western tanager ~ 05/11/14 ~ at home

western tanager in New Zealand Christmas tree

Piranga ludoviciana in Metrosideros excelsa

Myrtaceae

On Saturday, Andy spotted an all-yellow bird in the neighbor's kiwi Christmas tree from our 3rd floor window and described it to me.  He said it looked like a canary with a yellow head and some coloring on the wing, but not all black.  Besides Townsend's warblers over the winter, we rarely get bright yellow birds on this side of town.  So, I queried a friend less than 2 miles away on the ocean side of the Peninsula since she sees yellow birds regularly around her home.  She's also noticed a couple atypical birds with orange heads hanging around.  We finally got a picture of it Sunday after several glimpses of it and a mate as they flew around from the neighbor's tree to the tree tops in the park and back again.  We went running from room to room, too, hoping to see them through one of the windows.  I think they'd be impossible to see from the ground.  I went from guessing it was someone's lost pet parakeet to a female hooded oriole.  Ha!  Nope.  Depending on the angle, that orange crown is not always visible, which makes distinguishing male from female difficult at times.  I wonder how long they'll hang around?  They really seemed to like picking at the red blooms that look very much like bottle brush.

spotted towhee ~ 01/19/14 ~ Black Hill

spotted towhee

Pipilo maculatus

more information

Considering I still have my bird books out, I might as well continue with the crappy bird photos... hop, hop, hop, nah, nah, nah, you can't get a good shot.  This is a new sp. to Nature ID.  Except for its shape, it looks nothing like the related California towhee.  I like this striking bird, which reminds me more of a bolder and more colorful dark-eyed "Oregon" junco.  What would be the evolutionary advantage of the dark executioner's hood that many birds seem to have?

cedar waxwing ~ 01/06/14 ~ Casa del Oro Garden

cedar waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum

I love the look of waxwings.  They'd make a great model for an avian masked comic-book hero.  I've been keeping my eye out for them this winter and have spotted them 4 times since November.  It appears this group likes to sun themselves on a couple tall sycamore trees along the Casa del Oro Garden.  If you weren't paying attention to their chattery flock calls, they'd be easy to miss from a distance because they look a lot like dried leaves that haven't fallen off the tree.  I had to laugh when an Historic Garden League volunteer grumpily pointed out how much their seedy poop makes a mess on the sidewalk below, especially since I was just thrilled to be lucky enough to see them.  The flock is easily frightened to flight even with a horn honk.  It was somehow reassuring to read from several sources that cedar waxwings look a lot like starlings in flight, because that was my first thought when I saw them flow around in the air as a group.  I'm going to keep my eye on nearby toyon and pyracantha shrubs in the coming months.  The berries are plump and red but still untouched.  Maybe they're not ripe enough for the waxwings?

sparrows ~ 02/12/12 ~ Hopkins

white-crowned sparrow (left) and song sparrow (right)
Zonotrichia leucophrys and Melospiza melodia

I love hearing the songs of these sparrows every time I walk past this 30 yard stretch of blackberries on both sides of the fence between the Rec Trail and Hopkins Marine Station. It's such a surprising and stark contrast to the sounds of Monterey Bay waves, gull cries, traffic, and jabber of tourists. Sparrow songs immediately transport me to a woodland's edge back in Ohio, even though they are quite common here in CA.

ps - I'm posting this 02/18/12 in honor of the Great Backyard Bird Count being held this weekend, even though I'm not participating in it myself. I'm learning about one bird at a time, and I think it would be an exercise in frustration for me to do a count on my own. The February Checklist for Pacific Grove is daunting.

black-throated gray warbler ~ 11/02/11 ~ at home

black-throated gray warbler

Dendroica nigrescens

As I was getting ready to prepare dinner this evening, I heard a dull "thwack!" I ran into the living room and noticed a puff of feathers on one of the windows. This is the third time it's happened in as many years we've had our new double-paned, coated windows. The first two times the birds have flown away almost immediately. I ran outside to find this fellow on our balcony. I panicked, picked him up, and tucked him into my shirt like a basket to keep him warm. He was surprisingly soft, warm, and so tiny. I remembered several bloggers mentioning birds flying headlong into their windows, so I jumped online to see what, if anything, needed to be done. The only one I could remember was Wanderin' Weeta's recent hermit thrush encounter. I waited like she did. He quickly became cold and stiff. This poor fellow did not survive. And, like Susannah, I'd rather have birds in the bush than one in the hand. I'm sad about this.

