Wild Bird Wednesday: San Jacinto Wildlife Sanctuary

Towards the latter part of our Spring Break week, the weather took a turn from unseasonably hot (90s+) to cool and rainy.  We took a chance on heading back down the mountain to check out a wildlife area that I had seen mentioned many times on the Facebook California Birders page - I was even lucky enough to meet up with some locals who knew the area well and helped us get on to some great birds.  The skies were gray, but the rain held off long enough for me to add two new species to my life list in addition to some regularly seen species.  This area is just far enough from where I live to make it not do-able on a regular basis which is a shame, but I'm so glad I got to at least check it out this time so I can plan some future trips with maybe an overnight stay to cut down on the driving.

After getting shut out on male Red-winged Blackbirds at Lake Fulmor, I finally got some cooperation at San Jacinto.  They were everywhere!

Most of the water/shore birds had already migrated out, but we did find a few:

One solitary Gadwall cruising around...

...a few Avocets like this one were showing their breeding plumage...

...as well as a few Killdeer.

Usually, I can't get the right angle and light for White-faced Ibis to show up as anything other than dark olive green and I assumed this icky overcast day was going to be another such occasion so I was thrilled to show how these shots came out!

Had JUST enough light through the clouds to spark up the plumage colors in these birds. 

This bird is JUST starting to show the "white face" that it is named for.

I might have to put down the camera for a bit and pick up the beads to design some pieces inspired by this color scheme.

It was about this time that the people who were showing me around received a text from another birder inviting us all to come see something special!

A Great Horned Owl's nest...with two owlets in it!  Between the wind, the rain and the scraggly nest, I was hard put to find a decent angle, but in this one you can see the two owlets peering through the greenery (one is right behind and higher up than the other) and mom is to the right of them...you can see her feather "tufts" sticking up.

Mom is more hidden in this shot behind branches, but the owlets are more visible on the left.  We stayed as long as we could until the worsening weather and a desire not to overly stress Momma Owl forced us away.  What a great addition to my life list!

That wasn't my only owl encounter for the day!  We drive to a nearby location where Burrowing Owls had been found previously and, despite massive construction with dozers and earth movers going on right on the other side of that chain link fence...we located one owl (although there were several burrows all along this dirt bank).

I was shocked to see this little guy had stuck around despite all the chaos happening within a few feet of his burrow, but we all wondered how much longer he will stay.  It was a thrill to add this bird to my life list as I had previously only seen them in zoos or rehab raptor presentations.

San Jacinto had one last gift to give us on our way out of the park.  Not a new bird - in fact, one I see almost every day.  However, probably the most beautiful setting and best set of photos I have taken to date:

As we drove out of the park, this magnificent Red-tailed Hawk was perched perfectly on this boulder in the middle of a field.

Normally, they prefer to perch on freeway signs or streetlights...so any photo has those urban markers in it and is not always so pretty.

When I have managed to find one in a tree, they've either been too high up or partially hidden by leaves/branches.

This guy was right at the level of my car window and didn't seem to mind that we stopped to admire him for so long.  The brown bands on the tail (rather than the "red" that the name indicates) leads me to believe this is a juvenile bird.

San Jacinto is truly spectacular and I hope I can manage to get back there soon...with birding like this...who cares about the long drive?!

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday - Lake Fulmor

While in Idyllwild, we made two trips to Fulmor Lake because my son wanted to try his hand at fishing.  He's just learning and I thought this small lake would be a great place for him to practice while I scoped out the birding opportunities.  It's a beautiful spot, but neither of us would have much luck there.

On our first trip, I was so focused on getting our lunch and all his fishing gear packed and into the car that it wasn't until we arrived at the lake that I realized....I forgot my camera.  Of course, that was the day that birds were everywhere!  Red-winged blackbirds sitting right on the dock railing within inches, Chickadees and Tree Swallows filling the branches, ducks on the lake, etc.  So frustrating. 

Ryan was equally frustrated with the fishing as he lost several lures to the overhanging trees and never got a bite.  So, together, we hatched a plan to come back very early the next morning in hopes that the fish would be more cooperative and I would remember my camera.

