There was news of a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
at Santa Ana, so we decided to head down there this morning and do the “big
hike”, since the spot where the owl was seen was a ways down Willow Lake
Trail. But as we unloaded our gear in
the parking lot, the bird of the day so far as rarity goes was calling from a
Sabal Palm on an “island” behind us: a
Winter Wren! Thankfully he gave a brief
but identifiable look, and I was able to record his call, so we were able to
get some kind of documentation!
Headed out on the Willow Lake Trail after
checking in with Ranger Raul and getting last minute directions (although we
had heard rumors that so many people had gone out there Thanksgiving Day to
find the bird that it probably moved on).
Things were fairly quiet, and while we did run into feeding flocks here
and there, most things only gave fleeting looks (if any at all), but we managed
to add titmice, kinglets, gnatcatchers, Orange-crowned Warblers, a pair of
Altamira Orioles, and even a Pine Warbler and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker to the
day list. At the big culvert we got our
first view of the gang of ducks – mostly Gadwall, but with a few Pintail and
Coots. We found the spot where the owl
had been seen, but couldn’t find a hint of him, not surprisingly. A Lincoln’s Sparrow popped up for us as a
consolation prize, a buffy-looking Indigo Bunting posed briefly on a slender
twig, and White-fronted Geese cackled unseen in the distance.
Mike along the Willow Lakes Trail
Skulky Lincoln's Sparrow
We made the whole loop (which I hadn’t
done in years), and enjoyed the new overlook they had recently built, where we
added a Lesser Yellowlegs, two soaring Anhingas, and an Osprey to the
list! A pair of Belted Kingfishers were
rattling and chasing each other, but never settled down. We came to the turnoff to the bird blind and
decided to check it out, but not before a Beardless Tyrannulet started calling right in front of us, and neither of us
could spot him! L He
eventually went off into the sunset…
View from the Willow Lake Overlook
The bird blind didn’t even have a water
feature going, so we headed to the Tree Tower in hopes of spotting a
Hook-billed Kite. Discovered that Justin
(who sometimes guides for us) and Stephanie were already up there, but they’d
had nothing but a Harris’ Hawk show itself.
I think we found the same bird, but after 15 minutes nothing even close
to a kite showed itself, so we headed back down the staircase and continued on
to Pintail Lakes.
That was much more
productive! We found several species of
waterfowl, including a nice male Canvasback and a female Bufflehead! Some stilts and a Least Sandpiper were in a
little mucky pond, but over in the far ponds we hit the jackpot: Mike’s beloved Vermilion Flycatchers were
putting on a show, two little males having a dogfight right in front of
us! We finally got into a position when
one of them perched in wonderful light right in front of us, and it wasn’t long
after that when the male Green Kingfisher we were tracking decided to blast in
and perch on the same little branch!
What a show! The young Harris’
Hawk was almost a yawn! J
Resting on a bench we were able to enjoy the many dragonflies: a nice Roseate Skimmer posed in front of us,
and Mike spotted a pair of Wandering Gliders flying “in the wheel” (usually I
only see them in tandem)!
Mile scopes Pintail Lakes while a dragonfly buzzes nearby
Canvasback
Distant female Bufflehead
Vermilion Flycatcher
Perky Green Kingfisher
Roseate Skimmer
We trudged back, scaring up a pair of Inca
Doves on the way, then decided to try for the Burrowing Owls on Border Road, in
the ag area just north of the refuge (which is actually my Santa Ana Christmas
Bird Count territory). We went up Tower
Road and then came back down Border so that the owls would be on Mike’s side of
the car, but we went slow anyway in order to pick up anything else that might
be around. A pair of Northern Harriers
was new for him (especially since the split of Hen and Northern Harriers), and
occasionally a little Savannah Sparrow would pop up. We passed many workers in the fields, and
along with them many Kestrels on the wires, and even a hapless Ribbon Snake that had lost an encounter with a vehicle!
Coming down Border Mike actually spotted one of the owls in a hidey
hole, but the bird flew before he could get a good look, then hunkered down
behind the berm, never to be seen again.
Road-killed Ribbon Snake
Female American Kestrel
Loggerhead Shrike
So from there we decided to go into town
to get something to eat, then check out San Juan Wetlands. The place was closed, surprisingly, so it was
decision time: try for the owl again or
head over to Donna Reservoir to close out the day. Mike suggested the owl, and I’m glad we did
that, as we headed down Stewart and then cut over on Dicker to the dirt
portion, and just past Tower I heard a Sedge Wren calling in the grassy
field! We stopped to try and call it
out, and Mike spotted a hovering White-tailed Kite in the process! The wren never did come out (although it
called several times), so we headed on.
We crossed a canal that had both a Great
Egret and Tricolored Heron on a big pipe, and at the next furrowed field a
little guy popped up next to the car and back down again; at first I thought it
was a meadowlark, but as I backed up and got even with it, I was elated to see that
it was a Sprague’s Pipit! I practically
shanghaied Mike’s camera from him as he never would have been able to get a
picture from his angle, so he enjoyed the bird while I snapped pictures for
him! We finally reached Border and
headed north – nothing. Turned around
and headed south and continued past Dicker, and I was getting ready to make
another run when Mike hissed, “Stop!” A
lump of mud morphed into the Burrowing Owl sitting right on top of the berm! And this time he stayed put! What a cute little guy!
Tricolored Heron
Sprague's Pipit
Burrowing Owl
Yet another Kestrel
Continuing on I made a right on Las Milpas
(Mike got a laugh out of my assurances that it was a “real road” as it looked
more like an unmarked mud track across the field), and we didn’t go far before
a flock of American Pipits bounced over and landed next to us! Thankfully we got scope views as there was a
lot of vegetation in the furrows these guys were poking around in!
It was time to head home after that, but
we didn’t do bad with 79 species for the day!
(Mike spotted a White-tipped Dove that I missed…) Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Greater White-fronted Goose
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Burrowing Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Pine Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
79 SPECIES
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