Swainson’s Thrush - Strangest Bay Area Bird Call of All!

Greetings, birders!

Have you had the strange feeling that you’ve been being followed by a pint-sized vehicle with an infinitesimal, buzzy car alarm since spring arrived in the Bay Area? Brace up! Tiny aliens with bitty noisemakers have not taken over the planet, nor are you going crazy. Chances are, Swainson’s Thrush is lurking in the underbrush nearby.

This fantastically secretive bird stops people in their tracks each year when it arrives from the south for the warm season and begins sounding its other-worldly song. The musician’s ear detects a couple of grace notes followed by an ethereal series of rising triplets, all rendered in a most unusual, wheezy, electronic-sounding voice. We honor this unique wild bird with having the very strangest of all calls in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As my illustration of Swainson’s Thrush, Catharus ustulatus, shows, this is a somewhat plain looking bird with a dusty top half and spotted breast. Pacific coast birds are ruddier than inland ones, but the overall appearance of this fowl is sedate when compared to his relative, the brilliant orange and black Varied Thrush who was with us in the winter. Nevertheless, we absolutely love this fine wild bird, and only wish we could catch more than a glimpse of him in his hiding places beneath thick hedges, generally near a body of water. He is one of Sonoma County’s most reclusive inhabitants.

Swainson’s Thrush measures, on average, 7″ from his strong beak to his tail. He has a prominent cream colored eye ring and a very soft, blurry look to his plumes. He forages on the ground for both insects and berries and builds a cup-shaped nest of twigs, leaves, roots and moss. 3-5 blue eggs are typical of this bird. The birds maintain a very small territory, making it possible for the birder to be surrounded by serenading male Swainson’s Thrushes in a single large yard or on a short creekside path.

My husband and I had our first encounter with Swainson’s Thrush at Willowside Rd. creek in Santa Rosa, CA. I clearly remember the sweltering hot day, and the two of us going up and down, up and down the path trying to figure out where that crazy noise was coming from. We never saw the bird and were driven almost to distraction by his persistent, mysterious fanfares. Thankfully, our bird songs DVD solved the problem for us when we got home and we immediately recognized the the sound that had so baffled us by the stream.

I have not heard a single Swainson’s Thrush in the Sonoma Valley area of Sonoma County. Perhaps their habitat has been destroyed by the monotonous vineyards that leave no hedges or trees for birds to make their homes in, or perhaps this thrush simply doesn’t like the layout here. West Santa Rosa seems to be a good place to go, locally, to find Swainson’s Thrush, and the Willowside Road area almost guarantees the sound, if not the sight, of one.

However, if you want to get to Swainson’s Thrush heaven, simply drive out to West Marin County, to the Point Reyes National Seashore area. The parking lot at Heart’s Desire beach should be renamed Swainson’s Thrush Official Headquarters. There must be thousands of these birds in this area and it is simply amazing to listen to them, and to try to spot one in the bracken. In addition to their rising mechanical call, they also give a single flute-like note frequently. Mornings and evenings are the best time to attend this free concert by the sea.

*An important hint on identifying Swainson’s Thrush: if you see a bird that looks very much like my sketch, but it is out in the open, going about its business, chances are, you may be seeing a Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus. The Hermit Thrush is seen most often in the winter here in Sonoma County, but some are year-round, so that’s not a definite help. What does help me is to look at the tail of the bird. The Hermit Thrush’s tail tends to be an extremely vivid cinnamon color. But, for a positive ID, you do need to hear the songs. Swainson’s call rises, but the Hermit’s call, though quite similar in its electronic sound, just twirls around in one place rather than going up or down. The Kenwood/Glen Ellen area is an excellent place to look for Hermit Thrushes and despite their shy sounding name, they are much more extroverted than the Swainson’s Thrush, in our experience.

Swainson’s Thrush is proof that you must never judge a bird by it’s ‘cover’. Who would ever guess that this sedate looking fellow would be such an audacious caroler? He is just one of the many fascinating oddities that keep us always birding, always in a state of awe over the varied wonders of the bird world.

Birder Interview - Steve Byland, New Jersey Birder

When you see a guy getting out of his car with a camera around his neck with a GIANT lens on it, and he comes up and asks what you’re looking at in the bushes, you know you’re standing face to face with a BIRDER!

This was how my husband and I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Byland a couple of months ago in the Hearts Desire Beach parking lot in Point Reyes. We spent a couple of hours birding around the lot with Steve, and were blown away by his digital camera. He mentioned to us that he posts his photos on Flickr, and when we got home that night, we were even more blown away by the exquisite quality of Steve’s work.

Get ready to join us in becoming Steve Byland fans. This man has the talent, the eye and the
serendipity of a truly great bird photographer!

1) Steve, we met with you at the Point Reyes National Seashore here in Northern California. That’s a long way from your home state of New Jersey. Can you tell us what you like best about the birding opportunities here on the west coast?

There are so many things I really love about the west coast – birding is just one of them. The scenery is wonderful and the people are so friendly that it makes it a very special place to visit. The birds are just a great bonus. For me, the nicest thing about the birds is the opportunity to see a number of species that rarely, if ever, can be found closer to my home in New Jersey. Add to that the beauty of the mountains, the desert and the rugged ocean and I feel like I’m in heaven.

One of my favorite birding spots in California is Mines Road and Del Puerto Canyon Road, south of Livermore. Every time I visit the Bay area, I make a point of stopping there at least once. Combine that with a stop at Point Reyes and a short trip to Yosemite and you will have memories to last a lifetime.

2) Cape May, New Jersey is one of the most important places for birds in North America. It even has a warbler named after the area. Can you tell us a bit about your experiences in this famous area and the birds you’ve seen there?

A trip to Cape May is certain not to disappoint! It is a large peninsula at the southern tip of New Jersey and acts as a funnel point for migrating birds. This makes it one of the best places in North America to find a huge number of different bird species in a very small area. One day in a small field, I saw a Brown-chested Martin (one of only a handful ever seen in North America), along with a MacGillivray’s Warbler and Western Tanager which are extremely rare on the east coast. It is not at all unusual during migration for the birds in Cape May to number in the hundreds of thousands. There are so many really outstanding birders in Cape May that, when something interesting shows up, the word gets out fast.

3) You talked with us in person a bit about your experiences with the World Series of Birding. Can you explain more about your involvement with this annual event and tell us a favorite memory you have from taking part in this competition?

The whole idea of the World Series of Birding is to find as many different species of birds as you can in a 24 hour period. You can go anywhere in the state or limit yourself to a specific geographic area. I’ve done the state-wide event a couple of times, but it is really punishing physically and uses a lot of gas. I now do an area limited to the 7,600 acre Great Swamp National Wildlife. We usually find somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 different species of birds and have a lot of fun doing it. Once, in the middle of the night, I was trying to slow down to make a turn and the clutch failed and would not disengage. We just about ended up in the water.

