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Backlog of observations

Starting with today (April 25, 2021) and working backwards:

Today was distinctly not spring-like. We had rain over night and this morning at about 0730 it began to snow. It snowed until early afternoon, sticking on the ground and vegetation.  That said the low was about 36F with a high of about 40F.  Birds were active even during the snowfall.  I saw my first Black-headed grosbeaks for the year. During the day 2 males & 3 females. There also were Pine Siskins, Dark-eyed Juncos and Steller’s Jays at the feeders. I heard both Northern Flickers and Pileated Woodpeckers. A male Anna’s Hummingbird visited the feeder throughout the day.

Yesterday was so much more spring like. I saw my first Calypso Orchids and Henderson’s Shooting Stars along the driveway. Earlier this week the Hound’s Tongue started to bloom in a few clumps and I have seen a nice patch of Indian Warrior in the woods.  Along Highway 3 there are nice displays of Showy Phlox and False Lupine.

April 16-17 included a trip to the coast, staying in a cabin in a redwood grove.  Most notable there were Trillium blooming -- flowers ranging from white to a soft purple. I don’t think I’ve seen the purple petals.  Time was spent at Trinidad Beach and its tidepools, which were a treat. I can’t recall the last time I gazed into these biodiverse ecotones between sea and land.

I could and should write from all of March, but maybe not.

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Northern Pygmy Owl

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Northern Pygmy Owl

Maybe its the weather, but generally my remaining days of the Great backyard Bird Count were unremarkable until the afternoon of February 15th.  Until then, my count at home was dominated by the flock of Pine Siskins (and one each of a  Northern Flicker, Mtn Chickadee and raven).

That changed at about 3:00 PM when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird, larger and darker than a Pine Siskin< land in the snow bank just off the deck near the feeding flock of Pine Siskins.  I couldn’t see a head and then it clicked.....it was a tiny owl -- a Northern Pygmy Owl -- with a Pine Siskin in its talons on the snow.  I then saw its tiny yellow bill and got flashes of its “false eyes” blinking at me when it turned its face away.  It soon flew up into a nearby oak tree with its prey and sat there for about 10 minutes before flying off to eat. 

The Pine Siskins didn’t return to that spot the rest of the day.

This the second time I have seen a Northern Pygmy Owl on the property & in the exact same place in front of the house. They are generally diurnal and eaters of small birds.

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Great Backyard Bird Count 2021

February 12-15 is the Great Backyard Bird County (https://www.birdcount.org/). This year my efforts are confounded by the weather.  we’ve had a series of small storm fronts moving through, though I got a break on Saturday (Feb 13).

I went to Weaverville and did about 1 hr of birding at the Weaver Basin Wetlands. Typically I led a bird watching event there this weekend, but the COVID pandemic made that chancy. So I went alone. I got a mix of blue skies & heavy clouds with a strong breeze between 1330 -1430 hrs.  I didn’t see a great number or variety of birds (Scrub Jays, Turkey Vultures, Ravens, a sparrow species, Spotted Towhee).  But I also had two nice finds. The best was a Say’s Phoebe. This is only hear as an infrequent migrant. I can recall seeing a Say’s Phoebe one other time here.  Interestingly right  after spotting this wonderful bird, I saw its “cousin” the Black Phoebe.  Both were frequenting a cyclone fence and doing the typical flutter flight to catch insects.  I was able to take a couple of photos of the Say’s Phoebe to verify the identification.

At home, I have only seen Pine Siskins for the 3 days of the count, but seeing about 30 of them each day. Hopefully I’ll see some other species that have been around.

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Winter Feeder Activity

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Winter Feeder Activity

It has been about  3 weeks since my last entry.  We had some pretty good winter weather since then. Around January 26-27 we had about 2 feet of snow and a couple of smaller storms subsequently. There also was one big rainstorm (> 1 inch of rain). Now we are having some milder weather weather with day-time highs in the mid to upper 40s.  There are widening bare spots under the trees,, but the open ground is still covered in snow

Birds have been interesting -- both from the perspective of what I have seen and what I haven’t seen.  I have not been seeing chickadees (Mountain or Chestnut-backed) nor have there been Red-breasted Nuthatches. we hear them, but they don’t seem to come to the feeders.  I do see the usual Steller’s Jays, mostly at the suet feeder.  Also 1 Varied Thrush frequents the ground below the suet, feeding on the bits that fall to the ground. 

There also has been a large flock of Pine Siskins this winter. They started as a small flock  (< 10) and now the flock is 30+. They feed noisily on the ground, from the sunflower feeders, a sunflower head that I hung up and as of yesterday they have gotten the hang of suet feeders, too.  They only disappear when the snow is coming down very hard and thick.  Last year I saw Pine Siskins only 1 time and that was only briefly.

