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
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| 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.
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
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.
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.
