Day 257 - Andree Clark Bird Refuge

This morning I had time for a brief excursion so I met up with George Roland and we explored the very odorous Andree Clark Bird Refuge.  I was not expecting to find any new species today, and I was not disappointed in that regard.  But with migration at hand, anything could appear anytime!

There was a good but not overwhelming variety of birds to be found.  We noticed a jump in the numbers of American Coots and Eared Grebes - recently arrived migrants.  The most unusual birds we found were a pair of White-faced Ibis.

There were a number of interesting ducks loafing around for our inspection.  These eclipse plumages can be very challenging for me.  George provided insight into differentiating between the male and female Northern Shovelers.  We were able to get comfortable with ID on all but one or two of the ducks, which we left at Teal (Blue-winged or Cinnamon).

Another pleasant morning outing.

Some photos from today:

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Pintail

White-faced Ibis, with Northern Shovelers and Coots

(and one Teal)

The saddest specimen of a Long-tailed Grackle I have ever seen.

UPDATE:  As Wim Van Dam has pointed out in the comments, this Grackle has leg bands.  It was Banded By researcher Corina Logan in September of 2104, and was named Michelada.

After today the year's total still stands at 244. 

Today I rode a total of 12.3 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 256 - A New Bird! (Almost 2)

Well it has only been 8 days since I made my last addition to the year's list.  For some reason it seems like much linger than that.  Today's birding adventure had a number of twists and turns but ended with the addition of a new bird to the year's list.

My basic plan was to catch up with the White-winged Dove reported yesterday.  That was fairly close to home and I felt no need to get there early.  That left some time for further exploration.  I headed out to UCSB and Goleta Beach.  There was not much exciting to be found there.

I headed back towards the dove, stopping along the way at Atascadero Creek.  There have been many fine birds sighted here over the years but I never seem to find much in this area.  Yesterday Dave Compton reported a Virginia's Warbler here.  I was in the general area where this bird was seen yesterday when I received an email from Dave that he was seeing an American Redstart.  He was about a mile from where I was so I hopped on the bike and raced over there.

When I arrived Dave was not around but Peter and Lucas Gaede had just arrived but were unaware of the Redstart report.  We searched the area for awhile without luck.  Dave showed up and pointed to where he had seen the bird, but it was not to be seen.

I tagged along with Peter and Lucas to check out the nearby area.  There were some birds around but nothing extraordinary.  A pair of American Kestrels zooming all over the place were quite fun to watch.  We headed back and made one more swing through in search of the Redstart.  After awhile Peter found it and we all got good looks at the female/1st year male as it hopped around in the treetops.  Bird 244 for the year!  Definitely not a photo-friendly bird.  Peter also got a brief glimpse what he thought was a Tennessee Warbler, but the bird did not reappear for proper identification.

I told them I was heading to try and find the White-winged Dove and described the location where it had been seen.  When I arrived at the spot I found Peter and Lucas there waving me over and pointing at a dove perched on a wire in the distance.  We were convinced we were looking at a White-winged dove.  The tail appeared short and there was a hint of white along the lower portion of the wing.  However, further examination of the long-distance photos shows the bird is in fact a Mourning Dove with an unusually short tail.  Oh well, I will have to try and chase that bird down once again!

Not a White-winged Dove

A few photos from this morning:

Black-crowned Night-heron (immature)

Greater Yellowlegs

Least Sandpiper

After the addition of this 1 species, the year's total stands at 244.

Today I rode a total of 25.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 255 - A Near Miss

With nothing better on the horizon I set out this morning to revisit Bella Vista Open Space, where  nobody refound the Painted Bunting yesterday.  I figured this bird would be halfway to Mexico by now, but one never knows.  I arrived around 7:15 and it was very quiet.  Shortly thereafter Nick Lethaby stopped by.  He thought the bird might actually still be in the area, hiding in bushy or grassy areas in this or nearby parks.  He departed and I looked around a bit more.  Still not much happening.

I headed a few blocks away to the Evergreen Open Space.  Here I found a good level of bird activity.  Some of the Eucalyptus trees here are infested with the Lerp Psyllid.  This is a good thing for birds.  These little bugs lay their eggs on the leaves.  The emerging young secrete a sweet waxy substance that is attractive to Warblers and other birds.  In one area of the park the trees were very busy with warblers (Yellow, Orange-crowned, and Wilson's), Western Tanagers and Hooded Orioles.  However there were no unusual species.

Right about this time I came to the realization I was in need of a new rear tire on my bicycle.  The sudden noise of air rushing out of the tire brought this to my attention.  Upon closer examination I saw a couple good cuts and worn spots on the tire.  I replaced the tube and carefully made my way to the nearest bike shop where I got a new tire and replaced it in the parking lot.

After that I headed home, passing by Puente Drive at approximately 10:40AM.  Upon arriving home I received an ebird report (complete with photos) of a White-winged Dove at Puente Drive, seen at 10:00AM.  This is a bird I still need to see and I pretty much rode right past it!  Hopefully it will stick around and I can catch up to it soon.  I simply could not bring myself to hop back on the bike and chase it today.

I have ridden well over 100 miles since adding the last bird to the year's list.  I am overdue.

No photos today, I seem to be getting quite lazy with the camera.


After today the year's total still stands at 243. 

Today I rode a total of 26.4 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 254 - Hot Pursuit

I was not planning on going birding today.  I had things to do, I could use a day off, and it has been quite hot lately.  That changed around 1PM when a report came in from Peter Schneekloth that he was seeing a female Painted Bunting out in Goleta.  This would be a VERY nice bird to see, definitely less than once a year for this species in our area.

