From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Well guys, here we are, at the end of the year, end of the decade in fact. A few things before I get it poppin. 1: I haven't forgetten to blog, I've just been lazy. 2, which I think I announced this in an unfinished blog post: I'm going on a cruise in April 2020, to the islands of Jamaica, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. I'll talk about that more in the upcoming first annual year recap. Basically birds, birds, birds. Cool birds like Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo. Anyways, lets get into this thang. Ajo. It's probably more fire in the summer than all the songs I listen to. However, it's winter now, so it's shockingly cold. So, what's in Ajo? Nothing if you're not a birder, except for a golf course. Which means something besides golf to us bird nerds. Guess what showed up there? A Blue-headed Vireo. Some were bold enough to call it a bright Cassin's Vireo. Caleb and I made plans the 16th to go chase it on the 17th. He also brought up the idea of a trip to California afterwards. the drive was about 2 hours from my house, and we played the entire Trilliam 1 album by Aha Gazelle for a portion of the drive. Upon getting out of the car, I initially thought 'it's not really that cold' I took that back a minute later. It was the high temperature of 34 degrees, which is just 2 degrees above freezing. Even the ground was frosty. we did loops around the general area the BHVI had been seen, without any sign of it. I did find a frozen puddle though... Even more amazing, at long last, I actually got a good photo of a Gila Woodpecker (GIWO). This is a female as she doesn't have the cute little crimson cap. It's taken me a while, but this picture is really nice- the vibe even looks cold & crisp (also the lighting is nice). Here's a GHOW hoo might attack you if you stare at it too long. GHOW give you the OW. Yellow-rumped Warbler is another birb that has been a wait for a decent photo. Not quite 5 stars, but this pic rewards the patience well enough. We also saw a Myrtle YRWA in the same tree. Another good bird we had at the GC was a cismontanus Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU). unfortunately we dipped on the vireo, but we had more day left to see a really nice bird. We had a second cismontanus boi at a spot in Buckeye. Maybe you remember that time I had it as a yard bird in Glendale. To be honest it's kind of an ugly subspecies... We didn't see anything really good until we got to Hazen Road, where Ruddy Ground-Doves have wintered. Sure enough we found this female that was chilling with an Inca Dove. While it wasn't a lifer, it was only my 2nd one for life plus the first time getting to observe & enjoy. This ground-dove looks a lot like a small Mourning Dove, but it gives off a friendly vibe. Cool fact: It's round. The RUGD is much more common in Mexico, but Hazen Road has been a wintering paradise for up to a dozen individuals for the past few years. This is the western subspecies, which just so happens to have dull colored females, which isn't the case in the eastern population. Basically western males are identical to eastern females, and eastern males are a really rich pink-brown color (some might say ruddy). And that's the end of this part of the post, but we just getting started. I finished 2019's birding in probably the best way I possibly could. Early Morning of the 18th, Caleb & Tommy came to my house to pick me up. We were going to San Diego, California! (first the Salton Sea) It was about a 4 hour drive to get to the north side of Salton, where we started the day off looking for a Black-headed Gull that has been wintering in the area for years. This was my first time birding California beyond the border, so that fact made the trip pretty significant. Also significant were a group of Hooded Mergansers (HOMEs): it was my first time seeing adults in the wild. the male HOME is one of the most beautiful ducks, and has a really cool display. For real, this tiny merg will always remain a favorite. In the background are American White Pelicans. At the spot we met a group of friendly dogs, one of them was a particular pupper. Everytime a pet her she jumpy jumped around and waggy wagged the taily tail. Tommy and I really enjoyed her cutie cute presence. I didn't take pictures of the pupper with my camera cuz I didn't have many pictures left so I had to limit my non-bird pics, but I have some on my phone I can add later. Anyways here's my first decent picture of an American White Pelican. Everybody's surprised they're found away from the ocean, but tbh I'm smh rn ngl. AWPE is a really massive bird, one of the largest flying birds actually, with a 10 ft. wingspan and weighing up to 