The Great Remember (for Nancy): Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

Again the cheesy pictures, it's a lovely little ditty from Steve Martin's banjo band. So, if the picts are lame just listen to the lovely song.

Rare Sighting in the Backyard! Western Tanager

Western Tanager

Unbelievable to me: A rare sighting in my Orange, CA backyard, the Western Tanager flutters across my path for the second time.

My first sighting was in Yosemite about 8 years ago. Nieces in tow, hunting for bugs, birds, and plants, I spotted a Tanager in our campground just outside of Yosemite. It is one of the birds responsible for my, annoying to others, addiction.

FUN FACTS:

Breeds further north than any other member of its tropical family.

The red color on its face is rare in birds. The color is not manufactured by the Tanager, but rather from its diet of insects that eat plants with the pigment.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/western_tanager/id

Backyard Tourist! Red-Billed Quelea

Unexpected and cool sighting! Meet the Red-billed Quelea, from Kenya! This wondrous little lady was in my backyard on May 9, 2012. My son said, "maybe it's a finch that got into some Hot Cheetos." Giggling ensued. Being the ever faithful birder that I am, I checked. My certainty that it was this lovely little visitor is at 99%.  So... Orange, CA welcomes you lady Red-billed Quelea. I can't help but think you are an escapee from someone's collection, but I'm glad you found refuge in my backyard. 

FUN FACTS: 

• Quelea are one of the most abundant birds in the world. 
• They are monogamous and live on seeding grasses.
• Quelea number in the thousands, even millions of birds per flock!
•  WATCH HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Red-billed_Quelea

More about the birds: Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Seem to defy gravity when hopping up and down tree trunks, whacking gathered nuts against tree bark, and tittering away, nuthatch are some of the cutest and coziest little birds in NA. 

White-breasted Nuthatch will buddy up with other small bird species, such as chickadees and titmice, to form foraging flocks.

Pygmy Nuthatch have never been spotted roosting alone. They cuddle with other Pygmy, up to 100 in one cavity! So cute and sweet, I'm definitely going to need a trip to the dentist after learning this fun fact.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS: known as a "jar" of nuthatch.

Pygmy Nuthatch

Click here to learn loads more! This link will take you to a video of a White-breasted Nuthatch hopping up and down a tree. Click around the site to learn more fun facts.

The Great Remember: All About the Birds - From San Diego to Morongo Canyon and Back Again

Costa's Hummingbird

I see the resemblance

Day 2 Sighting: Costa's Hummingbird
Spotted at Elijo Lagoon in San Diego: he was clinging to the top of a puff-less cattail reed, blowing in the wind, his violet mustachios glistening in the setting sunlight.

FUN FACTS!
Costa's hummingbirds are named after a 19th century, French politician with a passion for ornithology, Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marcuis de Beauregard (a fancy enough namesake for this hummingbird).

Collective nouns are a "bouquet," "glittering," "hover," "shimmer," or "tune" of hummingbirds. CH grow no bigger than 3.5" in length. During the swooping arches and dives of its courtship display CH considers the angle of the sunlight to ensure his violet gorget catches the rays just right. Habitat is the Sonoran and Mojave deserts into Baja California.

Normally, a hummingbird's heart beats 500-900 times per minute. During the evening hours and on low temperature nights CHs' enter a torpid state, when heart rate plummets to 50 beats per minute.

The Great Remember: All About the Birds - From San Diego to Morongo Canyon and Back Again

Female - Hairy Woodpecker

Day 2 Sighting: Hairy Woodpecker (female)
Spotted in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on the West Mesa Loop Trail along Cold stream: she was excavating for insects in a sycamore tree for a good 45 minutes, while patiently and with snacks, we sat at the fork of the trailhead watching bark and small branches rain down from the tree. 

