Day 156 - A New Bird!

It was been 3 weeks since the last new bird was added to the year's list.  Last night a report came in from ace bird finder Nick Lethaby - a Semipalmated Sandpiper was at Devereux Slough.  This would be a great bird to see, as it seems only a few pass through our area every year.  It was too late for me to get out there before darkness arrived, so I loaded my spotting scope and left early this morning hoping the bird would still be present.

I arrived at the lookout shortly before 7AM and peered across the slough with my binocs - sure enough there was a lone peep on the far shore.  I assembled the scope and tripod to get a better look - it can be difficult to tell the Semipalmated Sandpiper from a Western Sandpiper.  After getting the bird in the scope I could confirm the field marks that discern the Semipalmated Sandpiper - shortish, straight bill, gray coloring with little or no rufous, white flanks, dark legs, and partially webbed feet.  This was by far my best ever view of this species.  Unfortunately the bird was too far away for the camera, and I was not equipped to take photos through the scope.

A few minutes later Nick himself arrived to see if the bird was still present and added further confirmation to the ID.  Big thanks to Nick for reporting and confirming ID on the Semipalmated Sandpiper!

A couple of photos from today:

Black-crowned Night Heron

White-faced Ibis

After the addition of today's 1 species, the year's total stands at 229.

Today I rode a total of 24.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 153 - A Little Owling

Last evening I headed out to More Mesa in hopes of finding a Barn Owl.  In the past I have found this to be a good location for this species.

I arrived about an hour before sunset.  This gave me some time to make a circuit of the open space and observe the daytime birds as they wound down their day.  I enjoyed watching a White-tailed Kite successfully hunting for dinner.

As night began to fall, at least a couple hundred noisy crows arrived to spend the night in a large communal roost.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge yellow moon rising over the horizon.

There were no owls to be seen tonight.  Perhaps it was the strong light from the moon - in past outings here the owls would not come out until it was quite dark.

I rode home in the dark, something I rarely do.  It was quite enjoyable and there was very little traffic - but  I did get delayed a bit waiting for a skunk to get off the bike path.


A few photos from this evening

White-tailed Kite

White-tailed Kite - hovering

White-tailed Kite

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 17.8 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 152 - Lake Los Carneros

Although it is just June 1, it seems we are in the summer doldrums with regard to finding some new birds for the Green Big Year.  It has been more than 2 weeks since the last new species was found.  There are certainly new species to find if I can range farther from home, but scheduling conflicts have prevented an overnight trip.  I was thinking today of riding round trip to Buellton to see some Purple Martins and Yellow-billed Magpies (about 90 miles), but the weather forecast called for winds up to 25mph so that did not seem like a good choice.

I am planning on heading up to the mountains in about 10 days, so no doubt some new birds will be heading my way sooner or later.  In preparation for this I have recently been doing more biking and less birding.

Today I felt the urge to do some actual birding so I headed out to Lake Los Carneros.  As expected I did not add any new species, but it was a very enjoyable outing and there were plenty of interesting birds around.  I easily tallied more than 50 species and saw many fledgelings of all shapes and sizes.  I saw the continuing Horned Grebe, Mew Gull, Ring-necked Duck and Peregrine Falcon.  In addition there was a White-faced Ibis and most curiously a Forster's Tern.  I was quite surprised by the Tern, which cruised in over the lake, landed on the dam for a couple of minutes, then flew off.

A few photos from today:

Red-tailed Hawk - fledgelings

Peregrine Falcon - immature

Forster's Tern

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - fledgeling

Bushtit - fledgeling

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 28.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 148 - Snowy Plovers

A Big Year - let's face it, this is a rather selfish endeavor.  Sure, pleasurable for that participants, but beyond increasing the database of observed birds there is little or no benefit for society at large.  So I was pleased today to be able to volunteer my time at the Coal Oil Point Reserve, monitoring the nesting Snowy Plovers during beach cleanup efforts after the recent oil spill.  As I rode my bike there I will include it as a part of the Green Big Year.

For a few days after the oil spill the beach at the reserve remained free of oil.  That changed, and more recently each high tide has brought a fresh round of oil to the beach.  Yesterday was one of the worst days with lots of black gooey blobs - the photos were quite discouraging.  Thankfully the cleanup crew did a great job and this morning things did not look so bad.

Today the crew was able to make good progress scooping up oil blobs and oily kelp, placing them in plastic bags and hauling them away.  I was impressed with their awareness of of the birds and willingness to adjust their usual cleanup methods to be less disruptive to the nesting Snowy Plovers.  The only disappointment of the day was the helicopter (being used by the pipeline operator, according to UCSB officials) that buzzed over the reserve far too low on at least 3 occasions.

As monitors our primary duty was to ensure the cleanup activities did not disturb the nesting birds and cause them to leave their nests.  Thankfully there was only one nest near the cleanup activities.  That bird did get up off the nest for a few minutes.  We notified the crew, they quickly finished up, and the bird came back to the nest.  While he was gone (males sit on the eggs during the day, females at night) the three eggs sitting in a shallow depression were clearly visible.

In spite of the circumstances it was a lovely morning at the beach.  It was really nice to spend some quality time with the Snowy Plovers, and it felt good to contribute in some small way to their well being.

Beach Closed!