30 lbs. It breeds on inland lakes in northern states, and obtains striking alternate plumage during summer: a large nob in the center of the upper mandible, bright orange-red pouch, and long plumes on the nape/rear crown. I've only seen them in basic plumage, which is still a beautiful bird. Our best bird we received was Yellow Warbler, which is only good for the season. I miss the pupper already. Our next location was a campground at the north shore of the Salton Sea for a rare duck from Asia. The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, and the surface is over 200 ft. below sea level. The shore around it is made of salt deposits, barnacles, and fish bones. The water is very salty, so not much lives in it. To the north and south of the sea are miles and miles of agricultural fields. To the west are multiple mountain ranges, including the San Bernardinos in the north, and Mnt. Laguna southwest of it. There was a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls in the cove that had our target duck (hopefully). The flock of loud BOGUs flushed a few times, disturbing the teal. We searched for maybe 30 minutes trying to find it within a large flock of Blue-winged Teal. We actually found it foraging with a few BWTE on the shore where we were looking for most of the time. What is it though? Our target was a duck a long way from home: the Garganey. It is in the same genus as BWTE, CITE, and NOSH: Spatula. An alternate male is a very striking small duck; a broad white supercilium, blue-white flanks with fine vermiculation, a brown head, and breast with a fine scaly pattern. The bluish wings have black plumes with white central stripes. It kinda looks like if you flipped the colors around on a Blue-winged Teal. Our bird is an adult female, which has a unique facial pattern that is only similar to Indian/Eastern Spot-billed Ducks, and Pacific Black Duck. A question though: can you find it in this digiscope view? While observing the GARG Caleb pointed out a Black-bellied Plover- my first shorebird lifer in a while. BBPL I could've easily seen in Alaska or even Arizona, but I never did. I was hoping my lifer would be a gorgeous spring bird, but I'm fine with this dull gray creature. I was most likely going to see a lot more on this trip. If you see a bird that looks just like BOGU but it has a red bill there's a good chance it's a Black-headed Gull (BHGU). Here's the one really good shot I managed. It's one of the best common NA gulls right behind Heermann's because it's hooded and is very tern-like. Black-legged Kittiwake is just as cool. You guys hear me saying "one of" a lot. That's because most birds I've seen aren't the best of the best. Arctic Tern is one of the few exceptions. Behold. It took a while but the Garganey came close enough to be above identifiable. It is the smallest Spatula duck as far as I know, at 14 inches (same size as Green-winged Teal) and has a very normal-shaped bill. Even from a distance the contrasting facial pattern is diagnostic. It is found across Asian and Europe in the Nearctic region, wintering in central Africa (European birds) and southeast Asian (Asian birds). In NA it is considered code 4, with quite a few records from both coasts but also a number in the Midwest. GARG was my 433rd lifer. Tommy and I were enjoying the GARG when I got a call from Caleb: "I got a Black Scoter". I grabbed my scope to rush over to my boy. From a distance the Black Scoter looks like a Ruddy Duck. Adult males are completely black with a yellow-orange nob on the bill. The puffy white cheeks contrasting with a dark crown is diagnostic for this species. BLSC is pretty significant since it's my last scoter, and one I looked for for the past few years. I really should've seen one while I lived in Alaska, but that wasn't the case. The BLSC has 2 populations in NA: one that summers in Alaska & northwest Canada, wintering on the Pacific coast; and one that summers in eastern Canada (primarily Quebec), wintering on the Atlantic coast. A similar species lives in Western Europe called Common Scoter; it has a black nob plus some yellow on the upper mandible. San Bernardino Mts (3 Surf Scoters in the foreground) Mt. San Jacinto (peak of the San Bernardinos). I went back to the cove where the Blue-winged Teal were actually blue-winged. And I refound the GARG! Look at that drip though... Tommy and I really enjoyed the Garganey Caleb all by himself. It was fun watching the GARG lead a pack of BWTEs. Here's an ok comparison between females of the 2 species. While Caleb was with us the flock of scoters flew in, including the Black Scoter (to the right of the others) If only it was in focus... We eventually had to leave the Garganey to explore a 2 mile stretch of shoreline. We