We got up early the next morning and headed out to the lake.  This is a view of the trail that runs down one side.

Although the flashy male Red-winged Blackbirds had been abundant the day before and I could hear them singing everywhere, they were staying hidden deep in the reeds this morning.  I did get a few shots of this female.

The girls are not nearly as exciting to look at as the males, though.  Most of the rest of the birds stayed WAY up at the tops of the VERY tall trees making good shots nearly impossible.  Those that did come down were in heavy shade.  I saw Tree Swallows, Mountain Chickadees, and one Robin.  Did not get a good shot of ANY of them.

Finally, this Yellow-rumped Warbler took pity on me and came down from the heights for a few seconds.

He looks a little scruffy in this shot...not sure if he's molting or if it's just the camera angle.  I'm kinda partial to these guys as it was one of these birds that sparked my interest in bird watching/photography just about a year ago when it showed up at my back yard feeder.  They are nearly all gone from my home neighborhood now and won't be back until fall.

About this time, Ryan announced that he was ready to go after another frustrating attempt at fishing.  We had to have the whole "that's why it's called 'fishing' and not 'catching'" talk and that we saw many fishermen there who were older and more experienced who also didn't get even a nibble.  Then I promised him pancakes for breakfast when we got back to the cabin and that restored a smile to his face.

As for birding, I would have loved to make a third visit to see if my observations that the birds are very active in the morning, but stay up high in the tree tops and come out lower down later in the day would hold true.  Unfortunately, the weather would take a turn for the worse after this day so we didn't make it back to the lake to test out my idea.

KJ

 

Wild Bird Wednesday - Idyllwild Birds Part 3

Okay, it's possible that I may have spent a little TOO much time taking bird photos while in Idyllwild.  I'm still only halfway through reviewing them.  Here are a few more of the highlights:

 

 

 

 

One of the new birds I came across during the trip was the Pygmy Nuthatch.  Smaller than the White-Breasted that I was familiar with, these tiny birds were frequent visitors to the feeder.

 

 

 

They liked both the suet and the sunflower seeds.  Apologies for the extreme cropping on the left - I was shooting between the bars of the deck railing.

 

 

 

 

Here he is on a branch with his prize sunflower seed.  He proceeded to wedge it into a crack in the bark and then repeatedly hammer at it with his beak to get it open.

 

 

 

 

Enjoying some post-meal sunshine.

 

 

 

 

Late in the afternoon got an unusual visitor - one Black-headed Grosbeak.  At this time, they were just starting to migrate in for Spring - this is the first one I have seen this year.

 

 

It was almost sunset so I was starting to lose the light, but wasn't sure I'd see this guy any more so I kept shooting anyway.

 

 

 

He stuck around long enough to serenade us from the top of this tree for a while.  Never saw a female or heard any responses, though.  He might be a bit early.

 

 

KJ

 



Wild Bird Wednesday - More Birds from Idyllwild

I'm still sorting through all the photos I took on vacation.  It's a good thing I only spend a couple of hours each day sitting on the deck photographing the birds...if I'd done any more, I'd be sorting photos 'til Christmas :-)

Dark-eyed Juncos fall near the top of my list of "common, easy-to-find, but devilish hard to get a good photo of" birds.  It's bad enough they have those dark eyes against dark head feathers, but they also are fast movers and typically like to hang out on the ground at the base of trees or bushes which means they are perpetually in deep shade.  I managed to get one quick shot of this guy up on a brand and ALMOST in the light.

Last week's post already had the Oak Titmouse in it, but darn it...they are so cute that I couldn't resist a few more photos!

Especially since he condescended to pose so nicely for me with no branches in the way or anything.

Prior to this trip, I'd seen exactly ONE White-Breasted Nuthatch...and that was over at the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in the Saddleback Mountains.  I don't ever see them over here closer to the coast.  They sure were out in abundance in Idyllwild, though.

And very happy to help themselves to sunflower seeds and they try to conceal them in the tree bark.

