woodland birds--a Titmouse, a Hutton's Vireo, a couple of Chickadees. And then back home and back to work.

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

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine (December 3, 2011)

I took a walk around Lake Ralphine this morning--around the lake at the water's edge and then along the ridge trail that connects the lake with Spring Lake. There were a couple of unusual birds. I saw my first Varied Thrush in about four years. There was a nice Fox Sparrow on one of the trails. There was a Horned Grebe on the water, which is very unusual at this location--the Horned Grebes usually stay out at the coast. Among the gulls (mostly Ring-billed Gulls and California Gulls) there were four Mew Gulls, which don't usually show up at Lake Ralphine. One is pictured above.

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

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine, Santa Rosa (October 31, 2011)

I took a quick walk around Lake Ralphine today, in Santa Rosa's Howarth Park. The winter ducks haven't arrived yet, although there were about 100 Coots on the water. I watched a Belted Kingfisher dive for fish and got to see a pretty Townsend's Warbler, but the highlight was this handsome Great Blue Heron fixated enough on his fishing to let me get rather close.

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

Birds I'm watching: Lake Ralphine, Spring Lake (Jan. 8, 2011)

Having recently decided it prudent to get more exercise, I'm now attempting to take a walk of at least half an hour a day every day. This morning I went birding around Lake Ralphine and then walked the perimeter of Spring Lake. You see, I thought I'd kill two....never mind.

Lake Ralphine had its usual winter mergansers (I counted 36) and about half as many ring-billed gulls (pictured above). There was nothing uncommon, although I did see an orange-crowned warbler, which is unusual at this time of year. Other birds I saw were: Bufflehead, Ruddy duck, Double-crested cormorant, Great egret, Snowy egret, Black-crowned night heron, Coots, Belted kingfisher, a female scaup, and Crows.

At Spring Lake, I saw 37 species--not especially good for Spring Lake, but not bad. Most interesting was another Orange-crowned warbler. I also saw a nice Lincoln's sparrow--first one I've seen in quite a while--and the Osprey. Otherwise, I noted: Canada goose, Mallard, Bufflehead, Common merganser, Ruddy duck, California quail, Pied-billed grebe, Double-crested cormorant, Great egret, Snowy egret, Turkey vulture, Osprey, Sora, Common moorhen, Coots, Ring-billed gull, Mourning dove, Anna's hummingbird, Acorn woodpecker, Nuttall's woodpecker, Northern flicker, Black phoebe, Scrub jay, Crow, Western bluebird, Raven, Oak titmouse, Ruby-crowned kinglet, Robins, Yellow-rumped warblers, Spotted towhee, California towhee, Golden-crowned sparrow, Dark-eye junco, and House finch.

For more information about Spring Lake Park, Lake Ralphine, and bird watching in Sonoma County generally, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake

In a lull between bouts of work today (April 8)--in need of a change of pace, and mindful of predictions of yet more rain in the coming days--I spent a couple of hours at Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake, just a few minutes from my house. I had to go late in the day--not the best time of day to see birds--and there was comparatively little activity. A fair number of birds were singing, but I saw very few of them--which is always frustrating. Having said that, I did see the following at Lake Ralphine: Common merganser, pied-billed grebe, crow, Canada goose, red-winged blackbird, bufflehead, double-crested cormorant, Brewer's blackbird, common goldeneye, turkey vulture, and the spotted sandpiper that's been hanging out on the east side of the lake for a couple of months now.

In walking around Spring Lake, I saw: Scrub jay, song sparrow, orange-crowned warbler (many singing in addition to the one I actually saw), several spotted towhees, bushtits, crow, red-winged blackbird, Anna's hummingbird, acorn woodpecker, yellow-rumped warbler, snowy egret, a bittern, double-crested cormorant, golden-crowned sparrow, six pied-billed grebes, five Canada geese, two green herons, and a partridge in a pear tree.... No, wait. Strike that last one.

The highlights were the spotted sandpiper, the green herons, the snowy egret (which let me approach very close), and a very large drift of Sisyrinchium in full bloom on the shaded side of one of the saddle dams at Spring Lake.

I was also able to record an unfamiliar bird song with my iPhone (amazing little contraption) that was clearly enough captured to later identify the bird as a Black-headed Grosbeak.

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

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine/Spring Lake

On a walk around Lake Ralphine (at Howarth Park, Santa Rosa) and Spring Lake today I saw nothing much unusual except the spotted sandpiper that's been hanging out on the east side of Lake Ralphine, but I was able to get an extraordinary photograph of a golden-crowned sparrow (above). The bird virtually walked up to me and sat at my feet. Who knows why? At first I thought it was sitting on a nest, but I don't think these sparrows are ground nesters. It was as if the bird simply wanted companionship. It reminded me of a cat curling up to sleep in a comfortable spot. From about six feet away, it allowed me to take photographs for several minutes, not stirring until I stood up to leave. It flew off to join several companions foraging in the nearby bushes.