ps 11/07/11 - I placed this bird's body behind a rock in the park below us. I checked the site today. Something came along and took it. Only a few wing feathers remained behind. Nature's recycling?

pss 12/26/11 - For an "official" blog posting on how to prevent collisions like this one, see Audublog.

cliff swallow ~ 07/22/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough

juvenile cliff swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota (formerly Hirundo pyrrhonota)

posted 09/26/11 - This poor little thing had fallen out of its nest. The dutiful parents were still swooping down to feed it even though people were only feet away from the entrance to the nature center building. Judging by the amount of piled poop, I wonder if it was close to being fledged. By the time we returned from our hike the juvenile cliff swallow was gone. Surely it didn't fly away on its own? We went inside to inquire what had happened. One of the volunteers is a wildlife rehabilitator and took the bird. Apparently, there were many things wrong with it, including open sores and a misshaped wing. I know bird lice are common, but that wouldn't necessarily explain the open sores. And, how would one rehab a bird with a misshaped wing? My question was shrewdly evaded by the volunteer.

I've posted pictures of cliff swallows at Elkhorn on 05/13/10 with their distinctive gourd-shaped nests. The volunteers told us that the odd wooden structures in the meadows were built specifically to lure the cliff swallows to nest there, instead of on the nature center and research buildings. It didn't work. That may explain why for a couple years I noticed strips of reflective ribbon exactly where this bird's next was.

ps - I often don't think things through before commenting on others' blog posts. I couldn't figure out why Tree in the Door's Fauna and Flora has pictures of cliff swallows in cup-shaped nests, like what barn swallows have. Duh! I should have noticed the birds were adult and that they were just starting the process of building their nests.

song sparrow ~ 07/06/11 ~ Frog Pond

song sparrow
Melospiza melodia

I have such a difficult time capturing birds with my point-and-shoot that it's a miracle when I do manage to get a picture that isn't just a blur of feathers or tree limbs. Because of the rarity of my bird photos, my bird identification skills are poor. I'm pretty sure of this ID and am hoping those birders out there will correct me if I'm wrong. According to National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America song sparrow subspecies are highly variable in appearance depending on location. With the dark markings, I'd venture to say this might be M. melodia heermanni, which is found in the central coast of CA. I love the songs of this bird. For a blogger who takes incredible bird photos and occasionally also visits this part of CA, check out Shooting My Universe.

scrub-jay ~ 06/07/11 ~ at home

western scrub-jay
Aphelocoma californica

Mom is apparently showing her young how to wait on our balcony and look into the windows to see if we're around to feed them peanuts. I posted pictures of mom and one of her young from May 29, 2011. I'm amazed at how big the juveniles have grown in 9 days. The tops of their heads are quickly getting more blue feathers. They're very curious and have checked out all my container plants and moved my decorative sea shells around. I worry they may fish for the Pacific chorus frog tadpoles I'm raising, which should have another 2 months before they metamorphose. I'm always very careful to not leave my caterpillars exposed when I change clippings; I've seen the jays enthusiastically eat insects.

tree year project 2011, #8

juvenile western scrub-jay perched on coast Douglas-fir
Aphelocoma californica perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

posted 06/19/11 - Sometime around the second week of May, I first noticed my friendly scrub-jay's 3 youngsters. They were pretty awkward flying and mainly watched mom from the branches of this Douglas-fir I'm featuring in the the Tree Year Project. After getting a peanut, she would always fly back to their low nest in a nearby oak tree, I think to encourage the little ones to follow her for food. Then a late night ruckus happened, which sounded too much like a raccoon/scrub-jay fight, and I only saw the one pictured above for almost 2 weeks. Since then, two of the juveniles have been loudly following mom's every move. She chases them away from our balcony and will quickly sound an alarm call if a hawk is in the area. In the past few days they seem to get up before she does, and one quickly snatched a couple peanuts from me yesterday morning. Each one is a little different in voice and boldness of behavior, like stealing mom's stashed peanut from a pine cone. It's been a real joy to observe the mother scrub-jay teaching her young.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/birds/

Steller's jay
Cyanocitta stelleri

Considering this one greeted us with particular interest just a short ways down the path from the parking lot, I suspect it is accustomed to well-intentioned hikers offering tasty bits. I had never noticed before the cool blue stripes on Steller's jay foreheads. Usually, when I think of these jays, I recall how well they can mimic the sounds of other birds, like red-shouldered hawks. Once while we were camping down at Morro Bay, we were puzzled over the hawk sounds we heard repeatedly with no visual confirmation. Sure enough, the sound was coming from a Steller's jay hopping around a neighboring empty campground site. I wonder why they mimic?