So, questioning my sanity yet again I set out in the 89ish degree afternoon to chase the bird.  When I arrived at the park I saw about half a dozen birders standing around, searching the area, and chatting.  This is not what you want to see in this situation.  What you want to see is all eyes, binoculars, and cameras focusing at a single spot - a bit of excited pointing is nice too.

Needless to say the bird was not present, and did not show itself in the hour or so I stuck around looking for it.  I did get to meet some new folks.  Perhaps the bird will stick around.  Although this is a small park it has a way of hiding birds!

No photos from today.  Here is a photo of a male Painted Bunting I took last January in Florida.  Like many species, the male is much more colorful than the female.

Painted Bunting, Male.  January 2015 Florida

After today the year's total still stands at 243. 

Today I rode a total of 25 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 252 - Refugio State Beach

This morning I headed out to Refugio Beach State Park.  I wanted to get in a longer ride for fitness, and this spot has some fresh water and has a history of attracting some good migrants.  I got an early start as it was predicted to be very hot today.

After a pleasant ride and arrived at the park a little before 8AM.  I spent a good amount of time watching birds come down to the creek for a drink and a bath.  There was a good steady stream of birds, some migrants, but nothing unexpected.  It's a little early in the season for warbler migrants but one never knows when that unusual bird is going to show up.

The most interesting bird of the morning was out on the ocean, where I saw a rather disheveled looking Common Murre very close to the shore.  Not sure what the problem was, but I suspect there was one or this bird would not be found so close to the beach.

A few photos from this morning:

Song Sparrow

Common Murre

Osprey

After today the year's total still stands at 243. 

Today I rode a total of 52.1 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 251 - Chasing The Uncountable

Yesterday afternoon an email post came in of an American Bittern at Lake Los Carneros.  This would be a pretty rare occurrence.  This species used to live in the area but nowadays we just get the odd migrant now and again.  There was no description of the bird and I did not recognize the name of person submitting the report so I was a bit skeptical.  We happened to be driving nearby so I stopped and took a look anyway.  I found a Green Heron in the area where the Bittern was seen.  This was sort of what I was expecting to happen.

I sent the submitter an email asking about the sighting.  Instead of the expected reply (I didn't know what I was looking at), I got a response that said "it was a bird found in a yard in Ventura County and I released it there".  Well I sure was not expecting that!

Unfortunately, since it was transported here, the bird is not countable by the American Birding Association (ABA) Recording Rules.  Here is the pertinent section:

B. “Wild” means that the bird’s occurrence at the time and place of observation is not because it, or its recent ancestors, has ever been transported or otherwise assisted by man for reasons other than for rehabilitation purposes.

This morning I decided to go looking for it, even though it would not count towards my year total (or Santa Barbara County list for that matter).  There was nothing else on the bird radar and I thought it would be a fun bird to see - I have only seen this species in Florida.  Perhaps something else interesting might turn up.

So I arrived at Lake Los Carneros early and starting looking through the reeds at the edge of the lake for the Bittern.  They are good at hiding and can be hard to find.  I also had no idea if the bird would have stuck around or not.  I looked around the lake for almost two hours and did not locate the Bittern.  There was a good variety of other birds to be seen.  Three Eared Grebes were the newest migrant arrivals that I saw.

I did make one interesting discovery.  As I was nearing the end of my search at the lake I saw a bird flying that had rufous colored wings.  I thought that was unusual, so I took a closer look and it was a Common Ground-dove.  A totally unexpected sighting!  I got some good looks but the bird took off before I could get the camera on it.  This is a bird I have already seen this year, but today was only the second sighting I have ever had in Santa Barbara County so that was kinda neat.

A few photos from today:

Greater Yellowlegs

Eared Grebes

Great Blue Heron - Catfish For Breakfast

American Coot

California Thrasher

After today the year's total still stands at 243. 

Today I rode a total of 24.8 miles

More later,

Glenn

Day 248 - Common Tern!

I finally caught up with a not-so-common Common Tern.  It only took two attempts.

Late yesterday afternoon I got a message from Peter Gaede that there was a Common Tern flying around over the Bird Refuge.  Not wanting to miss this, I hopped on my bike and with the help of a nice tailwind covered the 5 miles to the refuge in about 15 minutes.  Unfortunately there was not a tern to be seen.  I checked along the beach on the way home thinking it might be resting there with other terns.  No luck - there were plenty of the terns common to our area (Elegant and Royal) but no Common Terns.

Then this morning Nick Lethaby reported the tern was flying over the Bird Refuge, so I once again dashed down there.  No tailwind this time so it took a couple minutes longer.  I arrived and looked around for about 5 minutes, but no tern.  Then it appeared, and flew around over the water for the next hour or so until I left.  Bird #243 for the year!

Taking photos of terns in flight is above my pay grade, but I did manage a couple of distant shots that show the ID features that separate this from a Forster's Tern.  The upper side of the wing is a darker gray, with a darker patch along the front of the wing (carpal bar).  The dark region on the top of the head continues down the nape of the neck.  The outer tail feathers are dark.

I also include a better photo taken last year at Goleta Beach.

Common Tern

 Common Tern

Common Tern, Goleta Beach Sep 2014

After the addition of this 1 species, the year's total stands at 243.

Today I rode a total of 14.6 miles

More later,

Glenn