4) While birding with us in Point Reyes, you mentioned to us that you are a raptor man. Where is the best place to see raptors in New Jersey and what it is the birding like there?

Cape May in the fall is one of the best places to see huge numbers of hawks up close and personal. They get upwards of 40,000 raptors between September and November. Many people bird the local fields in the morning and then spend the afternoon at the hawk watch platform. Mid-September through the mid-October is the best time to visit. The Montclair Hawk Lookout is another outstanding place. Located in a suburban neighborhood, it has a fabulous view of the New York City skyline and is one of the best places to watch the spectacle of the Broad-winged Hawk migration during mid-September. Both places are fantastic spots to watch for migrating songbirds as well.

5) Your wildlife photographs on Flickr are simply amazing. Your detailed close-ups of both birds and animals are absolutely beautiful. Can you tell us about the cameras and equipment that you use and have used in the past? Any recommendations on equipment for beginning birders on a budget?

I use a Canon 20d body with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS Zoom. This package is a bit pricey at a bit over $2,000 now, but it is really versatile. Unfortunately, birds are small and quick which can make them really tough to photograph. I have tried photographing them with less expensive equipment, but I wasn’t happy with the results. With my equipment, I can get shots that can be almost as good as what I could take with a $10,000 package – it just takes a bit more work and luck.

6) What are some other birding spots in America that you have traveled to? Any other well-known spots that birders are familiar with, or perhaps some special places not generally known to birdwatching?

Florida is an incredible place to go birding. In late winter to early spring, the weather is fabulous and the number of birds is staggering. I think everyone knows about Ding Darling and the Everglades, but some of my favorite places are around the West Palm Beach area (Green Cay, Wakodahatchee, Loxahatchee). You can get so close to birds and wildlife that you have to see it for yourself to believe it.

7) You gave us some demonstrations of a birding technique known as “pishing”, whereby you can get more secretive birds to come out into the open by making some noises that draw them out. You also mentioned that this practice yields better results on the east coast than out here in the west. Can you tell some of our new birding readers about how this works, and on which birds it works best?

“Pishing” is essentially making a sound like “pshh pshh pshh” in an imitation of a scolding call used by Tufted Titmice. They are extremely common here which may be why this technique works better on the east coast. Other birds join in to scold and come out in the open. It doesn’t take them long to figure out that there isn’t anything of interest, but it may give you a quick peek at whatever birds are lurking nearby. It seems to work very well for common birds and not so well for whatever bird you really want to get a closer look at. It is also a good way to convince non-birders that you are truly nuts.

8) You’re a very experienced birder, but no doubt there are many birds here in the United States that you have yet to see. Any dream birds out there that you hope to see one day?

I’m partial to raptors and I’ve not seen a Swallow-tailed Kite yet. Generally, though, I try not to get my hopes up too high about seeing any one bird because I don’t want to introduce any disappointment into my hobby. I’m just happy to get a couple of new birds once in a while and get some nice photos along the way.

9) Of all the photographs you’ve taken of birds, which is your favorite?

This is an easy one. I took several pictures of an immature Northern Goshawk in flight last fall at Sunrise Mountain in New Jersey. The photos I got are probably some of the best that I’ve taken of any bird and this is a species that is rarely seen in my part of the country. There was a lot of luck involved – I had perfect light, a fantastic subject at close range and it flew by in the perfect pose. I had actually seen one earlier and messed up the shots badly. I was heartbroken and then I somehow got another chance. I guess my Karma was perfect on that day!

10) Do you keep a life list? If so, would you share your current count with us?

I have a modest life list of 483 birds. I would really need to travel to some different places like Arizona and Alaska to really boost the numbers, but that will come with time. Additionally, I keep a “yard list” with 148 different species of birds seen in my yard. I have also seen six different species of Parrots (not really countable) near where I live in Central New Jersey with three of them coming in my own backyard. That has to be some kind of record!

Steve, it’s been an immense pleasure talking to you, and we’re so glad we got to meet you on your trip out here to the west.

Please, birding readers, take a gander at Steve Byland’s photo stream. It’s a treasure trove of fabulous bird images!

Audubon Society supports killing of Point Reyes Deer, angers members.

Greetings Birders!
If you’re like me, you’ve always been a big fan of the Audubon Society. They’ve been around forever, they publish beautiful bird guides, and they have terrific local chapters across the U.S. The Audubon Society depends on members’ dues and donations in order to publish their magazine, fund their conservation projects and maintain their standing as America’s most famous and popular birding organization.

Unfortunately, the Audubon Society is rapidly losing member support here in the San Francisco Bay Area of California because of a decision made at an official, Marin Chapter Audubon Society level about a local issue which local people feel very strongly about.

Here are the basic facts:

• For generations, the citizens of Marin County have benefited from the presence of the small herd of beautiful Fallow and Axis Deer that were brought by humans to the Point Reyes National Seashore in the 1950’s.
• The National Park Service will begin killing the deer this summer of 2007 via methods that include gunning down from helicopters, hunting with dogs and beating and stabbing the deer to death.
• The National Park Service claims that the deer are harming the environment and threatening the Black-tailed Deer that also live in the park.
• The National Park Service has refused to spend the time to actually study whatever effects the Fallow and Axis deer may be having on the ecology. They do not have any figures for how many Black-tailed Deer live in the park, nor how many lived there 50 years ago. Rather than study the animals and act as the good stewards of the land they are employed to be, they simply want to kill the Fallow and Axis Deer.
• Officials at the Marin Chapter level of the Audubon Society have announced that they support the inhumane, hurried killing of the Fallow and Axis deer. Local members of the regional chapter are in disagreement about the position the board of the Marin chapter has taken and have voiced their lack of support for this policy.
• The Marin Humane Society, In Defense of Animals, WildCare and Dr. Jane Goodall have all pleaded with the NPS to adopt a policy of humane management, not extermination of these deer which are so highly valued by local citizens and the 2.5 million visitors that come to the Point Reyes National Seashore annually.
• The people of West Marin have created a group called Friends of the White Deer. Their efforts have included gathering thousands of signatures, holding meetings with the Park officials and posting signs all over their villages asking for humane management of the deer.
• The NPS and the conservation committee of the Marin Audubon society is refusing to listen to the needs and wishes of local people, and the killing is set to begin this summer.

It is my belief that the National Audubon Society and all of its chapters should take the position of protecting and cherishing life, not destroying it. If the size of the Fallow and Axis deer population needs to be managed, it can be done with humane contraceptive dart technology. The NPS is authorized to do this, and already practices humane management with the Tule Elk that also live in the park.