There were at least 4 of these birds all running up and down this tree trunk just of the edge of the deck.  They have high squeaky little voices like you would expect from a mouse.

Here's one showing off the classic Nuthatch posture.

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday - Birding in Idyllwild

Just returned from a wonderful Spring Break week in Idyllwild, CA.  For those not familiar with the area, it's a small community in the local mountains about 1.5 hours away from my home.  Quiet, peaceful, away from suburbia and full of birds.  The house we rented came complete with a bird feeder on the back deck facing the forest.  I filled it up with black oil sunflower seeds and a block of suet and spent the rest of the week watching all the birds come and go and interact with each other.  It was fascinating.

I'll be sharing more pics over the next few weeks, but here are the first few:

The Steller's Jays were the first to arrive.  They are big and noisy, but so much fun to watch.  We had some extra treats for them...peanuts in the shell.  They would swoop in, take one and fly off to a nearby branch or rock to crack the shell.

Although slightly smaller than the Jays, the Acorn Woodpeckers were clearly the dominant bird in the area.  The other birds would always move out of the way for them and while they mostly got along, there turned out to be one species that the Woodpeckers would actively attack...I'll share more about that in a future post.

Have to love that flaming red head in the sun!

Small, shy and oh-so-fast, the Oak Titmouse was a lifer for me (we don't see them much near the coast) and became one of my favorites to watch.  Unlike the other birds who would stay on the feeder for a while, this bird would zoom in, grab one seed, and zoom off again.  It was responsible for most of my deleted photos - shots of an empty railing or feeder where there WAS a bird when I pressed the shutter button.

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday: Whimbrel

Although beach fog and overcast are not ideal for taking pictures, there's just something so iconic about a foggy California beach morning.  Whenever I see that certain background to a photo...I can immediately see and feel exactly what the conditions were like.  One foggy morning, I was taking photos of gulls and turnstones at Main Beach (or as the rest of the world calls it Laguna Beach) when I spotted this foursome of odd-looking birds running around.  Long, down-curved bills...but not as long as those of a Curlew.  This turned out to be my first encounter with Whimbrels.

Here are two of the four...showing those distinctive beaks.

We'd had a lot of heavy surf earlier in the week, and in this shot's background you can see some of our California kelp forest that has been pulled loose and washed up on shore.

All of that debris makes a great attraction for bugs for the Whimbrels to eat.

One of this bird's other distinctive field marks (as if that beak wasn't enough) is that center stripe on the crown of its head.

I had a hard time actually getting just one bird in the frame - they all bunched quite closely together most of the time.  I thought this behavior was interesting as I'm used to seeing larger shore birds like Curlews and Willets have a little more space between themselves and other birds.

This one of the four was a bit braver than the others about the water so when he ventured a little closer to it, I was able to get a few shots of him alone.

This one shows that crown stripe pretty well, too.

And then his buddies came to test out the water, too, to see what all the fuss was about. 

Unfortunately, a few minutes after this, some people let their dog off leash and sent it barreling down the beach and that was the end of bird photography for that morning.  So, I headed off to grab breakfast.  Saw these birds at this same beach one more time a couple of weeks after this and have not seen them since.

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday - Spotted Towhee

I often hear Spotted Towhees, but getting a good shot of them is usually tough.  They like to hide in the center of trees or, when on the ground, they scoot deep under bushes.  I managed to get lucky one day last year and get these few shots.

Their red eyes are particularly striking.

I found this guy by listening for his call...

...it's one of the few that I have learned to identify by ear.

He gave me one last look at those crazy eyes and then he was gone.

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday - Green Heron

Last summer, I came around a corner and surprised this beautiful Green Heron.  Usually, when I do that, the bird flies off, but this one was cooperative and stayed to pose for a while.

These birds have such beautiful colors and markings...

...and yet they still blend perfectly into their environment.

Even the orange legs don't look out of place.

They are also able to freeze into stillness for such long periods of time and then move ever so slowly while stalking prey...and then BAM! they strike like lightning.

KJ