Cooler Weather-More Birds-Xmas day and 12/26/12

Two days of cooler weather has brought many birds into the valley. We have been surrounded by rainy weather. Unfortunately all we get is a spit. But many birds have moved down from higher elevation. Today I counted well over 100 Yellow-rumped Warblers on one lawn. The highlights for the past 2 days include a bright Vermillion Flycatcher (two distant to photograph), Sage Sparrows, Common Merganser, many Costa's and Anna's Hummers, Redhead Duck and many others. A few days ago I was hiking near Lute Fault and several White-Pelicans flew over. 

Sage Sparrow-12/25/12-HC

Redhead Duck 12/26/12-HC

All fluffed up Raven-12/26/12-HC

White Pelicans-12/21/12-HC

First Canada Goose of fall-12/26/12/HC

Eurasian Collared Dove in motion 12/26/12-HC

House Sparrow-12/26/12-HC

A mess of hummers-at least 30 coming to feeder 12/26/12-HC

Common Merganser giving us the feather! 12/26/12-HC

Night Hereon-12/25/12-HC

Male Monarch Butterfly-12/26/12-HC

Birds Are Back in Town 12/19/12

A very birdy day at The Springs and Roadrunner Club. The cooler temperatures at night probably prompted birds to descend into the valley and move toward feeders. Highlights included close ups of a female Kestel; good looks at at Snowy Egret; lots of Western Bluebirds; 2 Black-crowned Night Herons and many more birds. 

Female Kestrel 12/19/12-HC

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron 12/19/12-HC

Western Bluebirds-12/19/12-HC

Say's Phoebe 12/9/12-HC

Mockingbrid-12/19/12-HC

Snowy Egret-12/19/12-HC

Female Kestrel-12/19/12-HC

Wonderful Birding Day at The Springs RV Park and Roadrunner Club-12/12/12

We had a great day for birding at Roadrunner Club and The Springs RV Park. The highlights included the first Red-shouldered Hawk of the season; a strange hummer; a Redhead Duck; a nice Black-crowned Night Heron; a Snowy Egret with a Great Egret in the background; Bluebird eating seeds; close up of a Kestrel and Song Sparrow.

Red-shouldered Hawk 12/12/12-HC

Redhead Duck 12/12/12-Hal

Song Sparrow eating tobacco flower-12/12/12-HC

White-billed Hummer-probably a dirty billed Anna's-12/12/12-HC

Good close up of a Kestrel-12/12/12-HC

Western Bluebird eating a palm seed-12/12/12-HC

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron 12/12/12-HC

Another Great Birding Day in Borrego Springs 12/5/12

The Springs Birding group had a nice day with everyone seeing an immature Harris's Sparrow, Lawrence's Goldfinch and a Canvasback Duck. Not lots of species but a fine day to view a few rarities.

Black-crowned Night Heron-12/5/12-HC

Canvasback, Coot and Ring-necked Duck 12/5/12-HC

Harris's Sparrow 12/5/12-Sharon Woods

Harris's Sparrows (2) in Borrego Springs 12/2/12

Yesterday I got an email from Mary Ann Cincotta with photo's of 2 Harris's Sparrow from her yard in Borrego Springs. I went over to her home and sure enough, they were active at her feeder. Today I took a group of 8 birders over to see the sparrows. We had good luck watching them for some time.

Adult Harris's Sparrow in Borrego Springs 12/2/12-HC

Great Costa's Hummer-VS

Great Blue Heron-VS

Robin-12/2/12-HC

Robin-12/2/12-HC

Vivian Stauber from The Springs RV Park took some nice photo's of a Great Blue and a Costa's Hummingbird to share as well. And finally, my first Robin in my yard today.

November 28, 2012-Still Few Bird Species

A nice day for a few species at the Roadrunner and The Springs RV Park. The Bluebird was foraging on a grassy area that still had some moisture present. Nice looks at Yellow-rumped Warblers, probably the most abundant of the perching birds. The Night Heron (adult) was in the famous Willow Tree. 

Western Bluebird 11/28/12-HC

Yellow-rumped Warbler-11/28/12-HC

Black-crowned Night Heron 11/28/12-HC

Great waterbird day November 14, 2012

Today, November 14, 2012 was especially good for water birds. We observed an Eared Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, 2 Blue-winged Teal and 2 Canvasback ducks at the Borrego Springs Country Club and Club Circle ponds. Canvasbacks and Blue-winged Teal are rare in the valley. The Burrowing Owls continue in town but at an undisclosed location. I still need a closeup of a Say's Phoebe.

Today we observed: American Wigeon, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Great Egret, Merlin, Common Raven, White-crowned Sparrow and House Finch. What is amazing are the birds we didn't see-Doves, hummers etc. We just didn't stop at feeders.

Burrowing Owl-11/9/12-HC

Burrowing Owl-11/9/12-HC

Canvasback Duck 11/14/12-HC

Canvasback profile-11/14/12-HC

Eared Grebe-11/14/12-HC

Say's Phoebe 11/9/12-HC

Few Bird Species but Great Photo's-11/7/12

Today at The Springs and Roadrunner Club the number of species observed was sparse, however the photo opportunities great. A very cooperative Roadrunner chased and ate grasshoppers on the golf course at the springs. We had a nice look at a Western Bluebird bathing. Ducks up close were nice and a sleepy White-winged Dove. I took over 500 shots and narrowed the number down to 15. These shots are part of the remains. I've been asked what camera is used. It's a small simple Panasonic Lumix that produces fairly good quality shots at 24X. After looking at the shots, it looks like the dove has some pollen on it's neck.

Roadrunner with a Gray Bird Grasshopper-11/7/12-HC

Western Bluebird entering bath 11/7/12-HC

Western Bluebird enjoying the bath-11/7/12-HC

American Wigeon-11/7/12-HC

Female Mallard 11/7/12-HC

Sleepy White-winged Dove-11/7/12-HC

Bighorns Dominate the Day-November 4, 2012

We now have renamed the blog to include all wildlife and plants. A group of birders went out Sunday November 4, 2012 led by Lori Hargrove, noted ornithologist. Although birding was the prime objective, we were interrupted by Bighorn Sheep, lizards and insects. Within 15 minutes of our walk, a large bighorn ram pushed us off the path. A walk by was a bit close for good photography. Birding highlights included all 4 wren species including Rock, Canyon, Cactus and Bewick's. A Chipping sparrow with huge eyerings, more like a Field Sparrow. Gray Bird Grasshoppers mating was interesting. In 2011 we counted over 1800 Swainson's Hawks feeding on this same species.
Here is a list of the birds observed:
Cooper's Hawk, 
Gambel's Quail,
California Quail

White-winged Dove

Roadrunner

Costa' Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Northern Flicker

Say's Phoebe

Black Phoebe

Loggerhead Shrike

Verdin

Bushtit

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Bewick's Wren

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren

Cactus Wren

Common Raven

Western Bluebird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

California Towhee

Black-throated Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Our birding group 11/4/12-HC

Bighorn Sheep up close and personal 11/4/12-HC

Chipping Sparrow? 11/4/12-HC

Lizard (Whiptail?) 11/4/12-HC

Canyon Wren 11/4/12-HC

Bluet species Damselfly-11/4/12-HC

Mating Gray Bird Grasshoppers-11/4/12-HC

Bighorn 11/4/12-HC

Bighorn 11/4/12-HC