FUN FACTS!
Hp's are prolific North American woodpeckers. Mating pairs share incubating responsibility. Perhaps that's why they are so prolific ;) Males incubate at night and females during the day (and now, in my head, I sing "Ladies Night" by Kool and the Gang). Okay, sorry, no more commentary.

Female - Downey Woodpecker

Collective nouns are a "descent," "drumming" or "gatling" of woodpeckers. Average size is 9.5 inches, considered medium-sized. You can find them in deciduous forests throughout Canada, US, and Mexico. Watch out! HP's can be confused for the Downey woodpecker, a much smaller species with almost identical markings. A good way to differentiate them is DP's bill is shorter relative to head size.

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 5-8

LA la la... la la la la la la... I forcibly share my interest in birds with everyone I meet. I am a bird nerd. Here is the story of my spring break bird adventure.

Day 5-8: Campground - Black Rock Campground (Joshua Tree?) then Back to the Salton Sea.

The night of the 4th/5th day, we left the Salton Sea (Ocotillo Wells camp) to try and make it to Joshua Tree to capture a camp site in the first come first serve Bella Campground. We didn't. So we had to fall back on the not so impressive Black Rock Campground. IT is not inside Joshua Tree NP proper, it is located on the outer most region of the NP in the city of Joshua Tree. The site was a typical family, crowded campground. Though it saved us from the lack of a place to park and provided a close home base to Morongo Canyon Reserve, we didn't stay long. Description: Although technically in the park, this campground is not on the main road through the park.It is situated uphill from the city of Joshua tree, barely inside the park's boundaries. Amenities are water, flush toilets, and a ranger station. Site are too close together for privacy seekers like us. No boulders in sight. Each site provides table and fire pit with a grill. $15/night.

That said... it's the closest campground to Morongo Canyon Preserve (for birder's who want to travel on the cheap).

Birds spotted at Morongo Canyon Preserve. FYI spend a whole day there, pack a lunch, and wait -especially near the wet land/marshy area. Description of MCP: Preserve desert riparian oasis. Boardwalk through wooded marsh, maintained trails through hilly manzanita and creosote. 2nd highest density of breeding birds in CA.

Phainopepla ^ 

Bushtit

Ladderbacked Woodpecker (or Nuttall's WP)

Red-Tailed Hawk

Bewick's Wren

Wilson's Warbler

Gambel's Quail

We probably would have seen more if we had had more time and spent another day there.

Birds spotted at the Salton Sea - Corvina Camp Ground Description: Kayaking entrance, flat dirt parking lot along the water's edge. A few picnic tables. One central pit toilet and showers. Unpleasant rotting fish smell close to the entrance, but less smelly at the back of the site. Beach consists of heavy layer of barnacle and tube worm shells and ring of fish bones. Muddy shallow pools provide good plover and sandpiper sightings. Train runs behind the campground, though silently so.

Caspian Tern ^

Great blue heron

American Avocet

Pacific golden plover >

American white pelican

Various gulls

Brants

Western grebe

Great egret

Bonapart's Gull

Eared grebe   >

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 3-5

LA la la... la la la la la la... When out of the corner of my eye, I see the flashing of iridescent Hummingbird wings, it's a vivified moment that thrills me every time. I am a bird nerd. Here is the story of my spring break bird adventure.

Day 3-5: Campground - Vallecito in Anza Borrego, wait rewind, scratch that... Ocotillo Wells (BLM)
Day three (3) woke up to a storm that rained and snowed on us a substance that looked and felt like partially frozen balls of mystery flavored Slurpee. Leaky Pew Wee trailer and more rain forecasted in Vallecito forced a campground change. Ocotillo Wells BLM is free, has showers and potable water, and most concerning at the time was that the weather forecast for the area was dry with no rain and the promise of gale-force winds that we would use to dry out our soggy gear.