dark-eyed junco / Oregon junco
Junco hyemalis

Well, at least I'm still trying to get photos of birds. These pics aren't too bad for me. I have a better pic of a dark-eyed junco here from last April. It's only because I previously looked up this bird that I even knew what these were on the spot. I had fun watching a group of them as they chased each other from ground to low hanging tree limbs; it was almost as if they were playing tag.

red-breasted nuthatch
Sitta canadensis

Apparently, my best pics of birds are when they're dead and don't move. I was sad to find this dead bird, but it did make identification very easy. It must have recently died, because its body was still pliable. Now, aren't you glad to not be my husband and hold my hand afterward? Hatton Canyon was an incredible find for listening to a cacophony of bird songs. In fact, I don't ever recall hearing so many birds, anywhere, and I've been places! It's too bad this was the only bird I managed to photograph during our hike. I strongly suspect that all those fancy gardens on the hills also have bird feeders. As a side note, Cornell's All About Birds (linked in the scientific name above) shows this bird as a winter migrant, whereas my handy-dandy bird book at home shows the exact opposite range map of year round vs. winter (still unnamed on my blog, because I worry about its accuracy - I'm badly attempting to follow that policy of if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all). So, which is correct?

my first tree year project post

western scrub-jay perched on coast Douglas-fir
Aphelocoma californica perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

I don't often join in blogging groups and group nature activities. Sheesh, keeping up with Nature ID is already enough of a time-consuming hobby for me. However, I immediately liked the The Tree Year project idea: pick a tree, observe it and everything on or around it as often as you can, then share your observations.

I've already been observing this coast Douglas-fir for the past few years, which is located right next to our 3rd story balcony. Click to see all my past posts that include mentions or pictures of this tree. While I plan to write more later, I had a good laugh looking back to when I began this blog - back then, I wasn't sure which kind of jay came to visit me for peanuts or what kind of gnarly tree was growing within a few feet from home.

Similarly, I'm curious to watch how this The Tree Year develops.

Much to my own mixed dismay and delight, I've been hand feeding peanuts to our local western scrub-jays. The particular individual pictured above has continued to visit me through the fall and winter. It often hides the peanuts in the odd looking tailed pine cones of the Douglas-fir. I've wondered whether it knows how to find its stash, but I've since read western scrubs have a very good memory. Last summer I was feeding 4 different jays. They all looked very similar, but each had their own personality and behavior. I wonder what happened to the other 3 jays.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/birds/

Townsend's warbler ~ 12/10/10 ~ at home

Townsend's warbler on coast Douglas-fir
Dendroica townsendi on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Well, she's not as striking as her boyfriend, but he's off chasing a flashy goldfinch. For me, these bird pictures are not too shabby. I really enjoy watching the Townsend's search through the Douglas fir tree next to our balcony for food. Insects? I don't know. Sometimes they hover like a hummingbird and pick at the tree, which I've learned is called hover-gleaning. I'm amazed at how many birds and insects use this coast Douglas-fir tree. It helps that our balcony is 3 stories up, so I'm able to get an eye-level view of the top of the tree to witness all the action.

I'd like to add that the Townsend's warbler is not mentioned at all in a recently-purchased CA bird guide book, which shall remain nameless until I get a better handle on whether it's a decent bird book or not. I bought it because it was the same style that my mother-in-law uses up in WA. At $20-30 a pop, I've been disappointed with my field guide purchases lately.

CA towhee ~ 12/02/10 ~ at home

California towhee perched on coast Douglas-fir
Pipilo crissalis perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Have I mentioned my bird photos are generally lousy? My fuzzy pictures of this Pipilo from July were way better than what I was able to capture today. I don't think I have the patience (or camera) to get really great photos of birds. These two visited our balcony and stayed for the longest time, until I had Andy hand me the camera through the window and I started the camera with the "bling" sound. All the commotion scared them away to the nearby tree. Argh! While I had the camera out, I tried to capture a Townsend's warbler, but it was too quick in the branches. Heavy sigh. My goal for the next year is to capture better bird photos.

ps 12/06/10 - And yes, it is this green around here and fairly warm. A light sweater is all I need to be comfortable enough outdoors in December. While I love the pics many nature bloggers post of snow, I'm glad to not have to endure that kind of cold weather.

