Monterey Bay Birding Festival - Day 2

Saturday (Sep 22) started out as a rainy morning. Actually, it had started raining overnight. I think I woke up around 2 or 3 a.m. and could hear the raindrops softly falling on our roof. Dave got home Friday night in time for us to pick him up at the airport, and then grab a quick bite to eat on our way to our first pre-season Sharks home game at the Tank (aka HP Pavillion of San Jose).

OK, back to birding, namely the Monterey Bay Birding Festival. The drive to Watsonville was rainy, and when we arrived to check in at the Red Roof Inn, it was raining a bit harder. But, sometimes rainy days are good weather for birding - at least that's what I have heard. So I didn't let the rain hamper my thoughts or feelings for the day. I would just deal with it. Oddly enough, the rain we got was the first of the season for us, and everyone was commenting that it was a tad bit early. Usually our rainy season doesn't begin before late November. But, we'll take what we can get in the way of rain, especially since our rainy season last year was less than expected for a normal year.

The first field trip for the day was a 2-hour Beginning Birders field trip that took us to an area called Pajaro Dunes. Most of this area consists of summer beach homes surrounded by a riparian habitat as well as a sandy beach area. When we got started it was still raining, but gradually the rain slowed and then actually stopped. Because of the rain we did not get to see any raptors, but there were plenty of shore birds around. And later, we also saw some passerines. Unfortunately, I was without my camera for the day. I accidentally left it behind; I sure hope I don't do that again. This was a day that turned out so fruitful, and there I was without. Sigh.

Once the 2-hour field trip was over, we headed back to the check-in table to get ready for our second field trip. This second trip ended up being a three-hour plus trip and was well worth it. It was the best of all three trips I was on. This trip took us on the Watsonville Slough area, which included Harkins Slough and part of Struve Slough. Both of these sloughs flow into the larger Watsonville Slough. The weather turned out great, too. And there were many birds to see. And the best of all was that we saw an abundance of raptors.

My list for Saturday:
American white pelican
Brown pelican
Snowy egret
American coot
Black-bellied plover
Heerman's gull
*Violet-green swallow
Chestnut-backed chickadee
Northern mockingbird
California towhee
Song sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
House finch
Mallard
*Cinnamon teal
Pied-billed grebe
Eared grebe
Double-crested cormorant
Great blue heron
Great egret
Green heron
Turkey vulture
*White-tailed kite
Northern harrier
*Red-shouldered hawk
Red-tailed hawk
*Peregrine falcon
*Snowy plover
*Semipalmated plover
Killdeer
Black-necked stilt
*Greater yellowlegs
*Red-necked phalarope
Mourning dove
Belted kingfisher
Black Phoebe
Loggerhead shrike
Western scrub jay
European starling
Brewer's blackbird

Asterisk = lifer

The biggest highlight of the day was at the end of our trip. There was an abundance of raptors in this one location. It was exciting to see a pair of peregrine falcons, but best of all was watching a white-tailed kite fluttering suspended in air -- much like a hummingbird would do at a feeder.

Modoc NWR and Lava Beds National Monument

Wednesday, Jul 12th, we drove through part of Modoc before going to Lava Beds National Monument. At Modoc, we saw a juvie red-tailed hawk, killdeer, Canada geese, black-necked stilts, and a couple more American avocets. The shorebirds were still difficult to identify. We think we saw common snipes or short-billed dowitchers. Then before we left Modoc we saw this great egret.
As we were approaching Lava Beds we saw some quail, a stellar's jay, and a couple of mourning doves.

This is the sign in front of the visitor center. If you click on the picture you will see how hazy it was. When we drove up to Alturas on Tuesday we were aware of a fire that was burning south and west of Susanville. There were quite a few firefighters that stayed overnight at various motels in the town of Alturas, including the one we stayed at. The fire was never a threat to the NWRs of the area, thank goodness, but visibility wasn't as good as we had hoped.

This is a moth I found while taking the Lava Beds sign pix. The moth was sitting on a lamp post. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show its beautiful colors. When it spread its wings, it had an irridescent blue-green coloring. The moth was about 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Any "bug experts" out there - can you ID this moth?

Here's another view of the area from the Visitor Center.

While driving around the Lava Beds we came across some distinctive plants. I haven't been able to find the names of these wildflowers yet, but I did find them to be quite striking, especially within its surroundings. Just click on the pix to get a larger view.

These shots are of Indian paintbrusth - the first one gives you an idea of how the paintbrush is dispersed among the sage. And then the other two shots are close-ups. I found the third pic neat since the paintbrush was up against a rock with lichen.

And here is another shot of the lava beds in the foreground and mountains in the background about 20 miles away. Not too far from here we found the following wildflowers. They look like orchids, don't they?

And this is the view of Tule Lake in the background, from the north end of Lava Beds National Monument.

From Lodi to Alturas

Tuesday morning (Jul 10th) we headed out for Alturas and Modoc NWR from Lodi. We took I-80 east to Reno to catch US 395 to head north. Shortly after re-entering California on US 395 we saw several raptors at various locations. It was difficult to identify them from a distance, but I would make an educated guess that we had seen a couple of Swainson's Hawks, and a couple of red-tailed hawks. They are such fascinating birds to watch as they soar up over the drafts. Before we reached the Modoc overlook we also had seen a great egret and later saw a small flock of snowy egrets.

At the Modoc overlook I came across this wildflower. Sorry, don't know the name of it. Maybe someone
reading this can help me identify it.
Looking out in the distance we could see something white farther out on a tiny "island." At first glance I thought they were egrets, but then realized they looked "heavier" or "fatter" than an egret -- oh, they were American white pelicans. As we approached Modoc's "auto tour," we also saw many mallards, mostly mamas with their chicks. We also saw several shorebirds - but they were difficult to identify.
When we approached one of the drier areas, we saw two raptors perched on this "foot bridge." But by the time I got my camera focused only one of them was perched. Not sure, but I think they were both juvie red-tails. Photos were hard to take with only a 10x zoom. Most birds and waterfowl were quite "shy" of human presence. My husband and I had to chuckle that every time we stopped and I tried to get out of the car for a picture, the birds would take off, or at best would move farther away. I think you can click on the photo to see a larger picture.
In the course of the day, we managed to see (and able to identify) Calif Quail, more Am White Pelicans, swallows (I think they were cliff swallows), egrets (mostly great egrets), black neck stilts, red-winged blackbirds, white-faced ibises, double-breasted cormorant, American avocets, black-crowned night heron, and even a robin or two.
In the water, I also saw a couple of muskrats. Isn't this one cute?



Below, a silhouette of a red-tailed hawk. At least we thought it was a red-tail.



Wednesday's photos (Jul 11th) will follow in another post.