Ocotillo Wells birding consists of ravens, the occasional sparrow, and a crazy military bird named after a feathered bird, the osprey. So the plan was to use the site as home base from which we would explore the Salton Sea, a Mecca for birders. The Salton Sea during migration season houses clouds of up to 400 bird species, though some are year round residents. So, if you're thinking of taking a nice birding trip, the Salton Sea provides excellent birding during any season.

Long story short, the Salton Sea birding was outstanding!

Birds spotted at a mix of sites the Sonny Bono Natl. Wildlife Refuge, along the side of the roads and shore, and on the Wister Preserve. * Seen at all three spots.
Unit One                                     Visitor Center                                   Driving Around
*Kildeer                                     *Cassin's Kingbird                               Burrowing Owl
*Gambel's Quail                         *Cinnamon Teal                                   Greater Roadrunner
*Snowy Egret                               Verdin                                            *Western Meadowlark
*Black Neck Stilt                         Common Ground Dove                       *Northern Mockingbird
*Great Blue Heron                       *White Crowned Sparrow                  *Red-winged Blackbird
*Black Phoebe                            *Great-tailed Grackle                         Baird's Sandpiper
 Northern Harrier                        *American Avocet                             *Barn Swallow
 American White Pelican              Ruddy Duck                                     
 *Great Egret                               Northern Shoveler
                                                 *Turkey Vulture
                                                  Least Tern
                                                  Black Skimmer
                                                  Eurasian Collared Dove
                                                *Coot
                                                  Common Moorhen
                                                  Snowy Plover

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 1-3

LA la la... la la la la la la... When I hear the high-pitched whistle of a glittering, golden necked Allen's Hummingbird, the sound unearths me. I am a bird nerd. Here is an account of my bird adventure over spring break.
Day 1-3: Campground - Laguna/El Prado
Upon entering the Laguna/El Prado camp site, on Laguna Mountain near San Diego, we knew that the birding was going to be awesome! When we arrived, no less than 4 species greeted us. The camp site was spacious, with loads of evergreens and deciduous trees, 5000 feet above sea level, flush toilets, showers (closed during the winter), potable water, a little pond/lake (probably buggy in the Summer), and overall a pretty quiet campground.

Birds spotted in and near (cold stream trail-south of Cuyamaca Lake off the 79) our camp.
Western Bluejay                     Hairy Woodpecker                       (possibly) 
Stellar Jay                             Double-Crested Cormorant            Cassin's Kingbird
Common Raven                      California Quail                           Greater Peewee
Pygmy Nuthatch                     Red tailed Hawk
American Robin                     Brewer's Blackbird
Acorn Woodpecker                 Canadian Goose
Mountain Chickadee               Coot
Mallards                                Band-tailed Pigeon
European Starling                  White-Breasted Nuthatch

Day trip birding to SAN DIEGO: Elijo Lagoon
Willet
Whimbrel >
Sora
Red-winged blackbird
Widgeon
White Crowned Sparrow
< Least Tern
Snowy Egret
Green Heron (pretty sure)
Towhee
- Spotted and CA
< Costa's Hummingbird 

The Rogue Parrots Have Returned!

Nothing says "let the migrations begin" like the return of the wild oddities of Orange County. Usually, by 4:00 pm, every spring, I am serenaded by 4-8 Red-Crowned Parrots flying and squawking across the sky. Today, it was 8:00 am, me, coffee and blanket on the back porch, and three (weird they are usually in pairs) parrots landed on the agave stalk in my backyard. Beneath them, pecking in the grass, skittered two pairs of California Quail. Next to the quail hopped 3 Cheeto headed house finches. Behind the parrots, silhouetted against an overcast sky, flew a pair of Mallards, one Kingbird, and a Great White Egret. Lordy!

This morning felt like preparation for my big birding trip in April. When I will send my son to Spain for 10 days with family friends, and I send myself to the following of the migration of tons of birds on a birding trip from San Diego to Santa Barbara via the Sonoran desert (Anza-Borrego, Salton Sea, Joshua Tree, Morongo Valley).

