Fall birding means the welcome return of the secretive Hermit Thrush that revels in its own company diligently rummaging through the leaf litter and forest under-story in search of spiders, ants, earthworms, and insects of all varieties. A favorite winter food includes the red berries fallen from our abundant native Toyon bushes and other fruit [...]
On a sunny, humid morning with temperatures in the 70s, Lena Hayashi, Betty Kanne (eBirder), Claire Grozinger, Jim Kendall, Dave and Sharon Telford, and Josh Joun counted all the birds we could hear and see for two hours. Early on and throughout the morning, we watched flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes fly across the Urban Forest [...]
Peer down into the leaf-litter and you’ll see this largish, 9”, dusty-brown, long-tailed bird eagerly shuffling through the ground cover looking for grubs, or briefly perched in nearby bushes. Its drab gray/brown appearance is nicely offset by a rusty/orange patch under-tail and surrounding a thick darkish bill. This successful breeder in our local tree-filled parks [...]
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Bottom left is the light-eyed female, and bottom right is the dark-eyed male. At top right, notice the unusual hanging nest that these inconspicuous yet common birds weave. Bushtits are tiny, long-tailed gray birds that travel in large busy flocks, relentlessly rocketing from one leafy bush or tree to the next, all while keeping up [...]