I am offended that the Marin Audubon Society, a group I have always respected, has so far ignored the position of the highly-educated local members and the people of West Marin who have lived with these deer for half a century. The Marin Audubon Society should listen to the wisdom of its local members who love and know their regional environments, and who do not support the committee’s desire to see the deer inhumanely slaughtered. The Audubon Society only exists because of the support of local people across the land, and our words should be important to them.

*Editorial correction: It was my initial understanding of this case that support of killing the Fallow and Axis Deer of Point Reyes had been given by the Audubon Society at a national level. Thanks to Glenn Olson, Executive Director of Audubon California and Graham Chisholm, Director of Conservation & Deputy State Director, Audubon California (see comment below), I have been able to clarify that neither the national nor state level Audubon Society has taken an official position on the slaying of the deer.

I have also had the opportunity of speaking with Barbara Salzman, President of the Marin Audubon Society. She confirmed for me that the position announced in support of killing the deer was taken at a local chapter level, not a national or state one. According to Ms. Salzman, this position is not the result of a vote amongst the members of the local chapter, but rather the result of discussion amongst the conservation committee. Ms. Salzman indicated to me that if they had to take the view of all the members into account, they would never be able to reach an official decision.

It is little wonder, then, that Marin Audubon Society members are upset by the committee’s stance. In the words of member Jeanne Emmons Cohn of San Rafael,

“Environmental groups are being lobbied to go along with these deer killings. I implore commissioners to look into alternatives that would prevent annihilation of the whole group of deer.”

In light of the fact that the official position of the Marin Audubon Society is based merely on the decision of their committee, rather than on a democratic vote of their members, I believe it is all the more imperative for dissenting members to speak up and withdraw their support from a group that is not ethically aligned with their own beliefs about the humane treatment of animals.

What you can do
Visit Friends of the White deer at www.fotwd.org to read further about this issue.

If you fund your local Audubon Society chapter, begin a discussion with other members about the inappropriateness of this organization becoming a supporter of inhumane species extermination.

Consider withdrawing your membership and funding from your local Audubon Chapter, and send them a letter explaining that you are doing so because the Marin Audubon Society has ignored local citizens’ request for humane management, not extermination.

If you donate to the National Audubon Society, consider writing to them to explain that you will not be continuing your financial sponsorship of their society because the local chapter of the Marin Audubon Society is supporting species extermination and ignoring local members’ needs.

Please consider writing or emailing the following:

National Audubon Society:
MAIN OFFICE:
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 979-3000
Fax: (212) 979-3188
email: donations@audubon.org

Audubon California
711 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-649-7600
Fax 916-649-7667
Glenn Olson, Executive Director
email: golson@audubon.org

Madrone Audubon Society
PO Box 1911
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
707-546-7492
Sylvan Eidelman, President
email: sylvan_lee@yahoo.com

Napa-Solano Audubon Society
PO Box 5027
Vallejo, CA 94591
Cheryl Harris, President
email: cheryleharris@sbcglobal.net

Marin Audubon Society
48 Ardmore Rd
Larkspur, CA 94939
415-924-6057
Barbara Salzman, President
email: bsalzman@worldnet.att.net

In Conclusion
My husband and I have spent hours amongst these rare and beautiful deer and have come to love them. Our joy in birding, and the reason we run Birding Sonoma County, is founded in a deep love of the natural world and a respect for all life. We are ashamed to see the Marin Audubon Society officially supporting violence and respectfully request that they remember that the society exists because of the interest and activities of citizens at a local level. We believe that the people in the committee which makes policies for the Marin Audubon Society should be guided by a democratic poll of its local members’ positions, not by the decision of a chosen few, and that the tremendous local outcry against the slaying of the deer should be taken into account by any local wildlife-oriented society.

My Mexican Dress - Expressing My Love of Birds

Greetings, Birders!

Today I’d like to share something a bit different with you. To the right, you will see the traditional Mexican Puebla Dress I recently sewed and embroidered. My family owns a beautiful heirloom dress of this kind from Oaxaca, Mexico, but it had become very time-worn over the years. When I couldn’t find a good local source to buy a new dress, I made a careful study of the construction of the original and then wrote out a set of instructions for myself from which I could re-create it. What you see is the results of my labors.

One of the best joys that I know in life comes to me when I am in the company of wild birds. Painting them is an additional happiness, and when I took up my needle and embroidered these soaring Tree Swallows, I felt this same sense of pleasure, wonder, and bliss. I am by no means an expert seamstress, nor an expert needle artist, but I discovered that this simple folk garment was assembled of just 5 easy rectangles, and when it came to embroidering it, I simply let my imagination take flight.

After I’d completed the dress, I realized that I could share what I’d learned with others. As you may know, my husband and I run a web design company, and we set to work creating www.themexicandress.com in order to offer a downloadable illustrated instruction booklet. The response has been simply fantastic, and it is an especial delight to me that people are remarking on the realistic quality of the Tree Swallows. I have loved these brilliant birds all my life, and I must say, I think they’ve been particularly abundant this year in Sonoma County. I wanted my dress to say something about the woman I am, and wild birds symbolize so many of the things that I like best about myself and my life.

If you can sew basic seams, I think you’ll really enjoy making this classic cotton sundress. It is the most comfortable article in my wardrobe, and I love the fact that the roots of this garment go back to 17th century Mexico. Please take a moment to stop by my new website and let me know what you think! Visit www.themexicandress.com.

Purple Finch and House Finch - Learn to tell them apart!

Greetings, Birders!

Today, I’d like to share some tips with you to help you learn to distinguish between the common House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, and the rarer Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus. I’m doing this today because, just last week, my husband and I were lucky enough to see our first ever Purple Finch and it was an unforgettable thrill.

No matter where you live in Sonoma County, chances are, House Finches are a familiar sight to you. These 6″, talkative little birds get their name from their habit of hanging around houses. They build their nests in the eaves of buildings or in trees, and their warbling, liquid song is a constant around the bird feeder. Despite their familiarity, however, House Finches can pose a puzzle for beginning birders who catch sight of a bird with an extreme amount of red on its head and chest. Could this be a Purple Finch?, the birder may wonder. In point of fact, I recently saw an experienced birder remarking on how commonly House Finches are misidentified as Purple Finches. It’s true, many of them do have a tremendous amount of red and the color can be so intense, but if you were to see one standing side by side with a real Purple Finch, you’d instantly observe the difference. That’s why I’ve made the above sketch, and I’ve been very careful with this to show just how different the colors of these two birds are.

The red of the House Finch can best be described as crimson. A real firecracker color. The head and a small portion of the chest are the main tinted areas of this bird, and in shape, he is slender and long. The Purple Finch is actually the same length, but his more compact build gives him a chubbier, sturdier appearance. And when it comes to colors, there is a marked difference.