Just a few birds I might get to see: the highly Endangered California Gnatcatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Ca Thrasher, Wrentit, Bell's Sage Sparrow, Gray Vireo, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Rock and canyon wrens, Scott's Oriole, Black-throated Sparrow, Burrowing Owl, Crissal Thrasher, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Inca Dove (a serious favorite), Vermillion and Brown-crested Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed towhee, White-headed Woodpecker, Sooty and pink-footed Shearwaters, and many more!

Wish me Luck!!

For more on the Parrots of OC: Click Here

Healing Hawks

Cooper's Hawk

According to some American Indian lore, hawks are seen as messengers from the Great Spirit, protectors and visionaries, as bringing good omens and messages, recalling past lives, or bringing blessings from the creator. Most often they are messengers that remind you to work hard to fulfill your purpose.

Today, I saw two red shoulder hawks dancing together about 100 feet above my backyard. Then after an hour of sitting on the porch, I decided to walk across the grass to stroll in the sun, after a long birthday week of feeling sick and entertaining a miserably lame self pity. As I reached the back fence, looking for lizards and California Quail, one lovely little Cooper's hawk buzzed me. It flew right behind me. I could feel the wind from its' wings on my neck and back.

This hawk reminds me never to give up, however small and defeated I might be feeling.

Feeling Groovy

California Quail; truly groovy-dude birds. After researching California's state bird, I feel confident in saying that it was a good choice for our multifarious state. 

Recently I was pleasantly surprised, in my backyard floated three CA quail, two male and one female. Both sexes sported the silly little head bobble plume, though the female did not share the face markings or high contrast belly feathers of the male. After watching these sweet little puffballs, of course, I pulled out my bird app, books, and interwebs. I found that male and female calls are antiphonal. Think call and response mating chorus, an orchestration of birdy amore. How lovely. How Sondheim. 

This quail is almost entirely vegetarian (included in their diet are poison oak berries!). Their intestines are home to specialized protozoan that help to digest their diet of plant matter. Forming communal social structures (up to 75 birds), different broods become a collective unit, sharing responsibility for their young. Get this... Adult quail from these collectives live longer than those who do not! Clutches (broods of chicks) are large, and females may lay their eggs in other females nests... talk about "it takes a village."

Ca or Valley quail have adapted to live in arid environments, getting most of their water from the plants and insects they eat, making them perfect for CA's mediterranean drought susceptible climate. Another cool survive skill is females will run from their brood dragging their wings as if they are injured, to lure predators away from their clutch.

Although they do roost in the trees, they spend most of the day on the ground, scratching the ground for seeds and leaves, as well as nesting on the ground. Contrary to popular belief, their mobility is not restricted to running and walking. They fly as well, avoiding predators by staying close to cover at all times. Once hiking behind Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, I decided to sit on a path and take in the scenery. A covey of quail burst from the bushes about 20 feet from me. They walked toward me, unaware at first of my presence. The moment they noticed something weird and big was in the road, they did what I swear was a quail double take and haphazardly jumped into the nearest bush. Then, they came out of the bushes about 20 feet down the path on the other side of where I was sitting! Clever birds.

The most recognizable characteristic of the CA quail is their bobbly head plumage. Although their head feather/plume looks like one feather, it's actually comprised of six feathers. I'm still searching for an answer to why they have the plumage on their heads. My guess is that it's a mating decoration or camouflage.

I've always loved these fat little scaly plumed birds, and they are welcome in my yard any time.

All About Birds: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Feathers and Scales

Greetings from the everyday. Like most, when I get home, I want a house filled with warmth and music and smells (the odoriferous and the pleasant) and activity and calm, everything that comprises living. Creatures are a part of this vision. Today, a white crowned sparrow and western fence lizard greeted me as I exited my car and headed to the house.

