Miscellaneous: Wilson's Warbler in the garden

I had a comparatively unusual visitor to the garden this morning, a Wilson's Warbler. A male bird visited the fountain outside my living room window (photo through the window) and I think I saw a female flitting around as well, suggesting there may be a breeding pair in the garden.  

Places I'm Visiting: Birds in Texas and the Southwest

In nine days of traveling between Texas and Las Vegas, I had hoped to see many new birds or at least many birds less common than those I routinely see in Sonoma County, but I was disappointed. There were few birds in most of the locations we visited aside from the Crows and Ravens that seemed to be everywhere.

In Dallas and Fort Worth, I saw Boat-tailed Grackles here and there, and saw a handful of Robins and a pair of White-winged Doves in downtown Dallas along with a large flock of Starlings just before dark, but little elsewhere in Texas or in Oklahoma. Here and there I noted vultures – Black Vultures rather than the Turkey Vultures we commonly see at home. In Santa Fe, it was Crows and Ravens again and a handful of House Sparrows.

Somewhere along the way, I can’t remember where, I had a fleeting glimpse from the car of a red bird that I imagine was a Northern Cardinal and I had a similar brief glimpse from the car of a Magpie of some kind, but it wasn’t until the Grand Canyon that I began to see more birds. Monument Valley, was largely empty of birds aside from House Sparrows, although I imagine there must be species that live in the area besides these and the ubiquitous Crows and Ravens.

Along the rim of the Grand Canyon, I noted Crows and Ravens, but also Dark-eyed Juncos, Mountain Chickadees (always fun, as these are different from our Northern California Chestnut-backed Chickadees), and Pygmy Nuthatches. Most fun, however, was the bird that a Chinese man pointed out to me on our first morning at the rim. Although it looked like a California Scrubjay, it was not. In the Southwest, the local jay is Woodhouse's Jay. It was split a few years back from our Scrubjays and declared a separate species. Both species were called Western Scrubjay in the past. 

So, despite a general lack of birds on the trip, I did get this new life bird for my list and I was pleased to be able to get good photographs of one. Woodhouse’s Scrubjay (first photo) differs from our California Scrubjays in being a bit greyer in color, especially on the breast and in lacking the blue band across the breast typical of our California Scrubjays. I’ve included a shot of a California Scrubjay here for comparison (last photo). I'm also including a photos of one of the Mountain Goats we saw that looked perfectly at ease on the sheer cliff faces just below the Grand Canyon rim.

Miscellaneous: Bird sightings

Our recent trip to Texas and the Southwest was so busy that I've not had a chance to write up details or post a lot of photos, but I spent Saturday and Sunday in the woods. So, in the meantime, until I can get more posted from the trip, here are some bird and mushroom photos for your viewing pleasure.

From top to bottom: Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Hygrocybe sp. (possibly singer, possibly acutoconica), and a Lincoln's Sparrow.

Miscellaneous: The Warbling White-eye

You learn something new every day, they say. It seems to be so. Today I learned that the Japanese bird pictured here, known in Japanese as a "Mejiro" ("white-eye"), is not the "Japanese White-eye" I've been calling it. That name appears to have been superseded. Apparently there was a species split in 2018 I was unaware of. The bird common in Japan (along with a number of  subsepecies with ranges further south) is now properly known as  "Warbling White-eye" (still Zosterops japonicus). Closely related birds that were previously considered con-specific (along with a group of other subspecies) are "Swinhoe's White-eye" (Zosterops simplex). 

Miscellaneous: Local Birds

I took a walk around Spring Lake, in Santa Rosa, today for the first time in quite a while. It's a bit late for migrants passing through and a bit early for overwintering birds to be here in force, but it's always a pleasant walk and I did see some local regulars. In particular, I get some good shots of a male Common Yellowthroat, which, while not an uncommon bird, is one that's rather secretive and difficult to photograph. I also got a shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet showing its ruby crown – which is rather rare. 