Birds I saw: Anna's hummingbird, red-winged blackbird, pied-billed grebe, coot, turkey vulture, California towhee, spotted towhee, yellow-rumped warbler, Canada geese, scrub jay, crow, raven, Northern flicker, bushtits, Bewick's wren, American goldfinch, golden-crowned sparrow, mallard, bufflehead, snowy egret, double-crested cormorant, ring-billed gull, California gull, Brewer's blackbird, common merganser (46 on Lake Ralphine today), oak titmouse, spotted sandpiper, common goldeneye, ruby-crowned kinglet, house finch, and dark-eyed junco--thirty-one species on a three-hour walk covering about three miles.

On Friday (March 12) I spent about 40 minutes at Place-to-Play Park, in Santa Rosa. Some long-time birdwatchers in the area rightly lament that the park today is just a remnant of what used to be a much more extensive wild area, but it continues to attract a lot of birds. On a short walk covering a distance of only a few hundred yards (once around the small lake) I saw: Red-shouldered hawk, crows, common merganser, killdeer, double-crested cormorant, snowy egret, bufflehead, ruddy duck, black phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, bushtits, California towhee, coots, turkey vulture, scrub jay, Canada geese, house finches, robin, golden-crowned sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, Nuttall's woodpecker, mourning doves, pied-billed grebe, and a Northern mockingbird. I also saw a warbler I was unable to identify--mostly yellow and pale gray with a distinct white eye ring. Twenty-five species in total, which is nearly as many as I saw at Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake--in a much smaller area and covering a much shorter distance.

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine/Spring Lake

Took a walk around Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake today in the pouring rain. What was I thinking? Actually, I was thinking I might finally get to see a rail, as people keep telling me they are easy to see when high water levels force them up on to higher ground, but today I didn't even hear a rail.

I did see some birds, though. Several moorhens were close in on the little peninsula that juts out into Spring Lake (it's nearly an island at the moment). There were robins everywhere. There are still many common mergansers on Lake Ralphine. The highlight was probably a varied thrush--not exactly a rare bird, but it's the first one I've seen in a couple of years.

Other birds I saw were: Mallard, double-crested cormorant, Canada goose, bufflehead, pied-billed grebe, ruby-crowned kinglet, hermit thrush, spotted towhee, California towhee (including a partially-leucistic bird normal in all respects except that it had a crescent of white at the nape--as if it had rolled up a towel and flung it around its neck), house finch, dark-eyed junco, Anna's hummingbird, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, scrub jay, Steller's Jay, yellow-rumped warblers (15 or so), California quail (19), golden-crowned sparrow, black phoebe, crow, acorn woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, Northern flicker, bushtits, and chestnut-backed chickadees. These last were in a group (5) picking buds off the willows. I noticed that many of the buds have already broken. The chickadees were imitating the rather annoying habit birds in my backyard have of eating all the buds off the fruit trees and ornamental plums. At home, however, it's mostly the house finches and juncos that do this.... Anyway, despite the rain and absence of rails, I still saw thirty-two bird species.

Birds I'm Watching: Spring Lake/Lake Ralphine

I just got back from a walk around the two lakes in Santa Rosa (near Howarth Park). Nothing unusual, but got a very good look at the spotted sandpiper that's been on the right side of Lake Ralphine (with the boathouse behind you; top photo). Also saw the bittern at Spring Lake, the osprey there (watched him land and rise up again with a huge blue gill), and saw three moorhens, and a red-shouldered hawk. There are still about a dozen common mergansers on Lake Ralphine and buffleheads on both lakes. Saw a noisy flock of bushtits along Spring Creek earlier in the day (bottom photo).


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

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine/Spring Lake

Took a walk around lake Ralphine and Spring Lake today, in Santa Rosa. Saw 40 bird species: Downy woodpecker, Nuttal's woodpecker, acorn woodpecker, turkey vulture, crows, lesser goldfinch, house finch, ruby-crowned kinglet, northern flicker, robin, Western meadowlark, ring-billed gull, coots (22), common moorhen (2), scrub jay, oak titmouse, chestnut-backed chickadee, yellow-rumped warbler, great egret, snowy egret, spotted towhee, California towhee, fox sparrow, golden-crowned sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, song sparrow, marsh wren, Bewick's wren, belted kingfisher, Great blue heron, Canada geese, mallards, buffleheads (10), greater scaup (6), common merganser (27 on Lake Ralphine), pied-billed grebe, a spotted sandpiper, a red-shouldered hawk, an Osprey eating a fish up in a tree, and a pair of common goldeneyes.

