It's been four years since my last post. I've decided to resurrect the blog for yet another use. I've decided to stay off Facebook for the time being, but still want a place to post my photos and bird experiences. I'm thinking of doing a monthly post summarizing the experiences of the month. We'll see how it goes.
I started the new year with a decision to not list all my bird sightings on e-Bird. I felt this would help me to relax and just enjoy whatever nature present, rather than having my attention split by using an app in the field. So far, I'm very happy with the results.
Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Alameda Open Space
On January 3, I tested my "finding a needle in a haystack" skills, taking my scope to the river just south of Alameda Bridge to scan for rare gulls amidst the hundreds of Ring-Billed Gulls. I found a Herring Gull and this 1st year Lesser Black-Backed Gull, flanked by two Ring-Billed Gulls.
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Though I was pleased with this rare gull finding success, the bigger highlight of the day was watching 15 Common Mergansers fishing in the pond just south of the parking lot. There was only one breeding plumage male, who you can see clearly by his green head in the 2nd picture. At first I thought all 14 of the others were females. Studying some of the differences in plumage, I think some were 1st year, or non-breeding plumaged males. The third photo here shows four that I believe were males.
Bosque del Apache Christmas Bird Count, January 5
This was the first time I participated in this CBC, invited to join in with several folks from my wetlands/nature preserve survey team. I am not an early bird, so it was hard to head out so early in the dark and cold, but turned out to be a fun day with good people and good birds. Highlights included Wilson's Snipe, White-Throated Sparrow, several shorebirds, and this Great Horned Owl that we found roosting in a tree right outside our car window.
A single American Pipit foraging at the water's edge was pretty fun, too.
Climate Watch Survey-Los Poblanos Open Space
On January 10, I did my part for this biannual Audubon survey. Target birds: Bluebirds and Nuthatches. I've been doing this count at Los Poblanos for several years, and the count does not yield Bluebirds every time. This year, they did not disappoint, as I was able to find both Western and Eastern Bluebirds.
An American Kestrel was chasing a Say's Phoebe around in the same area as the Bluebirds
and a solitary Sandhill Crane foraged very near to me in a field just south of the garden area.
Black-Crowned Night Heron-Tingley Beach
January is often a good time to find Black-Crowned Night Herons taking advantage of the presumably stocked main fishing pond. But this January 14 was the first time I saw FIVE of them, all lined up on along the edge of the pond.
Sparrows: Los Poblanos and Tingley, January 28
It was a multi-sparrow day, including this Lincoln's Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow that perched together on a sunflower at Los Poblanos. Other Sparrows today included: White-Crowned, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Dark-Eyed Junco, and a beautiful White Throated Sparrow at Tingley Bosque.Getting good photos of both the Lincoln's and the Savannah made my day.
On my first pass by what I call the "raptor tree" at Los Poblanos, there were no raptors, but a gorgeous cloud background. On my 2nd pass, a Red-Tailed Hawk proved the name apt.
We had a good variety of ducks on our last survey of the month, January 29, including two of my favorites: one female Ruddy Duck and four Bufflehead.
A Very Cold Month
I can't leave this January summary without giving the weather its due. We finally experienced winter with some very frigid weather. This sometimes made it challenging to keep getting out there, but I'm glad for every day that I did!
