Birder Interview - Darren Peterie

Greetings Readers!
We are proud to bring you the very first interview in our new Interviews with Birders series. Darren Peterie of Birding Sonoma Valley was kind enough to let us interview him this week. We hope you will enjoy this chat with Darren, and will pay special attention to the great birding spots he mentions.

Me: Darren, we’ve recently learned that you are the co-founder, co-compiler, and area leader for the Wingo area of the Sonoma Valley Christmas Bird Count. Can you tell us what’s special about the Wingo area, and what you’ve learned about it through your work there?

Darren: The Wingo Area incorporates the southern part of the Sonoma Valley CBC circle. It is south of Hwy. 12/121 known as Fremont Drive. It has a very diverse habitat including reclamation ponds, marshes, wetlands, open vineyards and the Donnel Ridge including Wildcat Mountain.

Me: Do you have a favorite birding spot in Wingo that is open to the public?

Darren: The Ringstrom Bay Unit of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area is one of my favorite spots that is open year round to the public. It is located off of Hwy. 12/121. Turn south onto Ramal Road and drive approximately 5 miles until you reach the entrance to the Hudeman Slough. There is a large hay barn on the right and a parking lot in front of the barn owned by the Sonoma County Water Agency which maintains Hudeman Slough. This is the northern edge of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes property. You can view ducks and raptors here. There have also been river otters and beavers spotted here.

Me: Do you have a favorite bird that birders should keep a lookout for in the Wingo area?

Darren: Driving along Ramal Road you will pass a large reclamation pond on your left. There you are likely to spot from the road, Wilson’s Snipe along the western bank along with Great Horned Owls and a large roost of Night Herons. If you look off the west side of the road there have been a pair Prairie Falcons in the eucalyptus trees.

Me: When we visit Wingo, there is a notable scarcity of folks there. Do you have an opinion
as to why so few people seem to be aware that this fabulous habitat is right next door?

Darren: The Wingo area has valuable habitat that is protected by The Department of Fish and Game. It also incorporates a lot of private land so access and permission is limited. There is also hunting allowed on certain days in the area. The south side of Wingo closest to Hwy. 37 is Skaggs Island and is government owned land that is closed to the public.

Me: When we’re out in the marsh, we’ve noticed a lot of distant gunfire. Can you clear up for us what this is all about?

Darren: Besides hunting season allowed by Fish and Game, there is a Pheasant Club on the south side and a target range on the east in the area.

Me: What is your favorite birding spot in Sonoma County, and why?

Darren: There are so many. The diversity of habitat creates the opportunity to view so many different types of birds. I think Shollenberger Park at the Petaluma Wetlands is one of the most abundant areas for spotting birds and is easy to access. It is also the home to The Petaluma Wetlands Alliance which offers bird hikes and recently PRBO has relocated their headquarters there.

Me: Do you keep a lifelist? If yes, will you share the number you’re at with us?

Darren: I actually am just in the process and compiling all my field notes and list now and putting a life list together.

Me: What other birding projects, apart from your CBC work, are currently most exciting to
you?

Darren: Tom Rusert has been busy working on some new projects which I will be supporting. The new VOM Nature Lecture Series in collaboration with The California State Parks, The Basic Birding classes offered at The Sonoma Community Center for adults and one separately for kids all beginning this spring and we hope to offer a CBC for kids this year as well.

Me: Can you tell us what kind of binoculars, scopes, or cameras you use in the field?

Darren: I purchased a pair of basic 10×40 binoculars many years ago but found that it was frustrating to never be close enough to actually make out the details of the bird so about 10 years ago I went to a Regal by Celestron 10×50 which if steady can be very rewarding. Also, I have discovered that water proof is a good choice as well. I have not acquired my own scope yet but use a small digital camera when possible.

Me: Have you been inspired, taught, or influenced by other birders? If so, who are these
special people and how have they enriched your life?

Darren: There have been so many people that have influenced my love of not just birding but nature in general. It seems that most birders are caring individuals and most have interesting and passionate lives which inspires me.

Me: How did you get into birding to begin with? Can you give us a brief recap of your
birding history?

Darren: I was born in Missouri but grew up in Houston, Texas and lived in Galveston for many years. As a kid in Missouri, I would climb a tree in spring just to view the color of the blue robin eggs in the nest. This was extremely fascinating to me. I also would try and put babies that fell out of the nest back in but remember my Mom telling me the old “wife’s tale” that if you touch the baby the mother will not take it back. Funny what we remember. I became very aware of the magnificent assortment of birds while living along the gulf coast and would sit on the beach for hours and learn to identify many different species. I soon started expanding my journey of birding to other areas and would visit the Whooping Cranes in Port Aransas all the way to the Louisiana marshes. The Roseate spoonbill was one of my favorite birds along the coast.

Me: Thanks for chatting with us, Darren. It’s been a pleasure learning about your unique love of birding!

Amazing plumes! Study 3 Birds With Us Today.

Greetings!

Somewhere, at the back of my mind, I had a small fear that once we’d reached 100 birds on our lifelist, it would be a long time before we would be able to add any more. Living in Sonoma County, I should have known better. It only took a nice drive into the countryside yesterday to add 2 new birds to our list, so we’re now up to 103. Watch our dust!

And Wingo is its name-o….
Wingo has got to be our new favorite word, as well as our new favorite place. As described in our previous post about the Napa Sonoma Marshes Area, we recently discovered a way to get into the marsh, at the bottom of Buchley Station Rd. This may just be the best birding spot in all of Sonoma County, and yesterday we had enough daylight to discover that this particular area offers a circular path around a pond that is simply bursting with birds.

