Day 95 - Black-chinned Hummingbird

Yesterday and this morning there were reports of new hummingbirds in the area - Black-chinned and Calliope.  Instead of heading out on a brief jaunt looking for birds I decided to stay at home and keep a close watch on the hummingbird feeders.

While there was a good level of activity I did not see either of the target birds.  There were a couple White-throated Sparrows around - getting to be a bit late in the year for these.  I did take out the scope and get some photos of the birds that were around.

I got myself invited over to the house where a Black-chinned and a Calliope Hummingbird had been seen.  (Thanks Jenny!)  This is the same spot I saw this year's Costa's Hummingbird (Day 39).  The Calliope was a no show, but we did see a male Black-chinned Hummingbird.  Bird #201 for the year!  It was not camera-cooperative, but I include a previous photo of a Black-chinned Hummingbird for your viewing pleasure.

Black-chinned Hummingbird (Male) June 2014 Utah

Some photos from the yard today:

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Rufous Hummingbird (Male)

Rufous Hummingbird (Male)

White-throated Sparrow

After the addition of today's 1 species, the year's total stands at 201!

Today I rode a total of 2.8 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 94 - Really Good Friday - 200 Species Reached!

In terms of Easter, today was Good Friday.  In terms of my Green Big Year, today was a Really Good Friday - with the addition of two species, I have reached 200 species!

Having been away for a few days, I read the continuing reports of arriving spring migrants.  When I left this morning I had high hopes for hitting the 200 mark.  I headed once again to Lake Los Carneros, hoping to see some migrants such as Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird (both reported here within the last few days), Yellow Warbler, Warbling Vireo, and Western Tanager.

I headed directly to the North side of the lake where I typically find Grosbeaks and Warblers.  After a few minutes of arriving in this area I heard the call and song of the Black-headed Grosbeak.  It took me a couple minutes to see the birds, for it turned out to be a male and a female.  One down, one to go for 200!  I managed a couple rather crappy photos before they flew off, and include a better one from a couple of years back.

Black-headed Grosbeak (Male)

Black-headed Grosbeak (Female)

Black-headed Grosbeak (July 2013, Arizona)

Shortly after this I thought I heard the song of a Yellow Warbler coming from high in the Eucalyptus trees.  I searched without finding anything.  Suddenly the grove went quiet, and shortly thereafter a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and landed.  I was surprised by the number of songbirds that flew away from those trees!  Well, so much for finding any birds in that area for awhile, so I continued around the lake.  It was fun to see the Acorn Woodpeckers and a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches going in and out of their nesting cavities.

Over near Stowe House I was certain I heard at least 2 Yellow Warblers singing high in the trees.  I looked for a couple minutes and sure enough I saw a Yellow Warbler - species #200 for the year!  Unfortunately those warblers stayed high up in the trees and out of camera range.

I must admit I was very happy and excited to reach this milestone.  Although new birds are becoming more difficult to come by I look forward to continuing to find some new ones.  I think perhaps it's about time to head farther afield and take some overnight trips.

Some other photos from today:

Acorn Woodpecker

Hooded Oriole

Ruddy Duck

Eared Grebe (Breeding Plumage)

After the addition of today's 2 species, the year's total stands at 200!

Today I rode a total of 28.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 93 - Yard Bird!

Today after returning from Death Valley I was hauling stuff back into the house and I noticed there was a great deal more hummingbird activity in the yard than when we left a few days back.

Naturally I stopped hauling things and picked up the binoculars.  Pretty quickly I saw at least two male Rufous Hummingbirds - all rufous on the back, no green whatsoever.  Bird 198 for the year!

This discovery eliminated a bit of a quandary I had about this species a few days ago.  As we were departing for Death Valley, I saw a potential male Rufous Hummingbird on the phone line.  It was nearly all rufous, with just a few green feathers on the top of its back.  It then left the wire and began performing a display that included a series of steep dives, but no horizontal shuttling at the bottom.  From what I read this flight pattern is done by the Rufous species, but the Allen's display has a single dive with a series of side-to-side "shuttles"  I was not sure about the accuracy of an ID based on the display flight pattern.  If anyone has opinions about this please let me know.  The discovery of today's male Rufous Hummingbirds makes this a moot point.

No photos from today, but a couple of older ones of Rufous Hummingbirds:

Rufous Hummingbird March 2014

Rufous Hummingbird March 2014

After the addition of today's 1 species, the year's total stands at 198. 

More later,

Glenn

Day 87 - Back Soon!

Spring Break is upon us.  Time for our somewhat annual trip to Death Valley.  Look for the next post in a few days.

Glenn

Day 86 - Lake Los Carneros

Today the weather forecast was for continued heat wave.  I wanted to avoid the worst of that so I got an early start and was home before the mercury broke 80 degrees.