Miscellaneous: Local birds

After birding in Japan last week, here are a few recent photos of local residents: Anna's Hummingbird, a preening California Scrubjay, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a Turkey Vulture.

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2025 – Birds

Back home after five weeks in Japan, it's taking some time to adjust. On my mind in particular is editing photos from the last two weeks of my trip, which were spent mainly on the small island of Iyo-Oshima, where my wife grew up. One easy bit of organization was finishing a list of the birds I saw on my trip. I ended up with  44 species observed, of which 14 were what we birders refer to as "life birds" – a species observed for the first time in a lifetime. In the list below, those marked with an asterisk were life birds for me. I regret not having been able to get a good shot of the beautiful Narcissus Flycatcher – maybe next time....

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Oriental Turtle Dove

*White-cheeked Starling

*Azure-winged Magpie

Brown-cheeked Bulbul

Carrion Crow

Large-billed Crow

Meadow Bunting

Coal Tit

*Willow Tit

Long-tailed Tit

*Grey Wagtail

Winter Wren

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Rock Dove

Grey Heron

*Japanese Green Pheasant

White Wagtail

Oriental Greenfinch

*Japanese Wagtail

Varied Tit

Pale Thrush

* Dusky Thrush

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Great Coromorant

* Brown Dipper

Eurasian Teal

Black-eared Kite

Grey Heron

Great White Egret

* Little Grebe

* Japanese Grosbeak

* Ryukyu Minivet

* Japanese Bush Warbler

Blue Rock Thrush

• Masked Bunting

Eurasian Coot

Comon Moorhen

Common Pochard

Tufted Duck

Osprey

* Narcissus Flycatcher

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2025 – Karuizawa

I left Tokyo yesterday and headed for Karuizawa, a town about which I've heard for years, but never visited. The place is famous as a summering place for the wealthy fleeing from the summer heat in Tokyo. In the winter, it's a ski resort. The place reminded me a bit of Lake Tahoe. Visible from anywhere in the town is Mt. Asama, one of Japan's more active volcanos. I was told it occasionally spews a little smoke, but it has been quiet for a few years. At this time of year, it's still capped with snow. In Tokyo, I strolled through a corner of Ueno Koen before my train left. The cherry blossoms were at their peak. Before leaving for Karuizawa, I also made a quick stop at the new National Art Center. The show on at the moment wasn't of much interest to me, but the building is rather striking.  

I chose Karuizawa because there's a bird sanctuary near the station (a $3 bus ride away). I spent a couple of hours walking in Yacho no Mori (The Wild Bird Forest), a forested area of mostly deciduous trees with a couple of ponds and intersected by fast-moving streams. There wasn't a lot of bird activity, but I managed to see Meadow Buntings, Coal Tits, Willow Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Spot-billed Ducks and Mallards, and a Grey Wagtail. The Willow Tit and Grey Wagtail are new to me.

After hiking, I returned to the town and had an early dinner. I was surprised at how early everything shuts down. I got the last bus back to the station at around 6:30. At a nearby gallery I enjoyed seeing prints by an artist I was previously unaware of, Kuroki Shu. In Kanazawa, I plan to do some more birding before heading for the Fukui area in the hope of seeing some traditional papermaking.

My hotel in Karuizawa turned out to be an Hawaii-themed hostel. I had made the booking in a hurry and chose it simply because the room in the photo looked spacious. I hadn't noticed the theme. The owners simply like Hawaii, it seems. The walls were covered with photos of Hawaii and Hawaiian textiles. Hawaiian music was playing in the hallways. The dinner menu for the next evening was Hawaii-influenced. Breakfast in the morning featured rather excellent French toast. I was the only guest. Early April appears to be the off season in Karuizawa. 

Miscellaneous: Year-end Birding

I do quarterly bird surveys for two private properties in Sonoma County whose owners want an ongoing record of bird abundance and diversity. 

Inevitably, I end up looking at a lot of plants and insects as well. This past year (2024), I did the two winter surveys as well as three Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, all in December. 