Readers will know that I am no hiker, and because of this, I can soundly recommend this path around the pond to others who aren’t in the best of shape. It’s completely flat, and indeed, it is carpeted with a short dense covering of velvet-like grass. It can’t even be 1/16th of a mile to complete the circuit…but I hope it takes you a good half hour to walk the path because you need to go slow, with your eyes and ears alert. If you do so, you may get to see these fabulous birds:

1) The Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris
I named this post Amazing Plumes because all three of the beautiful birds we’re talking about here boast remarkable feathers. The little Marsh Wren, who is no more than 5″ from beak to tail, gives a rich chestnut impression when glimpsed. And the fact is, most of the time, you will only be glimpsing this bird as he darts with almost magical speed from branch to stem in the undergrowth, bracken and grasses of the pond. He is what ornithologists call a ’secretive’ bird, but if you hear rustling in the vegetation along the pond path, stand very still, watching for movement, and with any luck, the Marsh Wren will pop into view on top of a blade of grass or a reed, long enough for you to admire him. Then, POP! he will vanish right before your eyes again.

It was because of this bird’s brisk, hiding habit that my husband and I had never before been able to identify him correctly. “What IS that?”, we’ve lamented many times. But there seems to be a veritable enchantment on this special pond, and the Marsh Wren came out many times yesterday to sing a brief solo in the winter sunshine.

Two specific markings enabled us, and will help you, to be certain of your identification of this bird. There are several other small brown wrens, all with that uplifted tail so characteristic of wrens, but note the strong striping shown on the tail in my illustration. And, more importantly, note that shoulder patch of black and white stripes. This was what clinched the deal for us, and we were thrilled to finally be confident that this elusive bird was indeed the Marsh Wren.

Check, check, check his sharp little call goes, and his longer song is somewhat blackbird-like. I think the brisk call suits the Marsh Wren, as he quickly checks to make sure no predators are near. Being safe and unseen is so important to the Marsh Wren that he builds ‘dummy’ nests in addition to his own to secure the safety of his eggs. 5-6 dark brown spotted eggs are contained in a dome-shaped nest which is fastened to the stalks of the marsh reeds. He dines entirely on insects. The Marsh Wren is such a little bird, which makes his intricate pattern of stripes and varying hues all the more pleasing.

The Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas

Never was a bird so poorly named, for if you ever see this one, you will agree there is nothing at all common about him. In point of fact, if you know what this bird looks like, there is no chance of misidentifying him because no other bird in North America even resembles him, with his curious, broad black mask. His yellow breast and belly simply gleam! What a yellow! Rivaled only by the American Goldfinch, I would say.

The upper parts of the bird are a dull olive-brown, and please note the white stripe that rims the black mask. Like the Marsh Wren, he is secretive, though not quite as quick in his movements. Both of these birds were skipping amid the dense growth of the pond, and light enough to balance on a blade of grass. Like the Marsh Wren, he is a good parent and has separate paths for visiting and leaving his well-hidden nest to prevent predators from getting a handle on where the nest is located. His choice of habitats is much more varied and widespread that the wren’s. Marshes, meadows, streams and fields are all good places for the Common Yellowthroat, and the first time I saw this bird was in some blackberry bushes right by the sea at Limantour Spit in Marin County. Yesterday was our second sighting of this brilliant bird, and the first time my husband really got to look at him.

Again, look for rustling movements in the vegetation, keep still, and look for that special yellow color.

3) Wilson’s Snipe, Capella gallinago
Thank goodness I am not a stuffy scientist, because then I’d be afraid to admit here that some birds make me laugh. People would probably think my husband and I were totally nuts if they’d seen us sitting in our car yesterday, slapping the dashboard, hooting and crowing to ourselves as we watched Wilson’s Snipe foot it through the grass at the roadside. Together with dowitchers and the Woodcock, snipes have heads that remind me so much of squids. That narrow head with the long, long beak and the eye set in a position that looks a little too far back just has that strange, long-legged look of a squid. When you add to this the fact that he lops along like a rabbit, and then jackhammers his probing beak down into the grass with the precision of a woodpecker, you’ve got one silly, wonderful wild bird.

Yesterday was our first encounter with Wilson’s Snipe (also sometimes called the Common Snipe), and it was so fun watching his behavior. And then, admiring his fabulous feathers which are so detailed and rich in pattern. Indeed, in some places, he looks marbled. I am sure that the snipes are also around the pond, as they prefer marshy habitats, but this fellow was a ways down Buchley Station Rd., on our ride home. Wilson’s Snipe measures 10″, and he builds his nest in a grass-lined depression. He strikes me as such a charming, peaceful little fellow, and woe be it to anyone unkind enough to view this special bird as a shooting target. I have read more than one Victorian-era novel in which manly men go snipe-shooting. Sitting beside this amusing and dear fowl, it was really brought home to me how unmanly I think anyone who would harm a Wilson’s Snipe.

So, all in all, it was another stupendous day in Wingo. We now have reason to believe the area is currently home to not one, but a pair of Ferruginous Hawks, and visitors will also be treated to views of Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, and a fine assortment of ducks. Please, do comment here if you visit Wingo after reading about it at Birding Sonoma County. We want to know what you see there, and what you think of this special place.

From Theodore Roosevelt to Tim Gallagher- revolution in birding.

Dear Readers,
This is not a bird alert, or even a post about a specific Sonoma County bird. Rather, I wanted to take a moment here to reflect on the tremendous alteration the concept of birding has undergone over the past hundred-odd years.

Two good books are on my mind as I write. The first is Mornings on Horseback by the excellent social historian, David McCullough. This fine book deals with the childhood and early adult life of the man who was to become President Theodore Roosevelt, and the author’s detailed descriptions of both the life of the Roosevelt family and the tone of late-Victorian American society is quite wonderful to read.

However, as a birder, one of the most memorable and poignant features of this book is to be found in the depiction of young Theodore’s fascination with the natural world. He was enthralled with plants, animals and birds and even his earliest sketches of these subjects are impressive. He had a private museum in a room of the family home, and also donated objects to the American Museum of Natural History - an institution lately founded by his father.

