Miscellaneous: Storms Fill Spring Lake to Overflowing (December 3, 2012)

I popped over to Spring Lake briefly yesterday to try to photograph an unusual bird reported there (which turned out to be a hybrid Red-naped Sapsucker x Red-breasted Sapsucker). Storms recently have dumped many inches of rain on us and Spring Lake suddenly filled to overflowing. The park was officially closed, but I walked in to look around a little. I wasn't the only one. The bird I was looking for had been made inaccessible by the flooding. Many of the trails were under several feet of water. A couple of guys on mountain bikes tried to stay on the trails, just for the fun of it. They somehow managed to stay upright (photo below). It was impossible to make a circuit of the lake, though. I contented myself with taking in the novel aspect of this familiar place. Before leaving, I spent a while watching and photographing Nuttall's and Downy Woodpeckers eating Chinese pistachio berries, which is somewhat unusual behavior for these birds. The storm added 2.45 inches of precipitation to our 2012/2013 total, which now stands at 12.65 inches (at my house anyway) as of December 3, which is well ahead of normal for this date (7.43 inches).

[Update: Subsequent rain added another 1.1 inches. The total was 13.75 inches as of 10:00PM on December 5.]

[Update: Since last reporting, we have had another 0.2 inches, bringing the total to 13.95 inches as of December 14, 2012.]

Birds I'm Watching: Spring Lake (September 29, 2010)

I joined a group this morning for a walk around Spring Lake, in Santa Rosa. There were no unusual warblers, although Yellow Warbler was present in abundance. The highlights were seeing the American Bittern that is often present, seeing a Red-breasted Sapsucker, and seeing a fair number of ducks in eclipse plumage--a Green-winged Teal, two Northern Pintails, and two Shovelers. Also, there were Cedar Waxwings everywhere. The Yellow-rumped Warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos (see below) and the ducks are all the first I've seen this season. Pictured above is a Yellow Warbler. Below is the Red-breasted Sapsucker.

The birds I saw were: Canada Goose (5), Mallard (7), Northern Shoveler (2), Northern Pintail (2), Green-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe (3), Double-crested Cormorant (9), American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Green Heron (3), Black-crowned Night-Heron, Turkey Vulture (3), Osprey, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sora, Common Moorhen, Killdeer (6), Anna's Hummingbird (5), Belted Kingfisher (2), Acorn Woodpecker (3), Red-breasted Sapsucker, Nuttall's Woodpecker (3), Downy Woodpecker (3), Black Phoebe (3), Cassin's Vireo, Western Scrub-Jay (7), American Crow (13), Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse (5), Bushtit (11), White-breasted Nuthatch (2), Bewick's Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing (67), Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler (9), Yellow-rumped Warbler (2), Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee (2), California Towhee (5), Song Sparrow (3), White-crowned Sparrow (5), Dark-eyed Junco (3), Western Tanager, Red-winged Blackbird (11), Brewer's Blackbird (2), Lesser Goldfinch (5).

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

Birds I'm Watching: Home

The number of bird species living in and around my own garden is sometimes astounding. I had counted 24 before noon today just standing in the driveway and walking around the garden. The highlight was a red-breasted sapsucker I could see in the neighbor's yard. It was only the second time I've seen one and the first time in Sonoma County. That raises my county total to 128 species. Birds seen from home today included: Turkey vulture, crow, scrub jay, lesser goldfinch, American goldfinch, house finch, golden-crowned sparrow, black phoebe, bewick's wren, oak titmouse, ruby-crowned kinglet, California towhee, dark-eyed junco, Anna's hummingbird, Northern mockingbird, cedar waxwing, Northern flicker, acorn woodpecker, Nuttall's woodpecker, Canada goose, mourning dove, yellow-rumped warbler, and European starling. Nothing very unusual except the sapsucker and the cedar waxwings, but still impressive for not even trying.