Jack London Cottage a Birder’s Paradise Today!

October 24, 2007 on 8:30 pm | In Daily Local Birder | 2 Comments

Greetings, Birders!

There are days when you set out to bird and the air is strangely silent, the branches are still, the world seems empty of birds. And then there are the days when you stop, en route to a destination perhaps, just to check a favorite spot for a moment and you walk into a blizzard of bird activity, all the better for its spontaneous serendipity. This was such a day for us, as we pulled into Jack London State Park to avoid rush hour. Tiptoeing into the fenced garden behind Jack London’s beautiful Craftsman cottage, we seated ourselves in a birder’s paradise, so alive with species, activity and song we hardly knew which way to look.

Lesser Goldfinches were everywhere but on our shoulders. The last of the Western Tanagers mingled with the first of the Cedar Waxwings in the treetops. Yellow-rumped Warblers have just arrived with a few signal American Robins, speaking of the changing season. Flickers and woodpeckers were everywhere, but over all, a family of fabulous Pileated Woodpeckers gave us some of the closest views we have ever had. 99% of the time, we hear the Pileated Woodpeckers in the distant western forest, their monkey-machine-gun calls and jackhammer drilling announcing their kingship of the State Park, but today, at least 3 of the birds were right beside us, and we got to hear an amazing greeting between two of them as they met in an oak tree at the back of the garden. These unusual calls sounded rather like the sounds of geese, with a cooing quality softening the normal harshness of the Pileated Woodpeckers’ voices. Clearly, this was an intimate family conversation. At a distance, their hammering is incredibly loud. Up close, it sounds like someone knocking a house down! What a thrill to see this lord of the woodpeckers and his royal family ruling over the garden of birds.

Our bird count from less than an hour spent in the cottage garden today is as follows:

Stellar’s Jay
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Western Tanager
Downy Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Red-Shafted Flicker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Lesser Goldfinch
Western Bluebird
Common Crow
Cedar Waxwing
Black Phoebe
Golden-crowned Sparrow

In addition to this, there were hummingbirds in the Mexican sage plants, but we remain even worse at identifying hummingbirds than we are at identifying gulls. Probably Allen’s or Rufous. All told, this gives us a total of 17 different bird species in the garden! And it wasn’t merely the number of species but the sheer number of birds that made our afternoon so wondrous for us. What a lovely time!

Any moment in wild bird habitat can give you pleasure like this. We still have enough light here in October to stop someplace on the way home from work, or we can spend whatever other free time we may have in nature, simply enjoying this lucky abundance of birds. The cottage garden in Jack London State Park is a great bet, but you know of other places, too - special places.

As we were walking back to the car, I was musing over the thought that birding resembles strong human emotions. When the moment is over, we have nothing physical to show for it, nothing in our hands, nothing to bring home with us. We only know that we had an experience, nameless, perhaps, and difficult to communicate, but something that meant a great deal while it was happening. In today’s stressful world, the birder fills himself with these moments and can draw from them as from a well of peace. Birding can keep us emotionally balanced, I think. What do you think?

Bewick’s Wren - A hidden Bay Area bird worth seeking!

October 7, 2007 on 2:47 pm | In Daily Local Birder | 8 Comments

Greetings Birders!
Did you like the game of hide-and-seek as a child? If so, then birding for wrens will likely strike you as extra fun. As a clan, they are some of the Bay Area’s most secretive little birds, more often heard than seen. A flash of clay or chestnut in the scrub or reeds, the flick of a tail, the glimpse of a bright black eye, tantalizing the birder who will stand there for minutes at a time, yearning to make a correct identification.

Today, we’ll turn our gaze on Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii, one of the larger SF Bay Area Wrens. My Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, says Bewick’s Wren is a year-round resident, but I see the bird so sporadically, I can’t confirm this from my own experience, and Sibley has been wrong on occasion in this regard. Measuring an average of 5.25″ from beak to tail, Bewick’s Wren, like most wrens, will instantly strike you as being ‘all-tail’. With the exception of the Winter Wren, which looks like it has almost no tail, wrens have some of the most splendid, striped tails on the local birding scene. Identification clue number one for wrens is that they tend to hold their tails up-turned, as if proud of their lovely plumes.