The photos are of a male (top) and female common merganser. These birds show striking sexual dimorphism--strictly speaking, sexual dichromatism.

Birds I'm Watching: Howarth Park (Lake Ralphine)

Spent an hour and a half or so this afternoon taking a break from work by walking along one side of Lake Ralphine, the boating lake at Howarth Park, in Santa Rosa. I've found that this is a good place to see warblers and other small woodland birds. I'm a novice when it comes to warblers, but I'm a quick learner. Today I saw yellow warblers and a Townsend's warbler, along with chestnut-backed chickadees, Oak titmice, bushtits, scrub jays, juncos, Anna's hummingbirds, Canada Geese, snowy egrets, mallards, a pacific-slope flycatcher, a brown creeper, a Nuttall's woodpecker, and a hairy woodpecker--16 species. Not too bad for a two-minute drive from home.

If you care to try this one, take the trail out of the far right corner of the upper parking lot at Howarth Park (far right if you're facing the lake, looking along the long axis of the parking lot). After about 100 meters the path splits. Take the left, lower, unpaved path--the path less traveled by--rather than the main, paved path that begins to rise. The lower path runs right along the side of Lake Ralphine. This entire stretch is a good place to look for birds, particularly in the more open areas toward the end of the lake.

Food I'm Eating: Blackberry Pie

I took a walk around Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake today, to collect blackberries. The bushes were heavy with them. Although picked over, we managed to bring home a couple pounds of fruit. I'm in the process of making a blackberry pie as I write this. I've made the dough and rolled out a crust (now in the oven baking). I've made custard. When the crust is ready, I'll line it with custard, then berries and then throw the whole thing back in the oven. An excellent excuse to try all three of the ice creams I brought home from Whole Foods today.

While collecting berries was my purpose, I managed to see quite a few birds while walking. Besides the usual--Mallards, Canada Geese, California Towhees, Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, California Quail, Scrubjays, Red-winged Blackbirds, Snowy Egrets (many of these), Great Egrets, and a Great Blue Heron, I saw what I think may have been a female Wilson's Warbler and what was definitely a Black-throated Gray Warbler, a first sighting for me. He was in the willow trees between the path and the water about thirty yards before the eastern end of Lake Ralphine.

I ache from the work yesterday of re-setting the nets on the grapes in the backyard and raising the electric fence around them. Those dastardly raccoons are still stealing fruit. Last night nothing disappeared, though. I think I may have finally thwarted them.

Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine ducks

Today, for the first time since coming back to the United States, I took a pair of binoculars and a bird book out to Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake, the former is the small lakes in Howarth Park here in Santa Rosa. I saw quite a lot in a leisurely hour-long walk around the lake. The common mergansers I noticed there a couple of weeks ago were still around. I saw eight females and three males. There was a lone male bufflehead diving for remarkably long spells. I saw the usual cormorants, mallards, canada geese, and other geese--the half-tame year-round residents, but I also saw a common moorhen, which is a first sighting for me. There was a pair of coots on the water as well. In the trees I saw a couple of yellow-rumped warblers and a large bird that looked like a night heron, but it was colored oddly--mostly white with yellow legs and a bluish-grey head and back. I'm not sure exactly what it was. There was another heron-like bird on the far side of Spring Lake that I couldn't identify either, but this one was mostly brown.

More intriguing was an odd duck on Lake Ralphine, that had characteristics of a mallard (the distinctive curls in the tail feathers) but was otherwise quite different. It had a strikingly iridescent teal green head with small flecks of white. Its bill was a yellow-greenish gray, not yellow. Its back was the same greenish color as its head, but darker. It had a white throat and breast, but was otherwise a medium to dark brownish grey. It had no neck ring and no brown on the breast. There is nothing in the bird book that makes sense. Someone I talked with suggested it might be a mutt, and that seems to make sense. Apparently the mallards interbreed with domestic ducks that hang out on the lake.

In other bird news, three cormorants flew over the house this morning, which is quite unusual. Yesterday, driving on Llano Road past the water treatment plant, I saw two American white pelicans, which is a fairly rare sighting--only the second time I've seen these birds here in Sonoma county. The pelicans I've seen at the coast are mostly brown pelicans. 

Along the trail I found a beautiful little stand of gold-backed ferns (coming up through a thicket of poison oak) and a group of western shooting stars in bloom (top photo).