The best description I’ve heard of the Purple Finch is that he looks ‘dipped in strawberry’. From head to tail, he is an irridescent magenta color that simply glows. Purple may be a misleading description for this bird. When I think of purple, I think of the color of a plum or a violet or a purple gumdrop…not really the jewel-tone magenta of this bird. However, I clearly saw touches of lavender on the backside of the Purple Finch we met last week, so I guess the name will just have to do. Whatever his name, he is enchanting, and I instantly knew I was NOT looking at a House Finch when I saw him perched amid the branches of a leafy, green tree.

Compare the wings of the two birds in my sketch. The House Finch has the dusty brown colors, but the brown of the Purple Finch’s wings has been washed in a watercolor-like infusion of strawberry. The bellies are different as well, with pink tones creeping into the streaking on the Purple and plain brown on the House.

Unlike the House Finch, Purple Finches are not really drawn to human dwellings, preferring wooded areas. Purple Finches prefer to nest high up in conifer trees, and both species lay between 3-5 pale blue eggs. The females of both species are brown and white birds, and the facial markings of the female Purple Finch are more pronounced and defined. The song of the Purple Finch is somewhat like the House Finch’s, but less varied in pitch. Both birds are year-round Sonoma County residents.

Further notes on these fine finches
Perhaps, in certain parts of California, there is a more even distribution of these two species, but you are far more likely to see a House Finch than a Purple Finch in the Bay Area. Somehow, the rarity of the Purple makes it a special treat, but I always give thanks for every House Finch I see at my feeder because of the eye disease that is destroying populations in the east. I can’t imagine a world without these familiar finches, and I sincerely hope that ornithologists can develop a plan to stop the spread of the disease.

Also, of interest to note, you may occasionally see a male House Finch with a tangerine or lemon colored head. My husband and I call these ‘citrus birds’. They are always such a surprise. I recently read an interesting study on this phenomenon in the species that discovered that, while ‘citrus birds’ may be especially appealing to us, they apparently make the least desirable mates as far as female House Finches are concerned. Their broods contain fewer eggs, and when they do have young, they feed them less often than do males with vibrant scarlet heads. So, apparently, if you are a female House Finch, the best husband will be the most crimson one. Interesting stuff!

Where to see the Purple Finch in Sonoma County, CA.
We’re in luck. A valued reader has shared the tip that she is seeing Purple Finches in the Willowside Rd. area of Santa Rosa. This seems like good habitat for them, so you might want to head out there for a look around the creek and neighborhood. We saw our Purple Finch in Marin County, in the parking lot of Heart’s Desire Beach, just a few yards away from the bay. This is a must-see birding spot, full of Osprey (nesting right now), hawks, warblers, vireos, and what seems like 500 Swainson’s Thrushes. Well worth the hour’s drive.

It was a pleasure painting these pretty finches and I hope this little lesson has helped you to feel more confident in making a correct birding identification.

Birding Calaveras County - Pt. 3 of our birding trip

April 27, 2007
Angel’s Camp, California

Well, it’s taken me almost a month to post this third part of our birding trip. Here it is May, and we’ve done so much birding in the past few weeks that my memories might reasonably be less clear of the 3rd and final day of our exploration of Calaveras County, but such is not the case. The first two days of our trip treated us to one wonder after another. Maybe it would have been too good to be true to get yet another fantastic day.

To tell the truth, this last day was a bit of a disappointment. It was so very muggy and hot and if there’s one type of weather I really hate, that’s exactly what it is. We’re coastal people, and though we do get our muggy days in the valleys by the sea, they can’t quite compare to the close, stale feeling of a muggy day further inland. Nevertheless, we did manage to add two new birds to our lifelist, so it’s worth blogging about!

Taking our cues from the only document we could turn up on birding Calaveras County, we decided to head south from Angel’s Camp to the tiny town of Copperopolis. I love that name, and I must report, the soil in this place is actually copper colored. Really neat. The document suggested we head north-west from Copperopolis on Rock Creek Rd. to the Salt Springs Reservoir. The heat, the lack of road signs and the fact that Salt Springs Reservoir, at the end of a long road, turned out to look rather like a hole in the ground with virtually no trees around it and would have cost $15 to get into didn’t win our birding seal of approval. However, if you want to add the Western Kingbird and the Tri-colored Blackbird to your lifelist, Rock Springs Road is the place to go.

The Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis was one of the birds on our wishlist for this area, and he obliged us by immediately appearing as soon as we entered the pastureland on this road, with it’s golden weedy field and old wire fences. We were thrilled, pulled over and hopped out of the car for a better look. The smoke blue/grey head and pale yellow belly of this wild bird look powdery soft. You’d like to touch him, but the birds we saw were fairly shy. Notice his unique, stubby little bill and his large, pretty eye. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Western Kingbird are the pencil-thin white lines along the outer edges of the tail, particularly visible in flight.

With his delicate hues and unusual form of body, you can imagine this bird being at home in South America during the winter. In the summer, the Western Kingbird is present throughout all of California except…and this is why seeing him was so great…along the coastline. Western Kingbirds are sometimes reported in these areas because they are migrating through, but for Sonoma County residents, your best chance is to head east to check this bird off your list.

There must have been at least several hundred of these birds along the fences in this area, and we got to hear their interesting pidik pik pidik peekado calls. It was a real privilege to finally see one for ourselves, and though they may be a daily sight to locals, to us, they were simply lovely.

Reason #2 to check out Rock Springs Rd. is the Tri-colored Blackbird. He is of about the same size as the kingbird (an average of about 8 3/4″ from beak to tail), and if you weren’t keeping a sharp lookout, you might drive by these birds on the assumption that you are seeing the common Red-winged Blackbird, but to me, the two birds were different enough that I shouted for my husband to halt the car again for a good look.

Both kinds of blackbirds are listed as being year-round residents of both western and central California. It’s likely all of us have seen them many times. But on this trip, my eyes were so attuned to anything with wings that a group of Tri-colored blackbirds we saw really confirmed the differences for us. You have to look at the wing patch, and here is where people get confused.

On the common Red-winged Blackbird, you will see a stripe of vivid scarlet, and under it, a slimmer stripe of vibrant yellow. Yes, I know that makes this bird tri-colored, but sometimes ornithologists don’t seem to have the sense they should. Now, on the Tri-colored blackbird, you will see a small patch of dusty, muddy red with a wider stripe below it of pale yellow or cream. That’s the big difference. The color of the Red-wing’s wing badges is extremely bold. The Tri-color’s badges are duller and, to me, have a somewhat blurry appearance. I should note here that we do have one other kind of blackbird - the Bi-colored who lacks the yellow/cream stripe on his wings.