With the unusually high levels of rain we've had in the past six weeks, there were mushrooms everywhere. I'm still learning to identify mushrooms and I don't have the confidence to harvest and consume the occasional edible species I encounter, but I very much enjoy seeing them. Here are a couple of bird photos from my year-end birding expeditions and some mushroom photos as well. 

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Mejiro

Finally got a halfway decent photograph of a Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) on my last day in Japan. I'm back home now, after a little more than three weeks overseas. I still have some final posts from Japan to upload, but too jet lagged to do it today.... Stay tuned. 

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 Day Four

Yesterday, between business calls, I wandered along the Imperial Palace moat near Takebashi. In the moat were the usual Eurasian Coots, Tufted Ducks, and Shovelers. In the trees and flycatching over the water were a number of birds that I photographed poorly in the hope of later identifying them. I had only a wide angle lens with me, so I was unable to get good close-up shots. Still, sitting on the Shinkansen, heading north to Niigata, Asian bird field guide in my lap, I've decided a small, brownish bird with a rufous tail and a conspicuous white wing patch I saw at the moat was a female Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus). I saw a White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) on top of one of the moat walls, wagging its tail. Larger birds, flycatching over the moat, appear to have been Brown-eared Bulbuls (Hypsipetes amaurotis), and I again saw the Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) that I first noticed the day before yesterday. I even found a pair of these nesting in a tree hollow (pictured).

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: 2020 Audubon Christmas Counts

Again this year (2020) I participated in a couple of Audubon Christmas bird counts. The groups I birded with covered the Spring Lake and Lake Ralphine area in Santa Rosa on December 20 and the Barnett Valley Rd./Jonive Rd. area, near Sebastopol, on December 27. Didn't see any rarities, but had four Hooded Mergansers on the Martindale Ranch pond on December 27, saw all three local nuthatch species that day, and also all the local woodpeckers (Downy, Hairy, Nuttall's, Pileated, Flicker, and Red-breasted Sapsucker). The weather held both days despite a forecast of (much needed) rain. Pictured is a Cedar Waxwing photographed on December 20.

Miscellaneous: New Yard Bird

I've long had Hooded Oriole on my list of yard birds as I define a yard bird as any bird I see on my property or FROM my property. I've seen them in tall trees in a neighbor's yard, but never in my own garden until a few days ago. A female Hooded Oriole, probably a young bird, was in a bush right outside my kitchen window. I got a nice photograph of it even though I had to shoot through a window screen. I feel like I can count it as a more authentic yard bird than before.

Miscellaneous: Photographs in Birds of the Pacific Northwest

I'm pleased to announce that some of my bird photographs were chosen for use in a new field guide. Birds of the Pacific Northwest (Timber Press, authors John Shewey and Tim Blount) is scheduled for release in March 2017. It is part of the Timber Press Field Guide Series. In particular, a clear, diagnostic shot of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is hard to find, it seems. My photo of the bird that appeared at Shollenberger Park in October 2011 is among the dozen or so of my photos included in the new book.

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: Great Horned Owl (January 18, 2016)

A Great Horned Owl appeared in a tree across the street from my house this morning. I was alerted to its presence by a neighbor. The bird allowed me to take its portrait. It has a rather amiable look, but Great Horned Owls are among the most powerful predatory birds in North America. They happily eat skunks and have been known to go after fairly large pets. He was mobbed by about 100 crows off and on for several hours today. The  bird appears to be there still but all is quiet now. Yard bird number 68.

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. 

Opening of the show "Birds" tonight at Ice House Gallery, in Petaluma (March 14, 2015)

Tonight I plan to attend the opening of a new show at Ice House Gallery, in Petulama. "Birds" an exhibition celebrating the art of rendering birds by artists Dick Cole, Sylvia Gonzalez, Diana Majumdar, Robert Poplack, Michele Rosett, Stephanie Sanchez, and Joanne Tepper. 405 East D Street, Petaluma. Reception tonight from 5:30 to 8:00. Look for a review here in the next couple of days.

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