And, then, at the age of 14, young Theodore was given a gun by his father, and it is rather chilling to watch him rapidly evolve from a lover of birds into an incredibly destructive predator. I estimated, from reading this book, that he must have shot thousands of birds by the time he was an adult. In the chapter dealing with a voyage the Roosevelts took up and down the Nile river, Theodore loses count after he’s shot 100 birds out of the trees. 100 birds! I can hardly imagine the carnage of this.

And, yet, Theodore Roosevelt was merely following in the footsteps of men like the John James Audubon whose beloved paintings of birds were all drawn from species shot by him and his friends. And then there was the famed ornithologist Frank Chapman, director of the American Museum of Natural History, who was partially responsible for exterminating the last fragile flocks of the now-extinct Carolina Parakeet.

I can recognize that in a time before photography, or even in a time when photography was a rather clumsy art, the desire that men like Audubon and Chapman felt to get up close to birds resulted in their decision to shoot them. I certainly understand, as an artist, how difficult it would be to accurately paint a bird that was moving around and flying away, just as I’d gotten my paints mixed. And yet, I am loath to reflect on the change that must take place in the mind of a human prior to them setting out to shoot thousands of wild birds. I think of Theodore Roosevelt’s youthful love of winged creatures, and then that moment of the gun being put in his hands, and it makes me very sad.

But then things got better.

Frank Chapman’s life serves as a prime example of the evolution in human thinking about our relationship to birds. The man whose greed to ‘collect’ the world’s last Carolina Parakeets enabled him to overcome his qualms about obliterating the species in 1889 is also the man who went on to become a founding member of the Audubon Society. Chapman became that wonderful thing - a conservationist, and is remembered as the main champion in the fight to save the herons, egrets and other long-legged waders who were being exterminated for the sake of trimming ladies’ hats. When I think about the joy I’ve felt sitting peacefully beside the stillness of a Great Blue Heron, I find it in my heart to forgive and be grateful to Frank Chapman.

Thanks to this turning the corner from man’s history as hunter of birds to his new role as their preserver, modern times produce men like Tim Gallagher. Tim is the editor in chief of Cornell University’s publication, Living Bird. Like Theodore Roosevelt, his wonder about the world of birds is rooted in his childhood. The important difference here is that when Tim takes to the field in pursuit of wild fowl, he carries a camera, not a weapon.

It was through reading Tim Gallagher’s enthralling book, The Grail Bird that I first began thinking about these vital changes in the saga of birding. The author’s search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker necessarily involved a journey back in time to discover how the species was brought down to the level of extinction; who had been the enemies and who the heroes in the story of this remarkable bird. I found myself placing the author at the end of this complex timeline - a man who has devoted his life to researching and writing about endangered birds in the hopes of saving them. Truly, we’ve come a long way from the time when bird-men felt an inalienable right to kill the objects of their interest.

Reading about conservation efforts always affects me in two powerful ways. Firstly, it makes me incredibly depressed. I don’t want the wading birds to disappear because the Everglades are. I don’t want the California Condors that have been so recently, so painstakingly, reintroduced into the wild to die because they run into powerlines and get lead poisoning. I don’t want industrialization and agribusiness to result in no housefinches at my birdfeeder. Basically, I’m so distressed about this. But secondly, when I read about conservation efforts, I feel a new hope. When I read about Frank Chapman’s epiphany, or follow a fellow like Tim Gallagher into a strange, dangerous swamp in hopes of saving the Ivory-billed woodpecker, I realize I am witnessing a revolution in human consciousness that has got to be a hopeful sign.

I look at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma and the Napa Sonoma Marshes Area in Wingo, and I see that people are voting for a weltands instead of yet another parking lot or housing development. Will this enlightenment about the sacredness and wonder of life catch on in time, before further bird species go the way of the Carolina Parakeet as a result of human behavior? I just don’t know.

We’ve got to hold onto hope here, and honor the men and women who are giving their lives to conservation efforts. And we’ve got to be willing to sit still and face the bad news about what our activities are doing to the planet we share with the birds. We’ve got to listen to what the folks in the field are telling us, and do all we can to support their work. A healthy planet should be the work of us all.

If you’d like to learn more about bird conservancy, I’m sure you will find a visit to any of the following websites worth your while:

American Bird Conservancy

National Audubon Society

EPA

The 100th Bird!

Buteo Regalis, King of the Hawks and a Kingly Birding Site

Today is an important day for the Birding Sonoma County blog. We reached our long-sought goal of 100 birds on our lifelist, and we could not have asked for a more regal bird to crown our list in glory: the Ferruginous Hawk!

In a recent post about the Christmas Bird Count, I mentioned our determination to find a way into the Napa Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area - the place we call Harrier Marsh and which, thus far, we had only been able to enjoy from the car. My birding friends, I must tell you, we have been in heaven today, having finally discovered a way into this habitat that is, perhaps, the finest Sonoma County has to offer.

But first, the hawk.

Driving along Ramal Rd., southeast of the town of Sonoma, we were spotting very large Red-Tailed Hawks left and right. This is also a prime Northern Harrier habitat, and Killdeer and American Kestrels were rife along the fences and over the hills.

Suddenly, we saw him, perched atop a power pole, in the plainest of plain view. “Ferruginous Hawk!”, I exclaimed in awe, echoed by my husband. Luckily, this road is next to empty, and we were able to slow down to a stop to zone in on him for about half a minute before he took off. We slowly followed his flight to another pole, some few hundred yards away, and were able then to get out of the car and use our binoculars to good effect.

The Sibley Guide calls the Ferruginous Hawk our largest raptor. My own research shows that he is in a similar range with the big Red-tails which can be anywhere from 19″-24″. Size indications for the Ferruginous seem to range between 22″-25″. It’s hard to be perfectly accurate here, but however you measure it, we’re talking about one big bird of prey!