WCS males learn to sing the first two weeks of life. WCS form song dialects and can learn the dialect of other WCS's (they're bilingual!). They share their territory with fox sparrows. They eat seeds and insects. Their handleless basket type nests are made of grass, small twigs, and hairs; think typical representation of "bird's nest."

Blue bellied and scaly, sleepy eyed and still, until disturbed, western fence lizards warming their bodies in the sun mean summer is near. Their presence means looking for "wizards" with the best and the curious of my collective unit. WFLs keep the time, and temperature decides the sex of a clutch. Insectivorous, and eaten by birds, snakes, and some mammals, they protect their lives with speed and agility. Where they live, they keep the occurrence of Lyme disease low. Ticks drink their blood, and a protein in it kills the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. WFL are cool.

Following Phoebes

When inspiring new birders, Phoebes (like hummingbirds) provide a great introduction. They're distinct, steady migrators, and brave flyers that will dive for flies unconcerned with human nearness. I've sent many young or new birders on the task of finding the beautiful, high contrast, black and white bellied, swooping bird. They usually come back to me excited and hooked on spotting more, and more birds.

My constant winged beauty, these snappy little insectivores migrate from Southwest Oregon to South America. They're as smart as they are beautiful and unlike many other birds are not sexually dimorphic (females and males look the same). When setting up their nests, the male will hover over possible nesting spots while the female makes the final choice as to where they will build their cup-shaped mud nest. 

Collective nouns for Phoebes are, a "zapper," a "zipper," a "swatting," or a "outfield." If you ever see a phoebe, just sit for a while and listen. When catching flies, you can hear a little snapping sound.

They are a wonderfully constant bird. Finding an area they like and regularly returning to that spot, "remaining year-round in an established territory (iBird Pro)."  Find a Phoebe near you. Listen, watch, and fall in love.

The Sweetness of Carrion and Featherless Faces

Vultures, the birds people love to mythologize. From providing a source of power to the Shaman through its use of the forces of the earth to soar on heat updrafts, to its status as "eagle god" in middle eastern regions; the vulture has traveled through human imagination, and hence folklore, since we left pure instinct in the depths of consciousness. Some scholars have interpreted that the "eagle" which plucked at the liver of Prometheus was actually a vulture. However you choose to view vultures, one thing's for sure, they're curious creatures to many.

When I show enthusiasm at the sight of a vulture, the young express the opinions and knowledge based in the modern disgust that plagues this unconventional bird. "They eat people!" "They bring bad luck!" "They like to kill people!" These are just a few little gems I have heard. After my birder zealous explanation for a vulture's place in a balanced and diverse ecosystem, the same young, incredulously, peer at me.

Today, I watched, without judgement or fear of their eating habits, as two enormous vultures playfully soared above my backyard. Flipping and turning, and dipping with wobbling wings, they road an upward heat current. They weren't hunting or looking for their next human victim. Rather, they were enjoying a ride supplied by the planet. Large, and a bit lumbering on the ground, in the air they're free.

Their bad rap is a shame.

Late Night Wing Beats

Here is my favorite bird themed song, right now. I dedicate it to the ladies and gent's who have paved the way or inspired me.

If the images are too cheesy for you, at least you can enjoy the song. It's by a folk band called The Weepies.

3 Red Tailed Hawks, no less!

Today, I watched three Red Tails playing, low to the ground on an updraft, as I drove the canyon near the Cleveland National Forest. I didn't pull over. I should have. 

Rolled through Tucker for a chill-out drive. Saw a gorgeous, healthy looking Western Scrub Jay. Didn't take a walk, just drove through. I didn't have the right shoes. That was my excuse. I should have gotten out and sat in the watching station.  Soon :) 

Being a substitute teacher (or as I introduce myself, a Guest Teacher) has its advantages. Today, I used the last 10 minutes of each period to engage students in a discussion. I asked the kids; "Thumbs-up means yes. Thumbs down means no. (thank you ITO) Are humans born scientists?" So many had their thumbs down and were curious when I said I agreed with the students that showed a thumbs-up. They were so curious and (for heavens sake!) relieved to know that each of them was born a scientist. Then ALL, proceeded to share with me, and each other, why and how they were scientists. It was beautiful :)

Birder Movie Review!