scored with another primarily Asian duck: a very distant young male Eurasian Wigeon. It was very distant at first and it took me a while to actually spot it. The flock of wigeons flew off before we could get close. That bird was my 4th EUWI I've seen in my life. I'm not sure if it was just my first time visiting, but the Salton Sea is just eerie. For starters, it's a giant salty lake in the middle of the hottest desert, and on one rock, you'll see words praising God, and on one nearby, you could see satanic stuff. For example, after birding another area of shoreline I saw a triangular rock with the illuminati symbol. could be kids messing around, could be an actually insane person, ya never know here at the Salton. I mean, it's pretty far away from any major city. It's also dangerous to live there because there's radioactive crap. So yeah the SS is sort of unsettling. A juvenile Reddish Egret flying by was epic though, my 2nd for life! Mt. San Jacinto dramatically rises 10,000 ft above the sea, adding to the eerie atmosphere. The next few photos I took are pretty significant. for once, White-throated Swifts actually weren't unidentifiable blurs in my camera. I don't care that this isn't the best photo. The fact of the matter is: it's presentable. Don't tell me this bird doesn't have drip (as in don't tell me this bird doesn't have style). Not only is it a sky-tesla, but look at the tux! This is among the fastest birds in the world. WTSW= bomber plane, OSPR= cargo plane. I can't take myself seriously sometimes. After that excursion we discussed where we'd be going next. Tommy and I both had mountain birds on our minds, and Caleb agreed. It was a long drive through desolate crap, but eventually we were driving through Ponderosa Pine, Jeffery Pine, and Bigcone Douglas-Firs. We stopped at an adorable lake where we came across this blackbird. It's not a Red-winged Blackbird, it's the endangered Tricolored Blackbird- a species mostly found in California. Similar to Red-winged, it has red shoulders, but a white instead of buffy-yellow bar below that. The females are also much darker. The conifer it's perched on is a Jeffery Pine. Male Brewer's Blackbird looks pretty nice. We arrived at Paso Picacho CG for the main show of mountain birds. Above is my lifer Oak Titmouse (Cali's Juniper Titmouse). Purple Finch was yet another lifer, and it completed the Haemorhous (House & Cassin's) trifecta for me. All females, which at least look better than female HOFI, but the males are really pretty, resembling Eurasian rosefinches the most out of the 3 species. From this grainy of a photo, you might think you can't definitely call this a PUFI. You can. The bill is huge, with a rounded culmen (that combo eliminates CAFI, which has a huge triangular bill, and HOFI, with a smaller rounded bill). Then there's the 2 broad white stripes on the face plus dark auriculars, and very crisp streaking (broader than CAFI but not blurred gray in-between like HOFI). The final characteristic is almost no streaking on the undertail coverts. I also received a mammal lifer: a few Black-tailed Deer. A cooperative Mountain Chickadee foraging in a Coast Live-Oak was the definition of a borb. a bird orb. I don't have to tell you that he's very round. I wish I could've patted his puffy head. Just like in AZ, Acorn Woodpeckers were abundant. The difference is pacific birds have 15 percent longer bills. A new tree for me was California Incense-Cedar Surprisingly these are my first photos of Steller's Jay that you can actually see most of the jay. I'm hoping to get really lit pics in AZ soon. These pacific birds lack the white eye-arcs and instead of white lines on the forehead they're blue lines. North-Pacific STJA are the darkest. CA Incense-Cedars in the foreground, Jeffery Pines in he back. Pacific ssp group of Hairy Woodpecker. I managed this poor shot of a Nutall's Woodpecker (CA's version of Ladder-backed). Another accomplishment was seeing Sugar Pine up close. It's the best pine, period. It's actually the tallest pine in the world (over 300 ft. sometimes). It's also in the white pine species complex (which seems to attract more birds than other complexes). The pinecones are also the longest of all pines. (up to 26 inches). Lastly, the excessive sap crystals on the end of the cone scales are the reason it has its name. I had a few unphotographed lifers at the campground as well: California Scrub-Jay, California Quail, and Mountain Quail. Cali Scrub-Jay I did photograph, but I deleted the pictures as they weren't that great (worse than the STJA) but mainly because I didn't have much pictures left on my memory card (so throughout the trip I had to delete bad photos). Cali Quail & Mountain Quail were both heard only. At this point