Field notes on the Ferruginous Hawk
Here in Sonoma County, we are used to mainly dark-faced raptors. This can make distinguishing features a bit of a task. Not so with this 100th bird on our list. His fine, pale face is so vividly clear, and his light-colored eyes really stand out. The beak is extremely prominent and his plumage seems wonderfully diverse and marked. The whole underside of the bird is a gorgeous white, and the back and wing feathers a mottling of cinnamon, brown and black. Today, I felt as though I could see each individual feather on this bird, right down to the ermine-like streaks on his face and belly. The wings look very broad, big and powerful in flight. Note the thick appearance of the upper legs in their covering of thick, fluffy feathers.

Ferruginous Hawks are listed as being uncommon to rare and tend to inhabit treeless grasslands -much like the Ramal Rd. area. They are a winter visitor to Sonoma County, so now is the time to look. Juveniles are brown and white, and there is also a rare, entirely dark morph of this bird. Ferruginous Hawks can lay up to 5 eggs - a large number for a Buteo, and apparently the number of eggs in each batch corresponds to how abundant or scarce the food supply is that year. The birds prey mainly on rodents and insects.

I just have to say, man, what a bird! To learn more about this awesome wild bird species, why not visit Ferruginoushawk.org, a very fine resource of information devoted entirely to this magnificent bird of prey. We’ll never forget this sighting and intend to return as soon as possible to see if he is hanging around the area or was just passing through. Thank you, Ferruginous Hawk, for being our 100th bird!

But, wait, it gets better…
Okay, so, back on the road here. We didn’t drive out Ramal Rd. to see the Ferruginous Hawk; we were trying to find an entrance into Harrier Marsh (The Napa Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area). Turns out, it isn’t so hard after all. Here are the directions, coming from the town of Sonoma.

Take West Eighth St. south out of the downtown area of Sonoma. Follow this Road for about 6-8 minutes until you see the sign that says Skaggs Island/Ramal Rd. Turn right here. Follow Ramal Rd. on its many twists and turns for about 10 minutes until you come to Las Amigas Rd. Turn right again. Very quickly, you will come to Buchley Station Rd. Turn right. Let me warn you in advance, Buchley Station Rd. is not in good repair and the incredible number of potholes are going to be jarring no matter how good your shocks are. You’ll pass a reservoir that appears to be a vineyard runoff on the left hand side. Keep going, unless you pause to note the Buffleheads, Pied-billed Grebes and the Great Blue Heron we saw today. The road eventually curves to the right (really bad potholes) and there you will see the parking lot (nice and flat). There is even a public restroom here.

Beyond, a stretch of pond, creek and marshland opens out before your eyes and nearly every inch is teaming with birdlife. Sadly, we had no more than 1/2 hr. to be there today before the sun set, and the light of that time of day makes waterfowl identification extremely poor, but even the silhouettes of the ducks against the blinding sun were enough to tell us that many, many species are present.

You have a choice of very exciting-looking trails we can’t wait to explore and in our very brief visit, all of the following birds were abundant and in plain view:
Buffleheads
Ruddy Duck
American Coots
Black-necked Stilts
American Avocets
Great Egrets
Great Blue Herons
Pied-billed Grebes
Mallards
Red-tailed Hawks
White-tailed Kites
Meadowlarks
Killdeer
Common Gallinules (Moorhens)

These last birds were a great surprise…foraging in the open, but so shy that they ran away when a Killdeer cried. I’ll also mention, though I’m not giving a positive identification, that we both heard something that might have been an American Bittern, a bird we long to see. Normally, these only emit their loud, broken waterpump glunk-a-gloop sound during the breeding season, so we could well have been mistaken, but it is certainly prime habitat.

We are just biding our time for a free day of broad daylight to explore this area, and so hope you will benefit from our clear directions as to how to get there. I’ll add that on the ride home, we spotted 3 Great Horned Owls. My eyes are still dazzled with visions of this paradise on Buchley Station Rd. It is free for you to enter and enjoy, and we hope you will comment here on the blog about any great experiences you have there.

All in all, a banner day for the Birding Sonoma County blog!

2006 Sonoma Valley Christmas Bird Count

Greetings!

We have been eagerly awaiting the results of last year’s Annual Christmas Bird Count which took place in Sonoma Valley on December 29th, 2006. Thanks to Sonomabirding.org, the stats are now in and we highly recommend a visit to their site. Once there, click on the link that reads 2nd Ann. SV-CBC Click Here - Revised 1/7/07 and you will see the very handy chart they have compiled tracking both species and proliferation of birds throughout Sonoma Valley.

The team of birders who volunteered to take part in the Christmas Bird Count, which is a nation-wide event, covered 9 regions in the Sonoma Valley area, and we’re delighted to announce that 163 total species were observed. That’s 13 more species than were observed in 2005. 58,579 individual birds were tabulated during the count.

Of special interest to us about this year’s CBC

Somehow, I would have thought that the area with the most species and greatest number of birds would have been the Petaluma Wetlands. Readers of our birding blog will know this is a favorite spot of ours with its abundant presence of long-legged waders and ducks. A total of 8,855 birds were recorded there, representing 103 species. However, the Petaluma Wetlands were beat out by an area called Wingo.

What on Earth is Wingo?
This is exaclty what we asked ourselves last year when we first became aware of the Sonoma Valley Christmas Bird Count. Imagine our surprise when we discovered, via the map on Birdingsonoma.org, that Wingo is where the Napa Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area is located, south-east of the town of Sonoma and the tiny village of Schellville.

Our personal name for this mysterious wetlands area is Harrier Marsh, due to the fabulous encounters we’ve enjoyed there with the regal Northern Harrier. It would appear that this region is one of those best-kept-secrets kind of places. In point of fact, my husband and I still haven’t figured out how to actually get into the marsh on foot, but last night, we looked it up on Google and came up with an intriguing website of the Napa Sonoma Marsh Restoration Organization. Apparently, great work is afoot to restore this precious, diverse habitat, and we’ve at last located directions to get into the marsh, rather than driving around it in the car. With the Wingo area boasting a total of 115 bird species and a count of 9,407 birds, you can bet on it that nothing is going to keep us away from that place (apart from this week’s 20 degree temperatures and a touch of the flu!).