Cleanup Crew

WAAAY Too Low Flying Helicopter

Snowy Plover - Male

Snowy Plover On Nest

Snowy Plover Nest - 3 Eggs

Young Snowy Plover

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 24.9 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 146 - Around Goleta

After a long weekend away from the chase, it was good to get down to business again.  There were a couple of interesting recent (and reliable!) ebird reports from Goleta that I thought would be worth checking out.  I did not expect to add any birds to the year's list (and did not) but had a great time watching interesting birds and before I knew it the clock said it was time to head for home.

I started out at Farren Road, where Rebecca Coulter had reported not one but two Common Ground Doves.  I managed to hear one calling from an Avocado Orchard, but it would not come out and show itself.  There were other interesting things to see, like a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers attending to their nest; a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher harassing a Red-tailed Hawk (David and Goliath!); and no less than 7 Phainopeplas eating some red berries in bushes by the roadside.

I then headed over to the end of Coronado Drive where there is often a puddle of water that attracts birds (the "Coronado Seep").  There was some good activity there, including a cavity-creating Downy Woodpecker, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Purple Finches, and a stunning male Western Tanager that would not show itself for the camera.

Nearby I encountered the male Baltimore Oriole recently reported by Libbey Patten.  A beautiful male but camera shy.  Up on top of the mesa I saw one and heard another Grasshopper Sparrow.

Today turned out to be a pretty good day for adding species to the photographed list ...

Wrentit - distant shot, this bird is most often heard and not seen.

Phainopepla - male

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on nest.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher harassing a Red-tailed Hawk!

California Quail

Downy Woodpecker

A wet Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

Purple Finch

Grasshopper Sparrow

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 37.2 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 142 - Looking for ... Oil

I had a little time this morning so I was planning on heading to Farren Road, as more of a workout than a serious birding outing.  On the way there I felt I should go to Coal Oil Point and see if the Oil from the Refugio Oil Spill had made its way down the coast, so I change direction and headed out there.  I was greeted by this, which was not encouraging:

However when I got to the beach overlook I could detect no presence of oil, so that was encouraging.  I made my way along the bluff, getting distracted by an out-of-place Western Tanager which would not pose for photos.

I then caught up with Tom Turner who was out for his morning bird walk.  We approached the point with some trepidation, but again we could see no visible signs of oil on the beach or the water.  Hopefully the cleanup effort and weather will cooperate to minimize the spread of this disaster.  Luckily there are very few shorebirds around at this time of year.

As we made our way to the West side of the point we could see an oily Pelican on the beach.  Tom alerted the authorities so hopefully it will get cleaned up and looked after.

There were not many birds to be seen, and certainly nothing I could add to the year's list.  It seems I have stalled a bit on that front.  I really need to go farther afield, but cannot seem to juggle my schedule to make it happen.  Hopefully soon.

Once again although I did not find anything new in the way of birds, it was a lovely morning to be out and about!

Some photos from today:

California Towhee

Great Blue Heron

Mute Swan

Red-tailed Hawk - recently fledged

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 26.6 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 140 - Lots of Miles and a Strange Tern

Today was an interesting day, and I covered more than 64 miles on the bike - a far longer distance than I have ridden on any other day thus far on the Green Big Year.

I started out heading to Carpinteria in the morning, hoping perhaps to see an Oystercatcher.  There were none of those to be found, but I did see some Black-crowned Night Herons out on the rocks which was new to me.  I also found a couple of Ash-throated Flycatchers hiding in the blooming mustard.

I decided to head home via the foothills and get some exercise.  After climbing a bunch of hills I arrived home with 40.1 miles behind me.  

No sooner did I change out of my biking clothes did I see an email from Maggie - "There is a Least Tern at Devereux Slough mouth."  I had not yet seen a Least Tern anywhere, so this was very exciting news!  I changed clothes again, hopped on the bike, and made haste for the Snowy Plover Reserve where the Tern had been spotted.  (Note, this is only a few miles down the coast from the site of yesterday's oil spill at Refugio Beach.  I hope the oil slick can be contained!)  As I raced there I was cursing the light headwind and also all of the hills I had climbed in the morning.  

1 hour and 10 minutes after the email arrived I was off my bike and heading for the beach where I ran into Tom, Maggie's husband.  He had a bit of a disappointed look on his face.  I asked him "Did the Tern Leave?"  He said no, then showed me a photo on his camera.  The basic field marks for a Least Tern were there, but the bird looked a little stiff and smooth, its single leg was oddly straight and thick - suspiciously similar to a dowel:

Tom said "Perhaps Maggie went for a walk with the baby and did not take her binoculars, or perhaps the one she saw was attracted by the decoy."  I told him I would check it out and let him know if I saw any live Terns.  

I found 3 decoys but no live Terns.  Nevertheless it was nice to visit with the Snowy Plovers.  I was hoping to see some youngsters, which are just about the cutest thing around.  I did not see any today but include a photo from a couple years ago.  There were also some Sanderlings in spiffy breeding plumage.

As I said at the beginning of this post, an interesting day.

Some photos from today:

Black-crowned Night Heron

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Hooded Oriole

Cliff Swallow, collecting mud for nest building

Sanderling, breeding plumage

Snowy Plover

Snowy Plover, May 2013

Brown Pelican (Adult on left, juvenile on right)

After today the year's total still stands at 228. 

Today I rode a total of 64.6 miles

More later,

Glenn