Richard
and Barbara came to the Valley with a group from Massachusetts Audubon, but
with only three days to cover the area (and that was smashing a lot of stuff in
per day, from what I heard), they wanted to stay on longer, so we set it up and
got a target list from him; most were possible up at Salineño, but one, the
Beardless Tyrannulet, was reasonably gettable right here at Santa Ana. We initially chose Salineño, but after
mulling it over the next morning at the cars, they decided to try Salineño on
their own, and we’d make a half day of it here looking for the tyrannulet.
We
headed down into the fog, the air thick with the smell of the onions that were
being picked! In the parking lot I heard
a Clay-colored Thrush, so we went over to try and find that, and he finally
showed himself over in the picnic area!
One of the hawk watch guys was actually photographing moths when we got
there, and he showed us some great pictures, including a Five-spotted Hawkmoth
that had shown earlier! After crossing
the levee we took the Pintail Lake Trail from the roundabout, as that’s where I
had heard the birds last, and by the time we reached the paved road, we did manage to hear him, but he was deep
in the woods. L We
had multiple Couch’s Kingbirds to look at, however, and a Hooded Oriole wheeped but wouldn’t show. After getting on the Tower Trail, we had a
nice Long-billed Thrasher sing for us (although he was in terrible light). A Common Ground Dove was singing in the
distance, and I heard the distinctive whup
of a Brown-crested Flycatcher; afraid that he might get flagged on Ebird (at
least they were getting flagged last week), I got a recording of his varied
vocalizations. Turns out he’s on the
“expected” list now, so we obviously turned a corner! We did hear the tyrannulet again, but he was
still deep in the stuff…
Pintail Lakes Trail
Eastern Cottontail
Richard and Barbara shooting a Long-billed Thrasher
So
we backtracked to the Tower Trail again, and then on to the Chachalaca Trail
where much more was happening: Richard
found a Kiskadee building a nest, and then we spotted a pair of Altamira
Orioles, the male singing his happy song and his wife chewing the fat with a young
male Red-winged Blackbird! J The normal ducks and shorebirds were at the
blind, including a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Snipe that moved into the reeds
before Richard could get on him… The
Chachalacas were chorusing up a storm, and a friendly titmouse came in to view
as we checked out the Willow Lake Trail, but never heard the Tropical Parula
(or any warblers for that matter, except for the occasional Yellowthroat). On the way back to Chachalaca Trail, however,
one of the many Verdins I was hearing (but not seeing) came into view at a
palmetto, so both Richard and Barbara got great views; they were happy campers,
as they had missed that one on the tour!
Upon discovering that they still needed Sprague’s Pipit (the group
missed them at the King Ranch), we headed for Anzalduas, adding a circling
Swainson’s Hawk on the way.
Great Kiskadee
Their nest
Leaving the nest
Red-winged Blackbird and Altamira Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Being coy...
Rag-a-muffin Couch's Kingbird
Once
there we parked and started the hike across the field, not quite sure if they’d
even be there considering the date (although John Arvin’s checklist shows them
as “uncommon” into early April), but before long we flushed a pale bird that
did the characteristic “stair-stepping” flight, had the white outer tail
feathers, and dropped like a rocket back into the grass! I would have felt better if he had called,
but eventually he did, and eventually Richard was able to get “proof shots” of
the little head poking up on the ground and the bird in flight!
"I think I got 'im..."
He sure did! (Sprague's Pipit, ©2018 Richard Smith)
Keeping an eye on us... (©2018 Richard Smith)
We
only had a half hour before we had to head back, so we crawled around, enjoying
watching the party going on across the river (and starting to get going on our
side J);
bird-wise it was pretty quiet; we had heard an Eastern Meadowlark singing while
we were in the field, but the river was full of Laughing Gulls and a lone
Forster’s Tern. A log in the river had
its attendant coots, but also a Common Gallinule pumping by! Cliff Swallows were building or repairing
their nests at the dam, but that was about it for the bird life, so we headed
on home with a decent 68 species for the morning. Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Gadwall American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Swainson's Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Laughing Gull
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Sprague's Pipit
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
House Sparrow
68 SPECIES