We promise, we will post full directions to getting into the Napa Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area as soon as we’ve had a chance to check it out personally. What do you think the chances are of us getting them to change the name to Harrier Marsh? It’s certainly shorter, and sounds like a neat place to go, doesn’t it?

The adjacent Schellville area takes second place in the CBC with 105 species, but our beloved Petaluma Wetlands places a strong third.

A couple of neat birds on the list that we want to see
The Orange Crowned Warbler in the Adobe area
The Red Phalarope in Wingo
The American Pipit which we must be really foolish not to be seeing as it is all over the place

We’d like to end with a note of thanks to the folks who volunteered to compile all of this data for our benefit. The history of the CBC dates back to 1900 when Audubon Society officer, Frank Chapman, proposed the idea. The tradition has grown, and observers now total some 50,000 people across the nation every year. Volunteers are completely responsible for the success of this event, and if you’d be interested in participating in the next count, please contact your local Audubon Society chapter.

The Barn Owl - the flash of lightning in the night sky.

Greetings!

Two nights ago, my husband and I were coming home from the market and were just a few yards from home when I shouted,
“Stop!”
Fortunately, my husband is used to outbursts of this kind, and has yet to drive off the road as a result of them. He also drives backwards with ease (don’t worry, only on deserted roads). A bird sighting never feels complete to me unless my mate sees it, too, and I held my breath as we rolled slowly backward, hoping that the magnificent Barn Owl would not take off from the power line above our car before we’d both had a chance to admire him.

He was truly a splendid representative of his species, and so good as to let us watch him for a few moments before he flew away…right into our yard. All of a twitter, we parked our car and crept toward the walnut tree where he had come to land, but that sent him off again and we hustled down the street, quietly following him from tree to tree until he was out of sight.

My sincere hope is that our neighbors have figured out by now that the nutty people who go down the road in the middle of the night with flashlights a few times a month are birders - not burglars. Both Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls rule over our nighttime neighborhood and we cannot stay indoors when we hear their calls, despite the fact that the only lights in our area are moon and stars. Few aspects of birding thrill me like owling. And, no owl contrasts in so startling a manner with the darkness than the common Barn Owl, Tyto alba.

Making friends with a Barn Owl
I’d venture to say that most people are likely to catch sight of Barn Owls when driving in agricultural lands. Abruptly, the headlights illuminate that heart-shaped face, with the keen eyes regarding you before the bird takes wing, leaving his post on fencetop or road sign. The mysterious appearance of the Barn Owl has both alarmed and inspired people for countless ages, and other common names for him include Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Golden Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl and Hobgoblin Owl. Those fleeting, shocking glimpses of white appear to be the stuff of folklore and wild imagination.

But what if seeing a Barn Owl becomes part of your daily life? This happened for us last summer when my husband and I discovered a Barn Owl route that passed directly over our house. Regular as clockwork, the owl would appear on the far horizon at 8:15, softly stealing westward through the twilight. It became our ritual to await his coming, and we were fascinated by his unfailing passage. We came to depend upon his visits and named him Portent - a good, owl-y name. On most occasions, he flew well over the tree tops, but several times, he flew within feet of our heads where we sat, and he would turn his heart-shaped face downward to look at us. I don’t really know how to describe the feeling of being observed by an owl.

Strangest of all, on this owl’s closest pass by us, he gave out his courting call - a most unexpected burst of twittering, so unlike the hallmark shriek known to most people. Frankly, we were stunned and I couldn’t help wondering if he was inviting me to soar away with him. Being a married lady, of course, I remained grounded. Or, perhaps this twittering call has been misunderstood by ornithologists and can signify more than longing for a mate. Perhaps it can be used to express affection and friendship. We certainly came to feel these things for Portent as the summer wore on, and perhaps he felt the same for us. Whatever the case, we were very sad when the long days shortened and the owl suddenly stopped coming. Those were sad nights when we waited and he never appeared.

My hope is that this week’s Barn Owl was our Portent, and that he’d come to let us know to expect him again at 8:15 sharp next June.

Further field notes on the Barn Owl
Because of the bird-in-the-headlights phenomenon, people mistakenly believe that Barn Owls are all white. The face, breast and underwings are snowy, but the fabulous, flecked gold of the head and wing feathers make this owl one of the most beautiful of all birds. Just think of it - a gilded owl! In this case, nature has not been miserly in sharing one of its finest creations; Barn Owls inhabit nearly all of the United States in abundance. It is, in fact, one of the most common land birds in the whole world, and though the only Tyto in the U.S. is this particular bird, there are dozens of subspecies of these owls on other continents. A visit to the Internet’s very best owl information resource, The Owl Pages offers a wealth of information about these other Tyto subspecies.

Barn owls range in size from 14″-20″, making them one of our larger local owls. They can adapt to nearly any habitat, but we most commonly see them in the agricultural areas of Sonoma County where they hunt for rodents.

They get their common name from their liking for old barns as nesting sites, but they will also take shelter in caves, amongst rocks and various man-made structures. They lay 5-11 round white eggs. Sadly, they are a short-lived bird in the wild, with a life expectancy of 1-2 years.

Go Owling!
Let’s face it - there are much better ways to spend an evening that in front of the T.V. To us, a night of owling offers serious adventure. Pick an empty country road, bring a flashlight and a flask of hot tea (maybe some cookies?) and drive slowly along with the passenger scanning the powerlines and fences. The driver must keep his eyes on the road, as this is the time when all nocturnal animals come out. Be safe! Full moon nights are best for owling in the country, as this provides the bright light that rural areas lack. We’ve been electrified by visions of owls perched in thrawn trees against a full moon- like a page from a Victorian Hallowe’en story. You just never know what you’re going to see when you embark on one of these forays.