my life list had 443 species (11 lifers on the 1st day!). On the way out of Paso Picacho this Band-tailed Pigeon posed on a snag. I'm happy I acquired a photo that shows all the field marks. This is a big pigeon. Unlike AZ birds, BTPIs in coastal states actually stay where they breed during the winter (some birds do move to lowland areas). Birds in AZ migrate to Mexico/Central America. By the time we got to San Diego, it was dark out, so we wouldn't bird it until next morning. We stayed at a motel with one bed: Tommy got the bed for half the night, Caleb slept on the floor, and I had a couch-chair for half the night (Tommy and I switched places). I woke up from half-sleep to Caleb whispering, "Jared, the Heermann's Gulls are calling your name." Tommy The Black Rail and Caleb The Boy assured me we'd see plenty of them at La Jolla Sea Watch, our first location of the day. They teased me on the way there by pointing out every Western Gull since before the trip I asked if we'd for sure see them. There was a group in the parking area that let me get super close so I took advantage of that. Western Gull (WEGU) is pretty much the most abundant bird on the pacific coast, and it is among the larger gulls. Its hefty shape, large bill, and dark gray mantle, and dark eayes combined differentiate it from other white-headed gulls. Juveniles are also hideous compared to juveniles of other species. Southern WEGUs have yellow irises with brown mottling, whereas ones in the north have dark brown irises (like Glaucous-winged). Speaking of, those 2 hybridize so much in the Pacific NW: hybrids are called Olympic Gull. Hybrids of Glaucous-winged X Herring are called Cook Inlet Gulls. 3rd Year WEGU. And what's that shorebird in the background? You'll find out soon. California Sea Lion was another new mammal for me. There was one male, a bunch of females, and 2 pups. Last WEGU I promise. The Pacific Ocean was a sight for sore eyes: the only open water I've seen for the past few years are so called lakes in the middle of the desert. The smell was refreshing too. I got kinda addicted to the crashing waves. I added another cormorant to my life list: Brandt's Cormorant. I eventually walked over to where they were nesting so I could get bomb looks/photos. With the cormorants was this rotund Black Turnstone (the shorebird I mentioned earlier). The moment you've been waiting for. I walked back over to Caleb & Tommy to get some targets before the light would be better for the BRCOs. Looking through the scope, I lifered on very distant Black-vented Shearwaters (the only shearwater you can regularly see from shore in southern Cali), and Heermann's Gulls. The shearwaters were tiny white dots. The Black Turnstone (BLTU) was still vibing with the BRCOs. BLTU breeds in Western Alaska, wintering along the pacific coast. Like the Ruddy Turnstone, it has a striking wing pattern. They're also called turnstones for a reason. Fnally, a decent photo of Snowy Egret taken by yours truly. They were cool enough to do courtship displays multiple times. Man though, I did not expect to get such bangers of these beautiful birds. The cliff they were nesting on was adjacent to the sidewalk, so I was just feet away from them. They are the best looking cormorant, change my mind. Brandt's Cormorants are found from SE AK, to Baja California. These birds dive into the ocean to catch fish, so their plumage is watertight. Its species name- penicillatus, refers to the stiff white plumes it has during alternate plumage. Adult Brown Pelican in alternate plumage. Black Turnstone looking so mad. Cute Cali Sea Lion pupper. Tommy and I wanted to get some photos of nearby Allen's Hummingbirds, which was another lifer. So we walked down a path that went through a garden/lawn with some bright red flowers that attracted quite a few hummers. Allen's Hummer is the last Selasphorus hummer that I needed to complete the buffy-flanked squad, and my 6th new hummer this year. It's extremely similar to Rufous Hummingbird, with minor differences in the tail shape and back coloration. ALHU has thinner rectrices than RUHU, and more green on the back, especially the rump. The latter feature is on average, while the tail is considered the best way when disregarding distribution. Speaking of which, these lil homies are endemic to California & Oregon, wintering in south-central Mexico (except birds in southern Cali). They also migrate through SEAZ, sometimes wandering to the Gulf Coast like RUHU the light shining through the sunset-colored rectrices was really cool, and would've been epic if it spread the entire tail. Of course I had to visit the cormorants one last time. Song Sparrow - subspecies heermanni. The moment you've been waiting for. This is a Heermann's Gull: The