CA towhee ~ 07/10/10 ~ at home

California towhee
Pipilo crissalis

Can you get any more plain, brown-grey? Both males and females look like this. It's taken me a while to capture a few fuzzy photos of this bird. Again, thanks to a friend, I finally figured out who was making an early morning (anywhere from 4:45-5:30 a.m.) very loud, very high-pitched, chip, chip, chip - it sounds like a smoke detector that needs new batteries, but quicker in succession.

There are a couple towhees around and I think this is the individual that wakes me up. It's one of the few birds I can actually hear while I'm sleeping, so it's been my alarm clock since before June. I have an odd, one-ear hearing impairment, and if I'm sleeping on my "good" ear I cannot hear most plug-in alarm clocks (huge problem in college after late nights of studying), my husband's occasional snoring (conveniently useful), and many other noises. It reminds me of the story E.O. Wilson wrote about how his hearing impairment kept him away from ornithology and his nearsightedness led him to entomology. I understand.

On a similar train of thought, during a visit to a history of Impressionism exhibit in Rome this spring, Andy and I postulated that Claude Monet was nearsighted for most of his life and then developed the typical age-dependent loss of close-up clarity. His paintings seemed to reflect his change in vision as he aged. I think Monet was painting what he was literally seeing.

cliff swallow ~ 05/13/10 ~ Elkhorn Slough

cliff swallow
Hirundo pyrrhonota

I was amused to see the mass numbers and enclosed shape of the cliff swallow nests compared to the single, open barn swallow nest I found in Oregon last year. These cliff swallows look stern to me; maybe it's the white brow.

Growing up in the Central Valley, we had "mud" swallows attempt to build numerous nests on our house. Every weekend my dad would wash off the mud from the eaves with a hose. I'm guessing they were cliff swallows now that I know cliff and barn swallows are the only ones to build mud nests in California and the differences between the two.

It seems to me Elkhorn Slough folks used to try to keep the swallows away from the nature center and research buildings with reflective strips of ribbon. Now, there's a "Shhh!" sign to caution visitors from disturbing the nests. I can imagine by the end of the nesting period, that artistic splatter of droppings could well end up being a significant pile of poop.

I usually don't link to IPM sites, but both links in the common and scientific names above are for management. In a previous entry I gave the Cornell-supplied genus of Petrochelidon. I'm not sure which name is now most commonly used.

swallows ~ 05/10/10 ~ El Estero

barn swallow
Hirundo rustica

cliff swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

tree swallow
Tachycineta bicolor

where a violet-green swallow was
Tachycineta thalassina

Seeing four species of swallows at Lake El Estero was an unexpected delight. They were everywhere! Why do they fly so close to you as you're walking? I was hoping to take a picture of a night heron in a tree when I found these swallows seemingly soaking up the late afternoon sun. Truth be told, I have never looked up the different kinds of swallows before these pictures. Dunno, it was easy to simply call them swallows and leave it at that, especially when they fly so freakin' fast. For a fun pic of a barn swallow nest from last year while we were on a camping trip north, check out this travel post from Oregon.

I once banded cliff swallows, if you can believe considering I am definitely not an avid birder. I did not like the experience at all. An ornithologist fellow (can't remember his name now, but he was very pleasant) and I set up a mist net across the underside of a road bridge. I cringed at how the swallows were caught and struggled for their lives to free themselves from the net while babies chirped from the nests nearby. The trapped swallows eventually sorta hung there, tangled in the net, looking pitiful. Then I had to grab them, extricate them from the netting, and crimp a ridiculous metal ring to their leg. I hoped I wasn't using too small a hole on the pliers-like device for clamping. Their legs felt so fragile. I was bitten several times while whispering to the little, warm, rapid-heart beating bodies, "I'm so sorry to do this to you." Nope, I won't go banding again anytime soon. It's not for me.

Actually, we headed to El Estero this evening for 3 reasons: 1) french fries nearby 2) look for juvenile American coots (after seeing what they looked like online, I'm really excited to see one in person 3) and get off our stinkin' computers and go outside.

Steller's jay ~ 05/08/10 ~ J's place

Steller's jay
Cyanocitta stelleri

This pic was taken at a friend's house across town. It's more of a forest setting over there on the ocean side of the peninsula. I've never seen any Steller's by our place.

We have the pesky scrub-jays... and, yes, I'm still offering peanuts to them when they ask. Don't know if that was a good idea since there's this one scrub-jay in particular who stares in at me through the window, not-quietly waiting for me to go outside.

wordless Wednesday #1