The nighttime world is a whole part of life that many folks are never even aware of. If existence ever feels a bit humdrum to you, revive your being with a night of owling, and keep a sharp lookout for that flash of gold and silver lightning - the common Barn Owl.

Birding Sonoma County Press Release - Kenwood Press

Greetings!

Our thanks to Ann and Alec Peters of the Kenwood Press for the mention in the latest edition of this wonderful local newspaper. And, a very warm welcome to all the folks from Kenwood, Glen Ellen and Oakmont who reach this blog as a result of of reading about us in the Kenwood Press. The Birding Sonoma County blog has been created especially for you and all of our Sonoma County neighbors, and we’re eager to hear from you if you’ve got something birding-related to share. A favorite birding moment, a handy identification tip, or a question about a bird you’ve seen recently. By sharing with us, you will help us to make this the best possible birdwatching resource for our community.

If you’re new to how blogs work, let us take a moment to give you a crash course here. Basically, a blog enables us to put up little articles (called posts) that are then stored for your reading pleasure. Each page of the blog shows 10 posts, and at the bottom of the page, you’ll find a link reading Next Page that, if you click on it, will take you to further pages of birding articles. On the right hand side of the blog, you’ll see that the posts are divided up into 2 categories: Bird Alert and Daily Local Birder. By clicking on either of these 2 links, you’ll be taken to pages containing only posts in that specific category.

Blogs are free for you to read, every day of the week, but if you’d like to leave a comment, you’ll need to register. To register, click the Register link on the right hand side of the blog and sign up to be a member of the blog. *Your information remains private with us. We will not show it or give it to anyone else, or send you advertising, we promise! Once you’ve registered, you are permitted to leave comments. To do so, find a post you want to comment on, click on the big bold title of the post, and this will take you to a page specifically for that post where you will be able to type in your comment.

This will notify us that you’ve commented and we’ll come approve your post to be made live. The reason blogs are set up like this is so that the blog owners can preview the comments and delete any from spammers (bad guys). Blogging is fun and easy, and a super way for us to share with others our love of birds.

We thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. We hope you’ll learn something new, or even better, that you’ll share something new with us. We are by no means pros, nor are we super birders who climb mountains. Most of our birding posts will be about birds you can find within a mile of parking your car, or simply by looking out your window. Birding can be enjoyed by almost anyone, and our aim is to enrich local understanding of the beauty of the wild birds who share this special corner of the world with us!

How to Identify Red-Tailed and Red-Shouldered Hawks in Sonoma County, CA.

Greetings!

If you’ve been a recent reader of the Birding Sonoma County blog, you know that one of the goals my husband and I have set ourselves for this year is to improve our raptor identification skills. We’ve been sharing some tips about how we’re going about doing this, and today’s post will, I hope, serve as a very useful guide to identifying the 2 most common hawks in Sonoma County. So, here we go.

Identifying Red-Tailed and Red-Shouldered Hawks
-or-
Buteos in The Tower Hills

Though I don’t have an exact percentage for how many of the hawks you’re likely to see in a day’s drive around Sonoma County being one of the above 2 species, I’m comfortable stating that Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks are our most common, large, local raptors. Obviously, environment is going to be a factor here. If you’re in a wetland, Northern Harriers are probably going to be eminent. But, in the long miles of open country drives in most areas of Sonoma County, a major percentage of the raptors you’ll spot perching on the power lines over field and pasture are going to be Red-tailed Hawks….and if they aren’t Red-tails, they are likely to be Red-shouldered Hawks.

So, this is why it is so important to learn to confidently identify the two species, both to enjoy a sense of accomplishment and also to be able to rule them out should you see another bird of prey that isn’t one of these 2 birds.

As you can see from my above sketch, differences between these 2 birds are immediately obvious. The Red-tailed Hawk is generally larger (19″-25″ from head to tail with a wingspan of up to 54″). The smaller Red-shouldered Hawk stands 17″-24″ with a wingspan of up to 48″. Needless to say, the adult Red-tailed Hawk has a red tail and the Red-Shouldered features a rust patch at the top of its wing. However, anyone who has gone out hawk watching knows that seeing these birds in the wild is a very different thing from looking at an illustration of them on a blog or in a bird guide. It’s because of this very fact that I want to give you a couple of quick tips for identifying these 2 hawks out in nature, whether they are perched or flying.

The Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
No other large Sonoma County raptor has the color combination and pattern of the adult Red-shouldered Hawk. If you see a vivid rust face and body combined with black and white striped or checkered wing tips and tail, you are looking at a Red-shouldered Hawk. *Remember this is a tip only for our region, based upon which hawks live here. Upon closer inspection, there are pale, thin stripes across the breast and belly of this bird, and these stripes are bigger and blotchier on the duller, browner juvenile bird. I hope you have the opportunity to get up-close to a Red-shouldered Hawk at some point in your birding career, but for more distant viewing, just remember, you’re looking for a big bird with that intense orange in the front and black/white checks or stripes in back. I think Red-shouldered Hawks are just beautiful!

The Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
I’ve saved the harder bird for last. Why is he tough? Well, in the first place, unless you see an adult in flight, his hallmark red tail is often invisible. Yes, if you see that crimson tail fanned out as a big hawk soars overhead, chances are you’ve identified the Red-tailed Hawk, but it’s usually not that simple. As a rule of thumb, Adult Red-tailed Hawks display the following characteristics:

Brown wings and back of head
Face a bit more golden or cinnamon
Light buff bib
Red Tail

However, it’s very important to mention here that there are dark morphs of this bird that are so dark brown as to appear almost black. And, then there are the young birds. If you see a big dark brown raptor with a very bright white bib, it’s likely a juvenile of this species. Outside of Sonoma County, Red-tailed Hawks don so many different wardrobes that they’ve been given subspecies names, but you are unlikely to see these further variations in Sonoma County.