The Tri-colored Blackbird, Agelaius tricolor is a bird that out-of-state birders come all the way to California to see. We are extremely lucky to live where they do, and if you are in the Calaveras County region, head over to the Copperopolis, Rock Springs Rd. area for a very good chance to view this bird for yourself.

These were the highlights of the day for us. After this, we headed south of Copperopolis to the Tulloch Reservoir where, frankly, the only good thing we saw was an Osprey nesting on a telephone pole. I’m betting that natives have secret paths to get down to this incredibly large lake that could yield some decent birding. My huge dream was to see a Phainopepla which is listed as being there, but when we got to the North Shore, the only access to the lake appeared to be through a motel with a boat dock. We then wended our way on what seemed like an endless road to the South Shore, and the lake here looked kind of bleak…a place for people with loud boats, not quiet birders with binoculars. Again, this was a fee-charging recreation center, and not the natural environment we’d hoped for.

You have your stunning days and your blah days in birding. That’s just how it goes. We added 6 new birds to our lifelist in a 3 day trip…something to be incredibly excited about. This exploration also taught me something I want to pass on to Sonoma County birders. If you are planning a birding trip to the Calaveras County area, you are likely to have the best experience by sticking to the forests and the high country. I think the lakes and open places we have here at home are, in a word, better than what you’ll find in Calaveras. But what they do have there that we don’t have here are the high mountains and the sequoia forest that makes for breath-taking, heart-thumping birding.

Big Trees State Park and the portion of Hwy 4 between the park and Bear Valley is one of the most uplifting, aweing stretches of road in California. We can recommend it to you with all our hearts!

Read Part 1 of our Calaveras County Birding Exploration
Read Part 2 of our Calaveras County Birding Exploration.

Birding Willowside Creek, Santa Rosa. See Black-headed Grosbeak!

Greetings!
A few days ago, we posted our bird alert that the Bullock’s Orioles have arrived in the Bay Area and that we’d spotted our first at the creek on Willowside Rd. Willowside Rd. deserves a post of its own for anyone who doesn’t know about one of Sonoma County’s best birding spots. Read on to learn about this special riparian habitat, and meet the newest bird on our lifelist:

The Black-headed Grosbeak

Up until last week, we could only dream of seeing this unusual summer migrant with his distinctive fat beak. He might remind you a little of an oriole, a little of a Spotted Towhee, or even a parrot, but his shape, song and color are truly one-of-a-kind in our local birding world. Notice that large head, and the pattern of white-speckled black wings, black hood, ruddy neck and underparts and the glowing yellow spot on the belly. His eye is large and intelligent.

His song is reminscent of the complex whistle of the American Robin, but a little faster and higher pitched. He is usually solitary, keeping to the upper levels of trees, where he feeds on insects, fruit and seeds. This is exactly where we spotted our very first Black-headed Grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalus at Willowside Creek, perched at the top of an oak tree, filling the creek bed with his song.

Now is the time to visit Willowside Creek to look for this delightful, bright wild bird who winters in Central and South America and is only with us in the Western United States during the warm months. He measures 6 1/2″ - 8 1/2″ from his fat beak to his pretty tail. Black-headed Grosbeaks build scrubby, shallow nests in trees and high shrubs and lay 3-5 pale blue, spotted eggs. Look for these birds in any riparian habitat during the next few months.

Birding Willowside Creek
My husband has made a helpful map to give you directions to Willowside Creek, which is located in the westside of Santa Rosa, CA. In recent times, considerable efforts have been made to begin restoring the habitat in this precious area. There are 4 paths flanking the creek. Our particular favorite is the path on the left, heading west, if you are driving north on Willowside Rd.
On this path, during the past year or so, we have seen:

Bullock’s Oriole
Black-headed Grosbeak
Swainson’s Thrush
Song Sparrow
Bushtit
Oak Titmouse
American Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-tailed Hawk
Dark-eyed Junco
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Downy Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Black Phoebe
And more….

The first time we visited this creek, herons and egrets were passing over the corridor in astonishing numbers. About 1 bird every 3 minutes. We also went crazy trying to locate Swainson’s Thrush whose electronic, metallic song is, perhaps, the most astonishing in Sonoma County. It is likely that other migratory warblers can be seen here, and there are reports of both Yellow-breasted Chats, Western Tanagers and various flycatchers here.

Willowside Rd. is truly a remarkable spot, rich with birdlife, and well worth a visit.

*Do be advised that there is a pretty big mosquito issue here, and sadly, vector reports indicate that several birds have been collected from this spot that were infected with West Nile Virus. Chances are, you will be safest birding very early in the morning, wearing full-coverage clothing and insect repellant. We also suggest that you bird this area with a friend, rather than alone, as there is some evidence of people residing in the creek.

Bay Area Bird Alert - Bullock’s Oriole!

I’ve been waiting to say this ever since we launched the Birding Sonoma County blog:

THE ORIOLES ARE HERE! THE ORIOLES ARE HERE! THE ORIOLES ARE HERE!

Above you will see my sketch in praise of what is, without a doubt, one of the most opulent, splendiferous birds we ever see in Sonoma County and the greater San Francisco Bay Area: Bullock’s Oriole. I wait for the coming of this wild bird as I imagine my ancestors awaited the coming of spring sunshine. The merest glimpse of Bullock’s Oriole is, to me, like taking a bite out of the perfect mandarin orange.

Measuring some 8″-9″ from beak to tail, Bullock’s Oriole, Icterus bullockii, presents a unique pattern of black beard, cap and eyestripe against the glowing orange of his eyebrow and cheek. The orange then continues over the front of the bird, generally turning more yellowish toward the belly. Fully adult male birds are the most vibrant, with juvenile males being more of a deep yellow, and females being paler yellow and grey. Note the brilliant white wing bars and strong, pointed beak. I love the excellent justice in the fact that just shortly after we have lost our halloween-colored winter Varied Thrushes, Bullock’s Orioles arrive from Central and South America to light up the spring with their gem-like hues.

Where to See Bullock’s Orioles
Any place in the SF Bay Area that features a combination of deciduous trees, brushy growth and open space may potentially be hosting these birds for the warm season as they glean fruit, nectar and caterpillars. Fortunately, I can be even more specific than this. If you want to see Bullock’s Orioles, go to the creek on Willowside Road in Santa Rosa, CA. between the end of April - June. They are there right now (May 4th, 2007). We saw a fabulous male perched in the willow and oak growth along the path beyond the west entrance to the creek.

Last year, we had our greatest ever oriole experience in this same spot. A flock of 20 or more birds made the creekside come to life with dazzling color, right above our heads. Amazing! Listen for their long rich series of whistles that sound like jazz or classical music, depending upon the bird you tune into. They also give off short, blackbird-like calls.

