X-Men Remix

I had a good morning in the Dotson Family Marsh today, not the morning I'd hoped for as there wasn't any more water in the marsh than in December even though it rained just a few days ago. Almost the first thing I saw was an Osprey with a fish, carrying it aerodynamically in this instance. That was the start of a nice raptor list, not only the White-tailed Kites that I think breed there but a Northern Harrier and a beautiful male American Kestrel that that sat on the bridge railing until a runner went by. After the Osprey I watched the colorful combination of Western Bluebirds and Yellow-rumped Warblers in bushes and on the ground. So many Yellow-rumped Warblers! There were ducks in the large pond by the bridge, fives species of dabbling duck and, unsurprisingly, a couple of Bufflehead. They are so tiny that they don't need much depth for diving. Best bird was nine (9) Wilson's Snipe camouflaged in the weeds beside a shallow pond. I might not have noticed them had not one flushed, prompting me to look at where they'd flushed from, whereupon I saw one, and then another, and another, and another.... Seeing Snipe is often that way, they're hidden in the weeds but once you see one, you keep finding more. ( The list: )

The Red-shouldered Hawk really kept me waiting. Not until I was almost back to the eucalyptus did they start to yell. Such restraint!

We're apparently in for a series of storms here, and with U and Chris away I said I'd go up yesterday as usual if it didn't rain. But it did, desultorily, all day with a break forecast for after 3pm, so I went up then to see what Wildcat Creek and Jewel Lake were like. There was a good deal of water but nowhere near what I'm hoping for if the rain does in fact continue for another week. Unsurprisingly, given the hour and the weather, there were very few birds to hear or see, mostly corvids and juncos. ( A very short list: )

I don't think the rain every really stopped and I got a bit damp. I was only there about an hour and didn't think I got chilled, but when I got home I had a very hard time getting warm. ( physical blather ) Tomorrow there should be a real break, and I very much hope to go out.

Yesterday was a complete loss, but all I can do is keep trying. Today I parked at the Loop Road gate just before 9 expecting to walk to up to the road near the Lake, back south by the Boardwalk, Lower Packrat to the Lake, and return on Loop Road. However there was a whole squad of firemen with a noisy pumptruck laying hoses and carrying blowtorches; the huge piles of brush from the earlier clear up are finally being burned. Since I didn't want to walk back up through all the men and equipment, and recalling that it had rained since I did Lower Packrat last Monday and I wasn't confident the trail would be passable anyway, I took the Boardwalk and the service road back up to Loop Road and called it a day. It was quiet in general, nothing specially interesting occurred, and I didn't get a look at the Lake at all. Maybe there was more activity there. ( The list: )

I'll be there again on Monday unless the forecast rain actually transpires.

I made a third, failed attempt to see the Green-tailed Towhee at Damon Slough but as so often, there were good birds and I enjoyed myself. The tide was about half down and there were an overwhelming number of shorebirds. I did not make a list for the seasonal wetlands, where there were a few ducks but a great many Long-billed Dowitchers, all of whom flew over to the mud along the Slough where I was standing. I id'd them, Long-billed versus Short-billed, by call, comparing their calls to Sibley's recordings. I don't think they are often id'd by sight; in the hand, sure, but not in the field. Weirdly, it didn't occur to me at the time to check merlin, although later I noticed that it agreed. Scattered amongst the Dowitchers were a few Willets, Marbled Godwits, American Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts, and this was just a peripheral feeding area. When I'd given up on the Green-tailed Towhee I walked over to the viewing platform that looks out on a large expanse of freshly uncovered mud, finding all those plus Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Black Turnstones, and Black-bellied Plovers, with an array of gulls and terns behind them. It was impressive. ( The list: )

I hope the rain this week will revive the Garretson Point seasonal wetland as well as Berkeley Meadow. I'm going to wait til next week to go and see, though.

Despite good weather and a forty-one species list, the morning never quite made it to wonderful. No mixed flock, no phoebes, and the only raptor was a last-minute Turkey Vulture. The morning started with American Robins flying in from the East to the trees and snags on the ridge crest. They seemed to come in groups of ten, lots of chirping and some singing; I put the number at fifty, but there were probably many more. A couple of hours later, on return, there were only a few. We'll see how many there are down in Wildcat Canyon tomorrow. I also saw a small flock of Cedar Waxwings, also flying west. There have been so few this season. There was a new arrival, though, the first Tree Swallow I've had up there. ( The list: )

There were many frustrations (merlin a major source) but the worst was standing in the trail under a wooded hillside, hearing the sound of many small wings, and not being quick enough to see what flew over before they were behind the ridge. Red-winged Blackbirds, possibly, but I'll never know.