So, when seeking Red-tails, you are looking for the biggest brown raptor in town. His breast and head do often show a cinnamon wash, but it is never the brilliant rust of the Red-shouldered. And, unlike the Red-shouldered Hawk, the Red-tailed Hawk is NOT going to have those incredible black/white stripes on his wings and tail. Is the picture getting clearer? I hope so!

Where to see these 2 Hawks in Sonoma County
You may have begun to notice that my husband and I assign names to various birding regions that you aren’t going to find listed in any Wine Country guide book. We visit exciting, self-named places like Kestrel Pass, The Round-Hills, Harrier Marsh. We’ll continue to share these spots with you, and right now, we want to talk about one of the most fabulous places we know for watching birds of prey. We call this region The Tower Hills. The name, in fact, derives from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and to us it suits this stretch of road as its major landmark is a big, round, hobbit-like hill with 2 tall power towers on it.

As our accompanying map shows, The Tower Hills are to be found between the towns of Petaluma and Sonoma. If coming from Sonoma, take W. Watmaugh Rd., west out of town. Turn Right on Hwy 116. When you come to the first big ‘T’ intersection, turn Left (west) toward Petaluma. This whole stretch of rural road until you reach Lakeville Hwy is simply full of birds of prey.

If you are coming from Petaluma, take Lakeville Hwy. east out of town. Turn left on Hwy 116, heading toward Sonoma and you, too, will be in the fabulous area of open ranchland.

Apart from the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks that are ruling the skies over Petaluma and Sonoma, American Kestrels are in abundance here. Keep your eyes open for the White-tailed Kite, too. And when dusk seeps over The Tower Hills, Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls come out to take the place of daytime birds of prey.

I want to add a caution here that car-birding for hawks needs to be done carefully. My husband and I have our own special system for this. He drives, closely watching the road on this windy stretch, and I watch the power lines, generally shouting out names of birds to him as we go. There are only 2-3 places to safely pull off the road in the Tower Hills, so if you are birding alone, please pull off in one of the turnouts to scan the skies in safety. This is what we do so that my husband can birdwatch, too.

All over Sonoma County, majestic birds of prey stand guard over our beautiful country roads. A drive anywhere can yield rich birding rewards, and we so hope that this post on identifying our 2 most common hawks will add new depth to your birding pleasure.

3 Unexpected Visitors to the Apple Tree This Week

Greetings!

If you’ve been reading the Birding Sonoma County bird since our launch one month ago, you’ll have noticed that our Gravenstein apple tree is our special touchstone for observing the common winter birds that are in our neighborhood. The following birds have been daily diners at the birdfeeder we keep stocked with organic sunflower seeds:

White-crowned Sparrow
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Housefinch
American Goldfinch
California Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Oak Titmouse
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Rufous-sided Towhee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Though we never tire of watching the fascinating actions and interactions of these constant companions, we were very excited this week when not one, but three, unusual visitors appeared in the old, bare branches.

The first was the Varied Thrush. If you read our detailed Varied Thrush post a few weeks ago, you’ll know that this bird is rivaled only by the Northern Oriole for bold color in Sonoma County, and indeed, his incredibly intricate black/orange/grey/white feathers may be the most interesting of the two showy wild birds. As we wrote, we discovered a very large flock of Varied Thrushes in the eucalyptus grove and conifer forests of Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen. We think of these fowls as forest birds. But, this week, at least one of these sylvan creatures was passing through the open countryside and made a brief stop in our tree. He didn’t seem interested in the seeds, so it may simply be that all of the activity going on at our birdfeeder enticed him to fly in for a closer look at the commotion. What a treat to see him in our own backyard. The Varied Thrush, Ixoreus naevius, will only be with us in Sonoma County during the winter months, so now is the time to scan local trees for that incomparable flash of Hallowe’en hues.

Bird number 2 is a dear favorite of mine, whom I hope to devote a full post to at some point: the White-breasted Nuthatch. This is Sonoma County’s largest nuthatch and to us, he looks very like a miniature penguin hopping up and down tree trunks, seemingly free of the edicts of gravity. Note his excellently strong beak. The name nuthatch is resultant of this bird’s habit of wedging nuts in cracks of trees so that he can hammer the shells open with that wonderful beak. Again, this is a bird we typically see on the trunks of evergreen trees, but I do believe he was watching some of our other backyard birds getting seeds from the ‘trunk’ of our tube feeder and he actually pulled up a perch and treated himself to a snack. I wished he would stay all day, but either he didn’t care for the seeds, or he had better places to be, because his visit lasted only a few minutes. The White-breasted Nuthatch, Sita Carolinensis, measures approximately 5 3/4″ from beak to tail and is a year-round bird in Sonoma County.

A week or two ago, my husband and I caught a glimpse of a pair of Nuttall’s Woodpeckers around the corner from our house. Today, what I’m assuming was the male of this same pair was in the apple tree when I woke up. He was inspecting the many holes left by our resident Red-breasted Sapsucker and I greatly enjoyed his agile circumnavigation of the trunk and branches. Like the White-breasted Nuthatch, he can cling to the underside of horizontal branches with no danger of falling.

Note the beautiful black and white ladder-like markings all down his back. As a child, I had heard of the Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and growing up on a creek in Santa Rosa, I wrongly supposed that this must be the name of the bird that was frequently in my backyard. I know now that the Ladder-backed Woodpecker is not a Sonoma County bird, and that when I see a completely striped back on a black/white woodpecker, it’s Nuttall’s. The female lacks the red crown, but both birds have the wonderful facial stripes. Sonoma County residents are extremely fortunate to be living in the very slim region of the western United States where Nuttall’s Woodpeckers exist, and they are here year-round.