And, speaking of blackbirds, did you know that orioles and blackbirds are relations in the Icterids family? Your first thought might rightly be, “but orioles are so vivid and blackbirds are so plain.” Let me start to make the relationship clearer by pointing you to this photo of a Yellow-headed blackbird, which winters in the Central Valley of California. Compare that with our Bullock’s Oriole, above. Are you starting to see some similarities of that glossy black + brilliant color combination? Orioles come in black combined with orange, yellow and red. Blackbirds come in black combined with orange, yellow and red. The overall shapes of the two kinds of birds, right down to their beaks are quite similar. If we Bay Area residents think of orioles as astonishing and blackbirds as plain, this is because the blackbirds we see here (Brewer’s, Red-winged and Tri-Colored) are rather subdued compared to other species in their family. Believe me, the Scarlet-headed blackbird of South America would knock your socks off! All in all, the Icterids group represents some of the world’s most colorful wild birds.

Further Notes on the Bullock’s Oriole
This bird is also sometimes referred to as the Northern Oriole but this name encompasses both Bullock’s and the eastern Baltimore Oriole, which looks similar but has an entirely black head. The two birds frequently hybridize. 3-6 streaked, white eggs are laid in a finely-woven basket, often near water. Look for them both in low brush and up in trees.

Our other visiting oriole is the Hooded Oriole, Icterus cucullatus which looks comparable to Bullock’s with it’s black beard, but lacks the eye stripe and cap. On rare occasions, Scott’s Oriole and the Orchard Oriole have been spotted in the North Bay.

Now is the time to get out there and look for Bullock’s Oriole - a bird of surpassing splendour!

Birds of Arnold, Bear Valley, California - Pt. 2 of our Birding Trip

April 26, 2007
Angel’s Camp, CA.

The call of Hwy 4 proved too strong to ignore, so we again made our way northeast from Angel’s Camp to this enchanted road with its rich birding habitats. Our first stop: White Pines Lake and Community Park. This interesting little place is located just a mile or so to the north of the town of Arnold. Willows, oaks, and evergreens encircle the lake which is, for Sonoma County locals, a bit larger in size than, say, Lake Ralphine in Howarth Park. There are picnic tables and a good path here. I don’t know how populous this park gets on weekends, but our mid-week visit showed us a quiet, peaceful place with only a few fishermen out on the water.

Today was lovely and sunny, reaching about 75 degrees by mid-afternoon, and something made us feel that the willowy habitat might yield some exciting birds. Bullock’s Northern Oriole was the first super sighting. A really vibrant male was perched in a willow just beside the water. This was our first oriole of the year, and it’s funny that we’ve been so eagerly waiting to see one at home so I could post a bird alert about the orioles having arrived, but here we’ve gone and seen the bird at the other side of California! Never fear, I’m sure the orioles must have reached Sonoma County by now, and I will definitely be posting a complete post about them once we have a sighting at home.

While I was honing in on this fiery bird with my binoculars, my husband kept trying to draw my attention to a second bird he was seeing a few trees over. His description made me think it must be the female oriole, but I couldn’t manage to see it with my own eyes, and bird sightings don’t count unless we can confirm what one another are seeing. There were abundant Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds here. In point of fact, I’d say all of Calaveras County is peppered with these two species in really remarkable abundance. They appear to be everywhere we go and their songs fill the air from before dawn until sunset. Mallard ducks were out on the lake and also waddling in a small stream that runs parallel to the lake path near the parking lot.

We saw an unidentified sparrow much to our chagrin, but few birds can be harder to confirm than stripey brown sparrows flitting for a brief second through dense foliage. We sat down for lunch when we were hungry. As with yesterday, we were joined by Brewer’s Blackbirds and a pair of Stellar’s Jays, but these birds are not as used to people as the birds in Big Trees State Park.

I had just gotten a few bites deep into a pasta salad when a call from the willows made me drop my fork like a hot potato. Sweet sweet sweet little more sweeeet This unusual snippet of birdsong rang a bell in my mind, and as we abandoned our picnic to locate the source of the song, I managed to get my memories in order. I knew that a warbler makes that call, but I couldn’t remember which one. The bird calls we’ve listened to over and over again on the DVD published by John Feith - Birds, Birds, Birds - was what was coming to my mind as I tried to collect my thoughts. And then we saw him. There in the brush, more yellow than your symbolic idea of a canary, and with the faint striping on his breast was the Yellow Warbler!

We’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, and I wish it could have lasted for hours, but I’m afraid we flushed the stunning little bird and we didn’t get a second chance to admire him. The Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia is the only overall yellow warbler in North America. Though this bird puts in appearances through most of the United States in the warm season of the year, we had never been lucky enough, to date, to see him in Sonoma County. Now we can say, with relish, that he is an unforgettable, unique bird. It is such a thrill to add him to our lifelist, and this sighting will always earmark White Pines Lake as a special place for us.

Continuing to wend our way up Hwy 4, we couldn’t help stopping in again at Big Trees State Park. Today’s visit just goes to show how much luck is involved in birding. Yesterday, the forest was a tapestry of tree clinging birds. Today, our only sighting was a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers, high up in the evergreens. We could hear Red-breasted Nuthatches in the distance, and the charming Chickarees were everywhere, but the woods were like a completely different place today. Where were all the birds? Resting? Called away on business in another part of the forest? Who can say? We only stayed for a short time, before getting in our car again and continuing northeast on Hwy 4.

Unfortunately, Calaveras County birding simply isn’t documented as well as it could be. We were only able to find two websites on the subject, each containing a couple of pages of general information, but this was enough to go on to let us know we might be in for some treats if we headed up toward Bear Valley. Just past Vista Point, with its awesome view of the snow-capped Sierras, the sight of some finches (unidentified) clustered on a rocky place at the roadside was enough to make us stop the car again to see what we could see. Good idea.

Mountain Chickadees were such a welcome sight here. We first identified this species in 2006 in Yosemite, and it was awfully nice to see them again. In Sonoma County, we have the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and these also live in Calaveras County, but the Mountain Chickadee loves altitude and you won’t see him back home. Two unique features set him apart from the Chestnut-backed Chickadee. The back is a soft grey, not russet, and he has a white eyebrow that is completely unique in the North American Chickadee kingdom. The Mountain Chickadee, Poecile gambeli, is listed as being about half an inch larger than the 4 3/4″ Chestnut-backed in my Sibley Guide. I don’t know if I can agree. The chestnuts are constant visitors at my feeders at home, and they strike me as the larger and leaner of the two birds. I could be wrong about this, but feel its worth it to mention this observation.

