Day 69 - Another Beautiful Day (the drought continues)

Today was another beautiful day of birding in the Goleta area.  I will not bore you with the details of all the birds I missed.  Let's focus on the positive things, shall we?

First, standing in one spot I was able to see an Orchard Oriole AND a Tropical Kingbird.  In Santa Barbara County that's a pretty neat trick, I think!

Second, from Coal Oil Point I saw Gray Whales breaching.  This was very cool!

Third, I saw Cooper's Hawks mating!

Fourth, by chance I met local birder Tom Turner.  I have been chasing his bird sightings all over the place this year.  By coincidence we exchanged our first email yesterday.  Today I meet him in person.  Small world when you are looking for birds, I guess.

The chase continues tomorrow.  Although things have been a bit slow in regards to adding species to the year's list I must say the outings this week have been very nice.  Spring is in the air here, and I am confident I will be seeing some new birds soon.

UPDATE:  I took the photo below of the interesting looking Wigeon at Devereux Slough, not sure if it fell within the normal variation for American Wigeon, or perhaps was the male hybrid American x Eurasian Wigeon that has been reported from there.  Note the complete lack of green eye patch, and grayish coloring on the back.  I sent the photo to local Bird Guru Nick Lethaby, who confirms it looks like the hybrid he has been seeing there.  An "odd duck" for sure.  Sadly, hybrids do not count as species.

American x Eurasian Wigeon Hybrid

A couple of photos from today:

 Cooper's Hawk

 Great Blue Heron

After today, the year's total still stands at 185. 

Today I rode 29.1 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 68 - Spring Without Migrants (Yet)

After taking a break this weekend I had time for a quick outing this morning.  I decided to head to Rocky Nook park - perhaps I could track down some newly arrived spring migrants there.  Maybe a Western Tanager, Wilson's Warbler, Warbling Vireo or the like.

Well, that was not to be, but there was quite a bit of spring-like activity.  I heard birds singing like crazy, saw birds collecting nesting material, and even this cute Anna's Hummingbird sitting on her nest.  I do not know if it is for camouflage purposes or what, but every hummingbird nest I have seen has bits of green lichen (or similar) on the outside.  Maybe they are simply excellent decorators.

Anna's Hummingbird

I easily found and was distracted for some time by the park's resident rare bird, the Painted Redstart.  This little beauty has been hanging around for over two months.   I managed some better, though not fantastic, photos of this little color-bomb.  I imagine soon it will head back to Arizona or wherever it came from.

Painted Redstart

Painted Redstart

All in all a very pleasant outing.  Even the Nuthatches were cooperative.  With spring getting into swing, the migrants cannot be far behind!

White-breasted Nuthatch

After today, the year's total still stands at 185. 

Today I rode 7.7 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 65 - A Bird Without Birding

I did not go birding today, but did see a new bird for the year!

As my son and I are signed up to ride in the Solvang Metric Century (67 miles, lots of hills) next weekend I thought today would be a good day to go for a training ride.  I intentionally left my binoculars at home - when I bring them along I tend to do more watching and less pedaling.

While I was on Foothill Road riding on the bridge that passes over Stevens Park I could not help but notice the 3 White-throated Swifts flying overhead.  Swifts can be distinguished from swallows by their shorter tail, and their shallower and more erratic wingbeat - their flight appears more clumsy and not as graceful as a swallow.  Even without binoculars I could clearly see their white undersides and flanks.  Their chattering calls were easily heard.  New bird for the year!

Sorry no photos today.

After the addition of today's 1 species, the year's total stands at 185. 

Today I rode a total of 51.1 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 64 - Lack of Grace

I had given up in the Grace's Warbler out at the old Ocean Meadows Golf Course.  But yesterday there were not one but 2 reports of the bird in it's usual spot.  This was too much for me to resist so today I headed back there for my 4th attempt to find this bird.

