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 [...]
It was a beautiful sunny, clear, and calm morning, rising to 72 or so degrees. Surveyors were only four – Lena Hayashi, Betty Kanne (eBirder), Sharon, and Dave Telford. Summer months are typically slow and quiet as breeding season winds down and fledglings depend less on their parents to feed them. One Spotted Towhee continued [...]