I don't need to inform any possible reader of my bias toward this movie. That said, this is my happy place film. Make a movie about birding. Add Steve Martin and Jack Black to the two sides of a bromance over birding, and I'm in. Then include the tiny cowboy, Owen Wilson, whose personal past of depression and attempted suicide gives me a sense that his performance was part acting, part catharsis; and I'm experiencing this film like an afternoon at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in the Cleveland National Forest with a sandwich in one hand and a box of tissues in my lap.

Outside of the overt themes of the importance of friendship (however new), social integrity, family, and nature this movie bestows upon the winged of our earthen family the homage they deserve. 

Although this movie barely brushes against the cheek of migratory realities, majestic bird mating, and intricacies of speciation (those that inspired scientists such as Charles Darwin to change accepted explications about human origin), it provides an admirable springboard into reconnecting (or connecting) with nature for the tentative naturalist to the ADHD "bird watchers" among us, to cultivate their inner nature nerd/superhero.

As far as I was able to observe, the main element left out of this nature movie was that all too familiar ecologists viewpoint about the plight of our avian (and other non-human animal) pals - loss of habitat. As a native Californian the plight of the California Gnatcatcher comes to mind. Its classification as a threatened species is an illustration of human monocular vision. It's tiny frame and specialized existence is virtually unknown to most Californians. To use an art reference as metaphor, humans so interested in functionality zoom in on a small clump of colored dots in a Georges Seurat painting in an attempt to unravel the mystery of how impressionism works. In which case we overlook, who am I kidding, remain unmoved by the overall story. Never mind the necessity of a complex system of dots to form the "Luncheon on the Grass," rather we ponder how we can reproduce an art form that looks ripe for the mass production picking. To translate my weirdness, many of us go about our lives being big in our existence, looking only in detail at that which is in our lines of sight, at that which validates our personal existence without wondering how the rest of the world is doing. Maybe my single critique is to weird, but this is my response. 

So if you want to formulate your own opinion, watch the movie and tell me (or someone) what you think.

That is all.

Pre-Coffee Wake-up Call

Red Shouldered Hawk

Okay, now that I have had my bowl of oatmeal, slice of sourdough bread toast, and hot cup of coffee I can tell you about the bird of prey that got me out of bed this morning. A Red Shouldered Hawk, my imagination holds he/she was the same hawk that visited me during my sit for the GBBC. This, plus my curiosity about animal personality has driven me to begin a new quest in birding, to become a better aural observer.

How about a few fun facts? Red Shouldered Hawks will both fight against Crows for food, as well as team up with Crows to fight. They'll often join forces against competing birds of prey, such as the Great Horned Owl.

Red Shouldered Hawks eat small mammals. They hunt from the air, as well as by pursuing mammals on talon - hopping along the ground, often right into a mammal's burrow. To hear the call of a Red Shouldered Hawk: Click here

My Great Backyard Bird Count Results

Birds from left to right, top to bottom:

Spotted Towhee, White Crowned Sparrow, Red Tail Hawk, Nutmeg Manikin, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove, Black Phoebe, Costa's Hummingbird, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird, House Sparrow, House Finch, Fox Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, California Towhee.

Oddly enough, I saw an array of species but only one of each.

A little bird walk: Bewick's Wren

Bewick's Wren

Sighting of the day:
On my morning coffee break, I was visited by this tiny grey/brown wren, hopping on top of a scraggly old bush beneath my porch-deck. For me, this was a first cognizant sighting of a Bewick's Wren.

Unlike so many possible, lovely little experiences that go by during a busy day, this one did not escape me.

Try to spot something rare (for yourself) today.