On the way I stopped by More Mesa in search of a Northern Harrier.  These hawks winter here, and there have been a couple recent reports from More Mesa.  This is a logical spot for them, a large open space with mostly grass and relatively few trees and shrubs.  The Harriers like open space such as this and they cruise low over the grass looking for prey.  This makes them relatively easy to spot - if they are present - which none were this morning at More Mesa.  It was a pleasant detour nonetheless.

I arrived at the Grace's Warbler spot a little after 10AM, and met Gage and George who were also eager to see the bird.  We searched for about an hour without success.  Not only am I cursed by this bird, those who are around me when I am searching for it become cursed as well!

Taking a little break form the warbler hunt I headed over to nearby Ellwood Mesa hoping I might come across a Northern Harrier there.  No luck on that either.

I returned to look once again for the Grace's Warbler.  I spent another half hour searching without success.

This bird is really starting to bug me.


A couple photos from today:

Canada Geese

Cassin's Kingbird

After today, the year's total still stands at 184. 

Today I rode 28.7 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 63 - Lake Los Carneros

Today was Bird Class at Lake Los Carneros.  Recently I have heard talk of a hybrid sapsucker here, and there was recently an ebird report of a Red-naped Sapsucker as well (This report contained no description, which tends to make me a bit skeptical).   I was hoping to see a sapsucker or two today.

When I left the house this morning it was rather cold, and I was freezing by the time I got to Goleta.  I had time, and stopped to get a cup of coffee but the line was long so I continued on to the lake.  This gave me a few minutes to look around before class.

When I arrived, one of the first things I saw flying over the lake was a pair of Violet-green Swallows, a new addition to the year's list.  A good start!  The key field mark here for me to distinguish from a Tree Swallow is the white that extends up on the sides of the rump.  If the light is good the violet and green colors are easy to see, and also the Violet-greens have white coming up the side of the face but this can sometimes be hard to see.  Later during class we saw at least a dozen Tree Swallows, some going into nest boxes around the lake.  Also a Northern Rough-winged Swallow

On the way to the class gathering point I stopped by the area where the sapsuckers are typically seen, but I could not find any.  We also did not see any in class when we passed through the area.

Class started off on a good note with a female type Baltimore Oriole seen within the first few minutes.  At first the conclusion was Bullock's Oriole, but upon review of the photo the judges have decided Baltimore. I did not think I got any photos, but was surprised to find one in the camera when I got home.  A lousy photo, but ....

Baltimore Oriole (Female)

Through the course of the 2 hour class we saw 48 species, which I thought was a pretty good total, though nothing new for the year's list.  For me the nicest thing was to see a pair of White-tailed Kites looking cozy together.  The past couple years have been very tough for the Kites due to the drought. In addition to this, the Monterey Pine trees they have been nesting in recently have pretty much all died.  Hopefully this year they can successfully nest.

White-tailed Kites

Anna's Hummingbird (male)

After class I headed back to the sapsucker area.  Pretty quickly I saw a sapsucker in a nearby Pepper Tree.  This bird found looked like a Red-breasted to me, though may seem to have some red-naped characteristics, namely a relatively short projection of the red onto the breast and the darker band on the lower edge of this red.  I have posted photos and asked for feedback on this.  Update:  Consensus seems to be this is a hybrid Red-breasted x Red-naped Sapsucker.

Red-breasted x Red-naped Sapsucker

Red-breasted x Red-naped Sapsucker

I was following this sapsucker around trying to study the markings.  It had moved to a large Oak tree when it was joined by another sapsucker.  This second bird had the classic look of a male red-naped sapsucker.  Red nape, red forehead, extensive red on the chin, black bib, and white on the back more organized into two stripes.  Sapsucker score!  This is a very nice bird to get, as they are only around in the winter and can be hard to find.  The two birds briefly interacted, the Red-breasted seemed to be chasing off the red-naped.  I was unable to get photos of the red-naped, and waited around for it to return but did not see it again.