Again, like most wrens, their movements through the brush are flickering, turning this way and that, seeming to flash from branch to branch rather than flap or fly. Whenever I see Bewick’s Wren, I am struck by how nuthatch-like he is, not only in his movements, but in his overall shape. The long beak, small oval body and stiff tail are all reminiscent of the White-breasted Nuthatch. The Brown Creeper also comes strongly to mind when looking at wrens.

Color is very important in identifying wrens. Some are a rich, burnished copper, others a duller brown. Bewick’s Wren’s overall hue is somewhat muddy, with gleams of chestnut in his long tail. But the most important identification mark on this bird is his prominent white eyebrow. It stands out quite clearly from his brown and grey tones, and the other thing to observe is the overall plainness of his back and shoulders which are unmarked.

Comparing Bewick’s Wren to the Marsh Wren
At right, you will see my illustration of a Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris. I felt it would be helpful for local birders to compare these 2 birds to see the differences between them. Wren identification can be challenging for new birders, because all wrens tend to be brownish, striped beings. In differentiating between these 2 wrens, you will have two big clues:

1) Markings - Scroll back and forth between the Marsh Wren and Bewick’s Wren. Yes, they both have those white eyebrows. But look at the backs of the birds. The black striped patch of the Marsh Wren instantly confirms who he is, and lets you see how much plainer the Bewick’s Wren is by comparison. Overall, the rich chestnut tones of the smaller Marsh Wren are much more vivid than the soft browns of Bewick’s.

2) Habitat - This is a major factor. Bewick’s Wren inhabits the understorey brush of coniferous and deciduous forests, where he is at home with his secretive habits, hiding amongst bracken. By contrast, the Marsh Wren’s name correctly identifies his home - in the reeds around ponds and in wetlands.

Other local wrens include the House Wren and the Winter Wren. Each has it’s own markings and habitat. So, very often, getting a correct I.D. involves the birder asking, “where are the stripes?” and, “what is the habitat I’m in?”

Further field notes on Bewick’s Wren
Though not quite as much like the old electric-typewriter-gone-haywire calls of the Marsh Wren, the Bewick’s Wren’s song is complex, consisting of metallic trills and buzzes, not exactly musical, but very fascinating to hear in the forest. The long, down-curved beak of this bird is an important tool, as you might guess, enabling him to pry into crevices and along the ground for insects and spiders. Bewick’s Wrens nest in cavities or holes and 4-7 white or pink speckled eggs are common. Patience and good ear birding are often your best tools in honing in on this charming and interesting local bird.

Where to see Bewick’s Wren in Sonoma County
As the accompanying map will show, Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, California, yet again proves itself superior birding habitat when it comes to Bewick’s Wren. When you go through the toll booth, turn right into the upper parking lot, drive to the far end of the lot and park near the narrow trail entrance by the eucalyptus grove. In addition to being great woodpecker habitat, and a good spot for migratory warblers, this grove of trees has become our likely spot for Bewick’s Wren. About halfway between the entrance of this short trail and the ‘t’ it comes to out in the sun at the end of it, on the left hand side of the path, there is a scrubby area where we have repeatedly seen a pair of Bewick’s Wrens, and with patience, have gotten excellent up close views. Bring a picnic, bring your birding binoculars and have a fabulous day in this wonderful park.

It’s October now, so keep an eye out in the park for Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Oak Titmice, Stellar’s Jays, Pileated, Downy, Nuttall’s and Acorn Woodpeckers, Flickers, the last of the Western Tanagers, Western Bluebirds and White-breasted Nuthatches. Soon, the fantastic Varied Thrushes should be flying into the park. Last year - the winter 2006/2007 season - was an irruptive year for the Varied Thrush, bringing us more of these birds than normal, and Jack London State Park was literally spangled with them. Oh, things are getting exciting in the birding world this month. Keep your eyes open!