Gaby
had contacted me with a very specific wish list, but after making up the
itinerary and then discovering that his “lifers” were only countable if
photographed, I made a command decision to head up to Salineño for the feeder
show! Many of his “wants” were regular
visitors to the feeders, and even one that I initially gave him very little
hope of seeing, the Red-billed Pigeon, was being recently reported, so there
was hope! On the way there we had a
lovely Harris’ Hawk that posed for photos (my camera was still in the back,
naturally L), so one new one was in the bag!
We
headed to the feeders first, which uncharacteristically were dead quiet, but
Glenn the Volunteer told us that the Sharp-shinned Hawk had just made a pass,
so we would have to wait! Generally all
the target birds would come in within an hour, but this day we’d end up waiting
until noon, and even so the target Olive Sparrow never came in to his regular
spot but made a quick pass way in the back area! Baldy the Audubon’s Oriole finally came in
(along with his wife), and photo ops of the regular culprits abounded,
including the Clay-colored Thrush, the Long-billed Thrasher, and the
Chachalacas (Altamira Oriole and White-tipped Doves were additional targets
that performed well), but the coveted Bobwhite never came in.
The Red-winged Blackbirds tend to hog the place...
...but everyone's happy to spot "Patch", the leucistic Redwing!
Male Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Male Altamira Orioles
Females are slightly duller...
...while the immature is duller still with a green back!
Cardinal
"Whadda YOU lookin' at?!"
Female Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Male Golden-fronted Woodpeckers
Perky Black-crested Titmouse
White-tipped Doves
Clay-colored Thrushes
Orange-crowned Warbler
Long-billed Thrasher
"Mrs. Baldy" (the female Audubon's) always comes in first...
...followed by "Mr. Baldy"!
Red Admiral (token butter)
We finally headed down to the trail, but the
Red-billed Pigeons “were there earlier” according to some, and of course
nowhere to be found on our trek (the group before us admitted they were glad we
didn’t see them, else they’d have to
schlep all the way back down…)! While heading
up the trail Gaby went to examine a bush J and inadvertently
flushed his Bobwhite! Of course there
was no way he could have photographed them, so they didn’t go on his list… We went up the side road to try for the
Cassin’s Sparrow that had shown for Julie and Richard, but it wasn’t to
be… We did hear a Ringed Kingfisher that Tovi (his wife) wanted to see,
but it was hidden across the river and we never could find it… Something landed on a twig that did not look like the Rough-winged Swallows
that were also swooping and landing; it was pretty far away, and the poor photo
I got suggested a female Vermilion Flycatcher (it wasn’t a seedeater at any rate…).
We run into another birder along the Seedeater Trail
We
overheard some people at the feeders talking about a parakeet colony in Roma,
so since we were going there for lunch anyway we decided to swing by the Roma
Bluffs area with the windows down, but as I suspected, no parakeets were to be
found. We did finally find the Subway, however J, and had a great
lunch (I had soup for a change)!
I
was originally planning on taking my charges up Sparrow Road after that, but
after a little interrogation, we realized he didn’t need Black-throated Sparrow
after all, so seeing as it was warming up, I was beginning to think that an
early morning run up Brushline Road might be better for those open-country
birds he wanted (it’s a little tougher when the goal is to get a picture, not
just see the bird, much less just hear it). But as we bantered about what would be doable
in the rising heat, we finally settled on trying for the Sprague’s Pipit at
Anzalduas (which was his one and only potential target there). We added some ducks to the day list on the
way there (both in that pond near the Vet Cemetery and along the spillway
wetland), and sharp-eyed Tovi spotted a Harrier on the entrance road! After parking we picked up some Western
Meadowlarks, and the Loggerhead Shrike serenaded us the whole time, along with
a distant Eastern Meadowlark! Since the
pipit had been somewhat cooperative for Sandra and Chris, I was hoping they
would play ball for us today, but they sent us on a death march all over that
field; Tovi was a very good spotter, and we actually did see the little bugger stay put after landing for the briefest
of seconds, only Gaby wasn’t able to shoot him before he slunk off into the
grass… L Gaby eventually was able to get some blurry
flight shots; countable for his life list but definitely a BVD (Better View
Desired)! We probably provided comedy relief the
Border Patrol guy sitting up on the levee… J
It
was time to head back after that, giving them instructions in case they wanted
to try for the Parakeet Show on 10th. Upon dropping them off at the Inca Dove
Cottage a Merlin was calling in the distance (there has been one hanging around the neighborhood), and my FOS Purple
Martin gurgled overhead! Since my own
day list includes anything I see or hear from the time I leave my apartment to
the time I get back, what should be screeching overhead as I walk through the
gate but three Green Parakeets… L (They might not have worked for Gaby anyway –
they would have been tough to shoot!)
Bird
List:
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
American Coot
Killdeer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Merlin
Green Parakeet
Great Kiskadee
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Sprague's Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
House Sparrow
58 SPECIES
No comments:
Post a Comment