I was thinking the other day, my husband and I are only 2 birds away from reaching our first big goal of 100 birds on our birding lifelist. What will I do when I have seen all of the wild birds that are common in Sonoma County? Will I feel at a loose end…bored, even? Upon reflection, the answer came rather quickly back to me that, of course, I can never be bored birding here. Checking a name off a list is fun, but it is spending time with the birds that is the real source of joy for me. It is only with patient observation that some of the most interesting characteristics of birds are revealed, and then beyond this is the even more exciting goal of become acquainted with individual birds. The constant presence of the Red-breasted Sapsucker in my apple tree this winter has made me feel like I have found a friend I can count on. I’ve spent countless hours just watching him, now, and he no longer flies away when I approach his proud post in the tree. Basically, what I’m saying is that there is listing, and then there are many, many deeper levels and layers of birding to be explored and enjoyed, and I look forward to the years to come, in hopes that my understanding of wild birds will see a meaningful increase with the passage of time.

Bolinas Lagoon - Winter Birds are here!

Greetings and Happy New Year from Birding Sonoma County!

My husband and I ended the old year with a fabulous afternoon at the Bolinas Lagoon, and I can’t think of a better way for you to start 2007 off than with a trip to this winter birding heaven. Above, you will see my sketch of some of the amazing long-legged waders and waterfowl we saw in just a couple of hours at the lagoon. Here’s the key to the birds shown here:

1) Long-billed Curlew
2) American Avocet
3) Northern Pintail
4) American Widgeon
5) Lesser Yellowlegs
6) Marbled Godwit
7) Willet
8) Red-breasted Merganser
9) Killdeer

Other ducks were present, including Buffleheads, and we also saw numerous hawks along the lagoon, Snowy and Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and a beautiful Belted Kingfisher. My sketch is by no means an all-inclusive portrait of the dozens of spectacular birds that pass through this very special environment on their winter migration. According to a birding acquaintance of ours, he has also seen Whimbrels, Scaups, various phalaropes and sandpipers, as well as several varieties of gulls. The winter afternoon proved all too short for us to identify as many birds as we would have liked to, but even our short visit added 7 new species to our lifelist! Incredible.

It was an especial thrill to see the American Avocet in his snowy winter plumage. We had seen him with his rufous feathers earlier in the year, but during the cold months, the change in his appearance is quite striking. Also, the Willet was wearing his soft grey mantle which made identification easier.

More expert birders than ourselves may find identifying wading birds a snap, but we most definitely needed our birding field guide on this day out. Binoculars were helpful, too. Pay careful attention to sizes. This can mean the whole difference between a Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs. And, I’ll take a moment here to sing the praises of the Sibley Guide again. Without his illustrations of seasonal changes, we’d have been sunk!

My husband and I took a picnic lunch with us, and though the day was quite fine enough to enjoy a leisurely meal outdoors, I’ll confess, I could hardly swallow a mouthful, so wild was I to see as many of the lovely birds as I could in my race against the sunset clock. Sandwiches and birdwatching combined may present a choking hazard!

If you’ve never been birding at the Bolinas Lagoon…
…now is the time to go! Though the lagoon is the year-round home of many wonderful wild birds, November - March are the peak months in which to observe migrants. If this will be your first trip to the lagoon, nothing I can say will really prepare you for the abundance of birds present. Whole flocks of Marbled Godwits with their chestnut plumes and 1/2 salmon orange, 1/2 black beaks. Flurries of ducks. Hosts of gulls. And, I cannot write about the lagoon without at least one mention of the Long-billed Curlew (shown above). Words cannot describe the amusing appearance of this tall, unique bird with the unbelievably long beak. When standing, he looks rather smug, serene, an institution unto himself. But when the fancy takes him to bestir himself, he runs along the shore in a sneaking, hysterical way as though he is going to creep up upon one of the other fowls and surprise him with a ‘boo’! I hope to have the time to devote an individual post to each of the species that are special visitors to the lagoon, but for now, suffice it to say that new birders are guaranteed to see new birds there, and old hands will simply be delighted.

The landscape is inspiring with its mix of muddy bank and mirror-like water. We watched the surface gradate slowly from sky blue, to gold and green, to apricot and finally to lavender and deep blue.

Checklist for what to bring when Birding the Bolinas Lagoon

Bird guide
Binoculars
Lifelist or birding journal (take notes so you won’t forget all that you see)
Waterproof shoes (it’s very muddy on the shore)
Warm clothing (even if the weather is clear, it gets cold in the evening)
Food and water (you’ll want to stay all day once you get there)

So where is the Bolinas Lagoon, anyhow?

Whether you are coming North or South on Hwy 101, take the Hwy 1 exit West in Mill Valley. Simply follow Hwy 1 past Stinson Beach to the Bolinas Lagoon. I will add here, however, that I am not a fan of this hair-raising stretch of Hwy 1 myself, and my husband and I invariably take the more scenic, less scary route that goes from Petaluma, out D St. D St. then becomes Petlama-Point Reyes Rd. Follow this past the Nicasio Reservoir and continue until you see a sign indicating to go right toward Olema or left toward Fairfax. Take the right toward Olema to the town of Olema. In the middle of town, at the ‘T’ intersection, turn left. You are now on the nice, pretty end of Hwy 1. Continue on until you reach the lagoon. If you are not partial to twisty cliff roads, this alternative route through Olema will ensure a happier birding day for you and your loved ones.

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know that I am not a great traveler. Unlike those adventurous birders who seem to think nothing of shooting off to South America in pursuit of birds, I’m a real homebody, and that’s why our blog focuses so heavily on local birding. Now, it’s quite true the Bolinas Lagoon is located in Marin, not Sonoma County, but from time to time, we hope you’ll enjoy our peregrinations a bit farther afield. I figure if a birder like me can accomplish a day trip like this, so can most folks. And, when you consider that the world’s top bird men and women consider the Bolinas Lagoon a must-see place, you may suddenly realize that you’ve got a universal treasure located practically in your own backyard.

The lagoon encompasses 1,100 acres of tidal estuary, and is an incredibly important environment for healthy, rare and endangered populations of birds and animals. For more information, please visit the Bolinas Lagoon Foundation.