I also have seen a couple of Northern Flickers, but not at the feeders & I hear Ravens most days.

Douglas Squirrels are active, too. On February 7th I saw 3 at one time, all stuffing sunflower seeds into their cheeks and then running off to store them, presumably.

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Pine Siskins

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A New Year is here

January 17, 2020

Her in northern Trinity County the weather has been interesting. Last week we had a series of storms interspersed with mild days. The storms were wet, but not white. Today and yesterday have felt more like spring with highs pushing 50F.

Bird activity has been interesting, too. There has been very little activity at the feeders. I am still on the 1st suet block. There have rarely been red-breasted nuthatches, chickadees or Steller’s jays at the feeders. In fact this month I have seen 1 nuthatch & only 1 Mountain chickadee.  On the other hand, this seems like a big year for Pine Siskins.  Two weeks ago the first few arrived. Other birdfeeder friends said the same. Now I have a flock of 30+ every day. There also are flocks frequently in the middle of the highway (Hwy 3). I think they must be getting grit for their crops from the road cinder spread on icy days.  Ravens have been around all winter. I also keep seeing the silhouettes of small flocks of birds. They are a thrush, but I never get enough of a look to see if they are Robins or Varied Thrush.

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A White (and wet) Christmas

we awoke to rain waiting to be snow at about 0800 on Christmas morning. The forecast called for it to be snowing by 10AM, and by golly be jolly, at 10AM it turned into snow and stayed that way all day.   Not much else to report on the day. Going back a couple of days: I took the dogs for their afternoon walk. We returned to the house & I was getting ready to reward them . Arlo got very focused on the sky. I am used to the dogs fixating on ravens, but I heard no ravens. He was transfixed. I looked up and a Bald eagle was soaring high over head.

December 23rd I had to take the truck in for servicing in Redding. It was to be 4 hours, so I hoofed it over to the Turtle bay Museum/Sundial Bridge and Sacramento River trail. It was a gorgeous day, getting up to 60 sunny degrees. The trail is riverine, with large oaks in the uplands. The birds were a wonderful departure from my coniferous feathered friends. I saw a Yellow-billed Magpie; Acorn woodpecker, Northern Flicker; a large flock of Bush tits, several Oak Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Ruby-corned Kinglets; CA and Spotted Towhee and a flock of 100+ crows.

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A curious winter phenomenon

It is now almost the middle of December (13th) and today is decidedly winter-like. It is snowing with big wet flakes. It started about 1100 hr and by 1225hr the ground and road are white and it is still coming down hard.  Last night we got about 0.5 inches of rain and even now the temperature is 34F.

That said, I want to turn inward, or at least inside.  For 20 years in this house, I have noticed that every year about this time scorpions arrive in the globes of ceiling lights. It is a mystery to me. Where do they come from and why are they attracted to these lights or how they get into them. We have no attic or crawl space.

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Approaching Winter

As November comes to a close, things have begun to feel more like the beginning  of winter. Most mornings I awake to a temperature of about 28F and the highs seem to hover around 45F. What we haven’t had is much precipitation since the storm system that brought us the 1st snow.  Days have been mostly clear with some fog in low lying areas in the mornings.

The only birds visiting the feeders are a couple of Steller’s Jays at a suet feeder.  They also frequent the birdbath once the water melts.  An Anna’s Hummingbird still comes to to the nectar feeder. I haven’t put more food out for it, just letting it run dry so the bird moves onto more comfortable environs. It is either a female of juvenile based on the plumage. I saw two robins on November 29th. Ravens are very active most days, especially in the afternoon and up to a dozen are roosting in the tall firs near the house. A Brown Creeper was seen hopping up a fir trunk one day this week.  I don’t see many of them, so I am always happy to watch one with its bark-like coloration in contrast to the Red-breasted Nuthatches hopping down the trunk

Douglas squirrels are very active every day running about and returning to what seems to be their winter home base -- the wood shed.

We went for a walk on November 28th along a road at about 4000 ft. It is Mule Creek/Rainier Road.  There are some wonderful stands of madrone along the road, some trees with trunks 18-20 inches in diameter at breast height.  I saw two Winter wrens along this route.

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First snow

We awoke on November 13th to precipitation that was a mix of rain and snow. By late morning it was still snowing with an air temperature of 33F.  By night fall we had about 1 inch of very wet, slushy snow. The snow persisted into November 14th and today (November 15th) it has been raining lightly and it got up to about 43F in  in the afternoon.  Bird activity has been minimal. I hear a few ravens, but little else.

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