Littest Gull in The West. You can literally see every major field mark on it despite being in a less than decent photo. A red bill, *almost* completely black wingtips, light gray underside, and a black tail. More importantly, Tommy and Caleb were wrong. This was the closest and last Heermann of the day, and saying "Here man" didn't make it come closer so yeah. I'm a cow. I'll do some quick life history on it anyways: It is a gull. In the genus Larus (white-headed gulls). They breed almost exclusively on Isla Rasa, in the Gulf of California, Baja, Mexico. However, they disperse all across the pacific coast from southwestern BC to over halfway down Mexico. This gull is epic- I'm looking forward to the better pictures next time I go to Cali. Adios, La Jolla Cove: with your dank sea lions and lit cormorants, you will be missed. Our next stop was Kendall-Frost Marsh Preserve, where I finally lifered on distant Brants & Black Skimmers. This is the best photo of Black Skimmers. Ever. You can also easily see the ducks in the photo are ducks. We were mainly at the marsh to see Nelson's Sparrow, but the low tide wasn't in our favor. nonetheless I enjoyed the Black Skimmers through my scope, even seeing the distinct short upper mandible. I should get better views/photographs on a cruise that is literally just a few months away. Next we pulled up to a Baseball Field adjacent to San Diego River Tidal Mudflats for a Rusty Blackbird: a rare bird in the west (but one I already have it, because Alaska boi!) On our way there Black-bellied Plovers were abundant on the soccer fields. A close Whimbrel was a bit more appealing than the distant Rusty, so I focused my attention on this odd lifer. With it was a much larger curlew species: Long-billed Curlew (the largest regularly occurring shorb in the ABA) Even though it was a very overdue lifer, I couldn't help but hope the rump would be buffy-orange in flight (a feature of the much rarer Bristle-thighed Curlew). Not this time. The Whimbrel was very skittish, so photos were challenging, but I turned out getting this one. You can see bristles on the thighs just like you would on a Bristle-thighed Curlew. Whimbrels are a very widespread shorebird; breeding in Alpine Tundra & arctic circle of North America & Eurasia; wintering along the coast of every continent except Antarctica. While the common name is funny, the latin name is much more intriguing. The genus name- Numenius - means "New Moon", which refers to the the cresent shaped beak. This bird looks dank honestly. Long-billed Curlew In the parking lot, we found the Rusty Blackbird eating a croissant. He do be looking kinda fresh though. Rusty is usually a negative connotation, but this bird wears it well. It is one of the most beautiful birds in basic plumage. In Alaska I saw my lifers at Reflections Lake, where its unique song rang all over the place. Rusty Blackbird is a threatened species, which is why in my home county of Matanuska-Susitna, dring the summer, they do surveys to count them. We took a break from the RUBL to scan the tidal mudflats, which turned out to be rewarding. Here's a hideous picture of my 4th Egretta species: Little Blue Heron. The picture's terrible, but my views through the scope were pretty nice, and man it's a stunning bird. This is another species I should see plenty of on the upcoming cruise. A sketch I did of this species back in February. Black-bellied Plover in basic plumage. I'll see them in their gorgeous alternate plumage this April. Marbled Godwit (MAGO) Another Whimbrel; this time foraging on the tidal mudflats. "Takin' off like: N R O O O O M !" (Willet) For whatever reason the shorebirbs got startled and flew through the ravine. This picture shows 3 uncommon species that I had in AZ in one day: REEG (upper left), MAGO (furthest right), and WILL (left of MAGO and one flying left of the REEG). The remaining bird is Black-bellied Plover (BBPL). My only picture of an American Crow. He was vibing with the blackbirds. Tommy and I were accommodated by a very tame RUBL this time around.
At this point the post is so long it is getting very difficult to add photos & text (loads really slowly and won't go in the freaking correct spot). On top of that the vertical line in front of text isn't appearing so it's throwing me off. In short, I'm splitting this into 2 parts.
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8/1/2022 08:43:16 pm
Instagram takipçi satın almak artık hem hızlı hem de kolay. 7 24 aktif adresimizde sizler için kusursuz paketler yer alıyor. Daha fazlası için adresimizi ziyaret edebilirsiniz.
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About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
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