White-headed Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers were diving amongst the conifers, but we had moment of birding agony in this little roadside spot. We saw a bird that I believe was Williamson’s Sapsucker. A good-sized woodpecker-like bird gave us a breathtaking glimpse of his yellow belly, and I believe his head and back were predominantly black, but we just can’t be sure. The bird could potentially have been a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker or the very similar Red-naped Sapsucker. We just didn’t see the bird’s head well enough and, because of this, couldn’t make a positive identification. Nothing drives us as crazy as moments like this, seeing a bird we’ll almost certainly never see at home, but not getting a clear enough view of it to register its wonderful name on our lifelist. I can only say about this…GRRRR! I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering who that bird was.

Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warblers were catching insects by skimming just inches above the road. We’d never seen them do this before. A chipmunk darted out from under a bush for a moment, was completely startled to see us, and hurried back under cover. From somewhere lower in the valley, the continuo of Red-breasted Nuthatch song played on. I could gladly have spent several hours in this spot which seemed so rich in bird life, but the sun was starting to sink and we wanted to make it to Bear Valley before it got much later.

Bear Valley is a skiing resort, and even now at the end of April, the snow was lying pretty thick everywhere but on the surface of the road. Two huge wooden bears guard the entrance to the lodge on the lefthand side, and on the right, there was a very large white meadow and a mirror-like lake with Canada Geese floating on it. Brewer’s Blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins seemed to be having no problems with the snow or the 7000+ ft. altitude, but other than this, Bear Valley was a little like a ghost town because the skiing season has ended.

We felt a million miles away from everything up there, a little lightheaded from the thin atmosphere, and amazed to be standing in the midst of so much snow without feeling even remotely compelled to put on coats. The warm, glistening surroundings were simply beautiful. We would have liked to have continued on the road to Lake Alpine, to get to know the birds of Alpine County, but there were warnings about a pass being closed, and though our little compact car has done just fine up to this point of our exploration, we have no illusions about the fact that we are not piloting a 4 wheeler. Coming back down the highway, into the setting sun, a beautiful, golden-red coyote gazed out at us from the shadow of the pines. Bats flitted across our horizon and our heads began to clear a little as we came back down to our customary altitude. One new bird for our lifelist, and another unforgettable day for us here in Calaveras County.

Go to Part 3 of our Calaveras County Birding Trip Report

Birding Calaveras County, California - Big Trees State Park

April 25, 2007
Angel’s Camp, California

I’m writing this blog post from the resort where we’re staying in Calaveras County, all the way across the state of California from our beloved Sonoma County. This is one of the rare, priceless opportunities we have once in a great while to go on a little exploration, birding farther afield, and our first day here has proven to be one of the greatest events in our birding career.

Today’s destination: Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

We had a funny combination of weather conditions this morning, with snow left on the ground at the sides of the road from last weekend, but a warm, sunny sky overhead. As you head east along Hwy. 4 through the towns of Murphys and Arnold, the conifers get thicker and thicker. The air smells incredibly good, and just a couple of miles past Arnold, you arrive at the main entrance to the state park. We headed first to the North Grove near the visitor center and you quickly understand why this place is the pride of the county and a major tourist destination. In addition to the ponderosa pines, sugar pines, incense cedars and white fir, the giant sequoias reach heights of up to 325 ft. and can be up to 33 ft. in diameter. There is something so special about this forest.

It has a completely different feeling than the coast redwood forests we know in Sonoma County. The whole atmosphere seems brighter, airier, more open and ventilated here in Big Trees, and appropriately, the first inhabitant of the woodland you meet is the creature John Muir credited as the cause of the forest - the Douglas Squirrel.

I have to say, with the possible exception of the Alpine Chipmunk, you will never meet a more darling furry animal than the Douglas Squirrel, also called the Chickaree. John Muir did an excellent and entertaining study of them over a century ago and explained how the pinecone-storing seed-scattering habits of the Chickaree have conjured up and maintained the vast forest of the Sierras. He is both far smaller and quicker than the familiar California Grey Squirrel we know at home and he ricochets from trunk to trunk in the forest like a pinball. The forest floor can suddenly come alive with half a dozen of them, speeding over the ground and suddenly stopping to make their bird-like trills, their little dog-like barks and a host of other unexpected sounds. They play lead in the musical arrangement of Big Trees.

We were a little disgruntled that our arrival in the woods corresponded with some park rangers cutting down one of the trees. The ugly sound of chainsaws hardly created a feeling of repose, and my husband and I nearly jumped out of our shoes when the tree hit the ground, shaking the entire forest with a boom that hurt my ears. I don’t know if the tree was sick, perhaps in danger of falling over, but I was sad about its demise. It is believed that some of the giant sequoias in the park are more than 2000 years old.

Eventually the rangers left, and the forest made that odd shift that forests do when loud people leave. It seemed to become quiet, but really, it’s more like a top level of distraction disappears so that all of the lower levels of sounds can begin to be heard.

We were incredibly hungry and began our picnic at one of the tables. In moments, I could see we were being watched, and a falling potato chip brought in a Stellar’s Jay…then 2…then a dozen or more. They were gorgeous-looking individuals with deep blue coloring and very clear blue stripes on their foreheads. I have never seen such strong markings on the Stellar’s Jays at home. They were accompanied by a brave and noisy group of Brewer’s Blackbirds. Big Trees is a beautifully clean, litter-free place. Now I know the compliments for this should go to the jays and blackbirds…not the forest rangers!

We were having a pretty jolly time with these guests perching everywhere except inside our cooler when a flash of approaching movement caught our eyes. A pair of birds had swooped into range, disappearing somewhere in the treetops.

“It’s…it’s the White-headed Woodpecker”, I gasped under my breath, hardly able to believe it.

I will now publicly call my husband to task for doubting my word and suggesting it was probably tried-and-true Acorn Woodpeckers.

“No,” I was adamant, and we leapt up in the middle of our picnic and stole as soundlessly as we could toward where I felt the birds had landed.

In just seconds, we found ourselves face to face with a bird we didn’t know whether we would ever get to see. You could have knocked us over with a White-headed Woodpecker feather!

That snow-white head, accented with red toward the back, the black body with a streak of white on the shoulder, and the smart black eyes fixed on us. 15 yards away, his wife had found her own tree, but first we just stood by the male, scarcely able to believe this dream was coming true for us.

My husband wants me to make sure to take the Audubon Society publicly to task as well here, because the western bird guide clearly states that this is an uncommon bird that is difficult to see because it is so silent. No so! It may be that the writer of that entry observed these birds at a different time of year or in a habitat where humans aren’t quite so common, but not only did these birds continue to appear everywhere we walked today in the park, in plain view, they flew within inches of our faces and made quite a lot of noise. Squeak-a-squeak-a-squeak-a-squeak mated pairs greeted each other after foraging separately, fanning out their wings as they would alight on the same trunk. They seemed so joyous! And we also heard the staccato bud-up call that sounds identical to the very beginning of Nuttall’s Woodpecker’s bud-up…budda-budda-budda-budda.