I headed out to Lake Los Carneros, hoping to catch up with some spring migrants.  Specifically I had Black-headed Grosbeak and Western Tanager in mind.  These are both species that I typically see every spring at this site.  It's a bit early for both species but they have been reported in the general area already.

There was a good deal of bird activity there this morning.  I ended up tallying 43 species, but neither of my target species were to be found.  At one point I thought I heard a Tanager, but upon closer examination it turned out to be a Mockingbird messing with my audio bird ID skills.

It was especially fun to see that the nesting Bushtits now have youngsters to feed.  Their sock-shaped woven nest is well hidden in a small oak tree and does not allow for photos.

I am getting anxious to cross the 200 species milestone.  Patience grasshopper ....


Just one photo from today:

Red-tailed Hawk

After today the year's total still stands at 197. 

Today I rode a total of 23.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 83 - 1,000 Mile Mark and 3 New Birds!

First, the big news.  With the addition of today's 32.4 miles I have crossed the 1,000 mile mark for the Santa Barbara Big Green Year!  1,000 down and who knows how many to go.

Well, after yesterday's little rant about ebird, today I followed up on a reliable ebird report with 4 potential additions to the year's list.  The report was from Farren Road in western Goleta.  Frankly I had forgotten about Farren Road, but I am glad to have been reminded.  The four target species for today were Greater Roadrunner, Western Kingbird, Common Raven, and Phainopepla.

Shortly after climbing the first hill on Farren Road I saw a Kingbird on the power lines.  It turned out to be a Western Kingbird - paler gray head than a Cassin's Kingbird, no high contrast white cheek patch, white edges to outer tail feathers, and a different vocabulary.  As I was getting my camera out it flew to a distant barbed wire fence where it stayed safely out of camera range for the remainder of my visit.  I am certain I will be seeing more of these in the future.  One bird down!

Next up was a black bird soaring above me.  Too small for a hawk or vulture.  Crow or Raven?  They can be somewhat difficult to tell apart.  Ravens are larger, but size can be difficult to gauge in the field - rarely do Crows and Ravens sit next to each other for that definitive comparison.  In my experience Ravens soar but Crows do not.  Last but not least, the shape of the tail can be diagnostic.  When in flight Crows have a fan-shaped tail, and Ravens have a diamond-shaped tail.  This bird definitely had diamond-shaped tail - Raven.  Two birds down!

After searching around awhile farther up the road I thought I heard the distinctive call of the Phainopepla.  I have seen their call described as a rising "wurp" - as if it is asking you a question.  I looked in the direction of the call and saw a male Phainopepla (black) sitting on top of a distant pepper tree.  I took a couple of photos which look sort of like the Loch Ness Monster from this distance.  Later I saw a female Phainopepla (gray) in the same tree.  Three birds down!

I searched for a Roadrunner without success.  I think this bird will be a hard one to find this year.  Even with a couple hundred people looking one did not turn up on the day of the Christmas Bird Count.  I feel a bit like Wile E Coyote searching for the elusive Roadrunner ....  Beep Beep!


A couple photos from today:

Savannah Sparrow

Trust me, the black blob is a Phainopepla

After the addition of today's 3 species, the year's total stands at 197. 

Today I rode a total of 32.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 82 - Chasing Ghosts

During the course of this year I have spent a good deal of time following local ebird reports.  For those unfamiliar with this, ebird is a project out of Cornell University that allows users to submit bird sightings to a global database.  This database can then be searched, mapped, and examined 12 ways form Sunday.  I can also get it to send me an email whenever anyone reports a bird in Santa Barbara County that I have not yet seen this year.

This is all fantastic, believe me. Ebird is easily the biggest advance in birding technology in a long time.  However, if there is one thing I have learned this year - do not believe everything you read on ebird.  Since I have been paying close attention, I have been quite surprised at the number of reports I see that are suspect - generally mis-identification of species.

For example, a couple of days ago there was an ebird report of 1 Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Common Mergansers in the Santa Barbara Harbor.  This seemed rather sketchy to me - Red-breasted Mergansers are fairly common along the coast here, and despite their name the Common Mergansers are definitely not common along the coast.  They are pretty easy to come by away from the coast in the the Santa Ynez River and associated reservoirs.  The males of these species are easily distinguished, but the females look more similar and can be confused.  Of course birds do not read the rules so anything is possible.

Well, since the harbor is pretty close to home I could not resist heading down there this afternoon to check it out.  To make a long story short, I found 1 male Red-breasted Merganser and 2 female Red-breasted Mergansers.  No Common Mergansers.

I did see a spiffy-looking Surfbird getting its breeding plumage, and it was another beautiful Santa Barbara day so I have no complaints whatsoever.


Some photos from today:

Common Loon

Marbled Godwit

Red-throated Loon

Surfbird

After today the year's total still stands at 194. 

Today I rode a total of 10.1 miles

More later,

Glenn