What a nice morning to be out! It was 37 degrees at
7:30, which seemed cold in comparison to how warm it's been. It warmed
up pretty nicely during the morning as the sun danced through the
clouds. The wind didn't pick up until we were through. And IT'S
SPRING, according to the wrens, chickadees, sparrows, Indian Plum, and
some willows. Singing constantly filled the air.
Highlights:
Greater White-fronted Goose At least 1 with flyover Canadas
Green Heron Same spot at Rowing Club pond
Barn Owl Scott had one early along road
Belted Kingfisher Eating salamander at Rowing Club
Red-breasted Sapsucker Next to park office in Sequoia
Hairy Woodpecker Working elm(?) west of mansion
Northern Shrike North of grass fields 7-8-9
Cedar Waxwing More than a dozen in East Meadow
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 at Rowing Club
Singing birds included BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, BEWICK'S WREN, MARSH
WREN, SONG SPARROW, and HOUSE FINCH. It's amazing "how many more
Bewick's Wrens there are" once they begin singing. Almost certainly
just a sampling artifact - they go from quiet skulkers to active
yodelers.
We had a nice mixed flock of about a dozen PINE SISKINS mixed with a
similar number of AMERICAN GOLDFINCH that gave us good looks.
Some GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS got thoroughly ticked off when I played my
iPod at them for about 30 seconds. They gave a great show of their
crowns.
At least a couple of Indian Plums were blooming, as were some willows.
The non-native hazelnuts are already dropping catkins. Alders are in
bloom, if you can call it that. Ain't it great?
For the day, 56 species. Nothing new for the year, though.
== Michael
Ollie Oliver caught some of the majesty of the sunrise
Double-crested Cormorants fly to the lake
Gadwall pair on the slough
American Goldfinches
Pine Siskin (right) with American Goldfinches
Lillian Reis's photo of a Pine Siskin shows the yellow wing-stripe well
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Song Sparrow. Photo by Scott Ramos
Cedar Waxwing photo by Ollie Oliver
Red-breasted Sapsucker. Photo by Hugh Jennings
Red-breasted Sapsucker. Photo by Ollie Oliver
Hairy Woodpecker photo by Ollie Oliver
Belted Kingfisher eating a salamander or newt, at the Rowing Club
Green-winged Teal posturing, at the Rowing Club
Moon portrait by Scott Ramos
"Sun feather" by Scott Ramos
Blooming Indian Plum (Oso Berry)
Strange but beautiful clouds