The White-headed Woodpecker, Picoides albolarvatus, measures some 9″-10″ from tip to tail and is a year-round resident of Calaveras County. The female lacks the red cap of the male, and the birds excavate a nesting hole in a pine where they lay 3-5 white eggs. Their facial markings call to my mind the White-breasted Nuthatch, with that striking division of black and white.

It was, simply put, a defining moment in our lives as birders to spend the afternoon in the presence of these unique woodpeckers, rare or not. They do not live in our own neck of the woods, and if you ever possibly can manage it, a visit to their home in Big Trees State Park will be well worth the effort. I am including here our absolutely pitiful photo of the White-headed Woodpecker as a record of our sighting. One day, we will own a real, zooming, digital camera that is meant for photographing birds. If any generous-minded benefactors are reading this and have a spare in their arsenal, we’d love receiving a donation of such a camera, to better document our birding explorations. Until then, it’s photos that look like we’re trying to pull off a woodpecker hoax, and my trusty paintbrush and palette.

You’d think adding this one, new, magnificent bird to our lifelist would be more than enough of a thrill for a single day. Yet, just down the path from where we first saw the White-headed Woodpecker, we came upon a wonderful pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches. I was so excited about this, as it is the White-breasted Nuthatch which seems much more common at home. I have to say, I don’t think the photo in my Audubon guide quite captures the charm of the Red-breasted Nuthatch, and even the talented David Allen Sibley falls a little short somehow. The living bird has such a bright spirit, such an active nature and we so enjoyed watching this pair scaling the trunk of a tree, picking at the bark, making industrious little pik remarks to one another as they worked. And, all day long, we heard the more prominent, monotonous mah mah mah mah mah of this species drifting through the woods.

It’s interesting to mention here that this is the bird whose call skeptics have suggested that searchers are mistaking for that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I agree that there is a similar nasal quality in the sound I listened to all day today, but the individual notes and the overall pattern of notes are nothing like the recordings I’ve heard of Ivory-bills from the 1930’s.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis measures some 4 1/2″ in total and is a year-round resident of both Calaveras County and Sonoma County. They lay 4-6 brown-spotted eggs in an excavated tree cavity.

We were just absorbing the happiness of the active, sylvan nuthatches when we flushed
tree-clinging-bird #3 up from a fallen log on the ground. There was something about the glimpse we got as the bird took off that made us feel it wasn’t anyone we knew. After just a moment of searching, we relocated it perched above us on a tree trunk, but our brains were kind of scrambling at this point because of the overload of amazing woodpeckers. Then we saw the back, and that big, fluffy white spot and we knew we were at last looking at the Hairy Woodpecker with our own eyes.

We have often worried about how we would distinguish the Downy Woodpecker from the Hairy Woodpecker. Most bird guides depict two, nearly-identical looking birds with those distinct marshmallow-like spots on their backs and leave you to base identification between the two birds on size alone.

We’ve become very good friends with Downy Woodpeckers in our neighborhood over the past year or so, and because the are so tiny (only about 6″-7″) we became confident in identifying them as Downy and not Hairy, despite the confusing resemblance.

Well, our doubts about our identification skills really were allayed today as we spent time with a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers in Big Trees State Park. For one thing, their red crests were not at all red. I really want to research this better, because the birds we saw had peachy-coral crests of a most unusual tone. Were they young birds? We don’t know, but this was such a distinctive feature. They also simply looked ‘bigger’ in every way than our friends the Downy Woodpeckers. They were comparable in size to the 9″-10″ range of the White-headed Woodpeckers we saw…perhaps just a little bit bigger, in fact, and we watched with awe as one of them took an enormous piece of bark off a tree and let it fall.

Like the White-headed Woodpeckers, this mated pair greeted each other with a burst of loud, rapid notes. Like most woodpeckers, they nest in excavated holes and lay 3-5 white eggs. The Hairy Woodpecker, Picoides villosus lives both here and at home in Sonoma County year round, but this was our first ever sighting of one and only made our day all the more incredible.

In addition to the above birds, I saw the biggest, most robust looking Brown Creeper I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if our Pacific coast birds are by nature smaller or more, well, sleepy-looking, but the bird I saw today looked so alert, well-plumed and busy. His feathers were lovely, with a very visible rusty tinge around the base of the tail. I must devote a full post to this unique little bird one day, and I was very glad to see he has a place in what had come to seem like Woodpecker heaven to us.

Not surprisingly, Audubon’s Yellow-Rumped Warblers were on hand. They love to follow woodpeckers around to glean from their excavated leavings as we learned this winter by observing their interaction with our resident Red-breasted Sapsucker. There were also numerous American Robins in the forest.

It was hard to leave the North Grove, and I confess, we were almost in a state of listlessness after spending hours swimming in a sea of tree-clinging birds, but we eventually got back in the car and headed up the Beaver Creek trail toward the South Grove.

The forest was further brightened by the big green and white blossoms of Pacific Dogwoods - a lovely sight. This road crosses the Stanislaus River and we got out for a look at the rushing, loud water. Over the din came the sound that Sibley so accurately describes as a cascading series of clear whistles, falling and slowing, ending with nasal hissing notes. Thanks to my birding binoculars, I found myself catching sight of the Canyon Wren, down on the rocky bank below the bridge. I love wrens, but never dared to dream I’d be lucky enough to see this one. They do not live in Sonoma County, but are year-round residents here and their beautiful white throat, grey head and speckled russet body are unmistakable. I wish we’d had a longer look before the bird flew away under the bridge, but I was really thrilled by even a brief glimpse.

The Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus measures about 5 3/4″ and has a very long bill. They are considered an uncommon bird and their preferred habitat is sheer cliffs and rocky places, often near water. They build their small nests in the crevices of rocks and lay 4-6 white eggs.

We also spotted a Hermit Thrush making a bird bath of an indentation in a rock by the river, and two amusing ground squirrels having a tremendous battle. We continued on up the road to see the scenic overlook where snow is still cresting the distant Sierras. This looked like excellent habitat for raptors, but we didn’t see anything. It was so quiet up there on the mountain, apart from the eternal call of a Red-breasted Nuthatch counting off the alpine seconds from the branches of an evergreen.

I am falling asleep as I write this. I’ve gotten more oxygen and exercise in one day here than I normally do in a week back home, and I can hardly imagine what we’ll see tomorrow. In my heart, I have a little list of special birds I would love to see in this unique corner of California, but I won’t write them down due to some sense of superstition. If the birds want me to see them, they will let me know.

Read Part 2 of our Calaveras County Bird Trip Report.