Also, ho hum (this is 2015), there was a Varied Thrush on the ground in this area.

By this time I had spent about 90 minutes chasing the sapsuckers around, so it was time to head for home.

After the addition of today's 2 species, the year's total stands at 184. 

Today I rode a total of 22.1 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 62 - Scott's Oriole

Since spring is coming and the wintering birds will be departing any minute, so I decided it was time to go get my Green Big Year Scott's Oriole.  You may recall from Day 3 that at least one of these Orioles likes to spend the winter in the neighborhood I lived for many years.

Unfortunately for someone on a bike, this entails a steep climb up Old San Marcos Road.  This stretch is well known to avid cyclists in the area who use it for training.  The profile for the 3 mile stretch is shown below.

Old San Marcos Road - 1200 feet climb in 3 miles

In my experience the best time to catch the Oriole(s) is around 7AM.  As I have not ridden up this stretch in some time, I thought it best to ride up the evening before, spend the night, and not have to attempt the climb at 6AM.  I did this, and it turned out the climb was not as bad as expected.  I made it from the bottom to the top in what I thought was a respectable 32 minutes.

After a restful night, I awoke to the sound of a pair of Great Horned Owls calling.  After a little coffee and something to eat, I made my way over to the favored Oriole viewing point.  Promptly at 7:03 an immature male Scott's Oriole appeared, stayed for about two minutes, sang a little song and departed.  I managed a couple rather poor photos to document the event.  For reference I also include a better photo of an adult male, which is quite stunning and has a beautiful song to match.

Scott's Oriole (Immature Male)

Scott's Oriole, Adult Male from March 2014

Having some time on my hands, I scouted the neighborhood in the hopes that something else interesting might turn up, like perhaps a Steller's Jay.  This is about the bottom edge of their elevation range.  Though not always present they are around from time to time.  Luckily, nearing the end of my circuit I heard the boisterous call of the Steller's Jay, and saw the subject working through the top of a nearby oak tree.  A nice little bonus to add to the year's list!

More photos from today:

Band-tailed Pigeons 

Lesser Goldfinch 

Oak Titmouse

After the addition of today's 2 species, the year's total stands at 182. 

Yesterday and today I rode a total of 24.0 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 60 - Goleta Beach

This morning the weather forecast was for showers.  But when I looked outside it seemed pretty nice to me so I decided to go on a little outing.  After sitting around yesterday shuffling papers I felt the need to get outside.

At the moment there are only a few species around that I have not already seen this year.  As you know I have basically given up on a couple of those, which further limits the opportunities.  Soon the spring migrants will start arriving and this will change. I decided to head to Goleta Beach for a quick look.  I was not really expecting to find any new species for the year, but one never knows!  One thing I do know, I am very unlikely to find any sitting around the house.

It was a beautiful morning for an outing.  Views of the Channel Islands were crystal clear and a layer of puffy clouds was building over the mountains.  There were a decent, though not outstanding, variety of birds to be found at Goleta Beach.  Nesting season is underway at the Great Blue Heron rookery, several of these gangly giants were carrying sticks back to the nest.  A pair of Kingfishers were coming in and out of their nesting hole.  Bird love was in the air.

After making a circuit of the park and finding nothing out of the ordinary, I decided to look for the Tufted Duck on the way home.  It has recently been reported in Atascadero Creek, which terminates at the slough adjacent to Goleta Beach.  I made my way upstream and located "Tuftie" about half a mile from the beach.  I have seen him a couple times this year, but it is always nice to spend some quality time with a rare bird.  I sat on the bank and watched him for awhile - dozing, preening, and diving.

No new birds today but I felt that did not matter as it was a nice outing nonetheless.


A few photos from today:

Royal Tern

Heermann's Gull

Lesser Scaup (Female)

Tufted Duck

After today, the year's total still stands at 180. 

Today I rode 19.6 miles

More later,

Glenn