Category: Uncategorized

Bird Journal Entry #12:

DATE: 5/7/2020

Location: 33.1644, -117.2521 approx.

Site Description: 

I went birding around my neighborhood in Vista, California. The weather has been so nice, I thought my mom and I could go on a morning walk. We walked for a little over an hour this morning and it ended up being about 3 miles in total. It was about 9:30 am and already around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. My neighborhood is full of many palm trees, eucalyptus trees, honey suckle bushes, oak trees, and many other various plant species. There are many places for birds to nest and plants to feed off of that I was able to see many bird species. The species I observed this week were Anna’s-humminbird (4), Red-shouldered hawk (1), Black phoebe (5), California Scrub-Jay (2), American Crow (14), Northern Mockingbird (12), House Sparrow (10), White-throated Swift (2), and House Finch (3).

Species Account: 

The species i decided to focus on this week was the Northern Mockingbird. They have been extremely prevalent in my yard and can be seen at any point in the day. This bird is a medium-sized songbird and with a narrow body and long tail. The coloring is mostly pale on the front and gray/brown  on the rest of the body. Their distinguishing feature is the white wing bars. I saw these as the birds flew in my yard and knowing this characteristic has made it much easier to quickly identify this species. These birds are constantly making very loud calls and tend to be extremely active birds that are constantly running and hopping from place to place. Their habitat includes backyards and suburban areas, making my yard the most perfect place them to inhabit. These birds tend to eat insects that are on the ground as well as find berries in bushes. These birds nest very early in southern areas because the weather is fairly temperate. The males begin by finding a territory then they send out mating calls to attract females. They usually lay anywhere from 3-4 eggs and the coloring is a greenish-gray. When they are young, both parents feed the hatchlings until they are about three weeks old and can leave the nest to fly. These birds were interacting with each other quite a bit in the yard and seemed to never be able to sit still.

Narrative: 

This week for my last birding excursion I walked around my neighborhood. It has been very warm for the past week. I started on my walk this morning around 9:30 AM. The sun was shining and many birds were chirping. It was around 75° F and the moment I stepped out of my house I saw Northern Mockingbirds in my yard. I have recently seen many of these birds and I am so fascinated by their long tails and very energetic behavior. Also, I saw of course many American Crows because they are so prevalent in our area. As I began walking down the street I saw some House Sparrows flying from house to house and burrowing under terra cotta roof tiles. They were extremely hard to spot because the fly so quickly. Also, I saw black phoebes and they are always a joy to see because they are very recognizable with their white underbelly. Then, my mom pointed out that she saw Red Shouldered Hawk flying high above us. It was using the thermal soaring tactics we discussed in class to rise in the air since the weather was so warm. The bird would then fly downward after some time at an angle. It was amazing what great distance it was able to cover. We went walking more and saw to California Scrub Jays in our neighbors yard. Their coloring was brilliant in the morning sun. There are many honeysuckle plants in my neighborhood, so we saw a few hummingbirds taking nectar from them. As we made out way back to my house swifts zoomed past us. I identified them as white-throated swifts and because of their white underside and dark wing color. Nesting near the swifts were a few House Finches. I see these birds everyday when I go running and and they are always fascinating because of the stark contrast between their brightly red colored head and their brown bodies. Overall, this birding last experience was wonderful and I was happy I was able to share it with my mom. I am so grateful to have taken this class and have learned so much about birds that I most likely would not have learned. Thank you Professor Paul for having so much enthusiasm on our birding excursions and I look forward to birding more in the future.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68558535

Citations:

Northern Mockingbird Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/id

Caption: Honeysuckle bushes where hummingbirds reside in.

Caption: My front yard where the Northern Mockingbirds are very active.

Caption: Excited to have completed my first Ornithology course!

Bird Journal Entry #11:

DATE: 4/28/2020

Location: 33.1583, -117.2462 approx.

Site Description: 

The place I visited this week was Buena Vista Park. It is better known as the Duck Pond in my community. I walked the entire length of the trail starting from the pond to a more arid and dessert like terrain with eucalyptus trees and some palm trees spread throughout. It was about 4:15 pm and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The park is full of wildflowers and has a small river running along the back end of the park. There is plenty of open space in the park for birds to fly around and different environments, so I thought it would be the best place to go around my neighborhood to see a wide variety of bird species. The species I observed this week were the Graylag Goose (2), Mallard (24), American Coot (1), Black Phoebe (1), American Robin (1), Song Sparrow (6), California Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, and the Yellow Warbler (Northern) (2).

Species Account: 

The species I decided to focus on this week was the Yellow Warbler. They are small in size and tend to be mostly yellow with some gray and brown coloring on the wings. I first noticed the bird because it had a very bold black eye. These birds tend to live in more woodsy areas or near water, which is where I spotted the two birds. They tend to forage in branched that are lower in a tree. Their diet consists mostly of insects that are found on leaves hanging on these low branches. These insects vary and I since the weather has been so warm in San Diego, these birds must have many insects to keep them nourished. Males pursue females for mating for a few days and after they protect the nest by signing and flying around to ensure no predators come to take the eggs or parasites to come and infect them. Most clutch sizes range from 4-5 and both parents feed the offspring. This is very similar to most birds I have reported on in my past blogs. I found it interesting that females will steal essential materials from another bird’s nest. I thought it was fascinating because this warbler is in it for itself and the progeny it reproduces. This differs from some birds that tend to live together in a community-like way. These birds were wonderful to see because they were unexpected since bright colored birds are not usual for this area since the trees are very dull in color.

Narrative: 

This week for birding I went to a duck pond by my house. It was about 75°F and I started around 4:30 PM because My mother wanted to partake in my birthing experience as well. The pond is located at the entrance of a 3 mile long park. I had been there once before during this quarantine and it had written about it in my blog by after that blog it had closed down. It just recently opened back on Sunday so I decided to take a walk down there and go birding. I started near the entrance where there’s a little pond. I saw many mallards, along with some American Coots and Red-winged blackbirds running about. Also there were two Graylag geese that were congregating over on a patch of grass. A small puppy walked by and one of the geese started running towards it. I had never seen geese be so aggressive before for no apparent reason. The dog wasn’t barking and it wasn’t a hostile environment so I was surprised when they geez just started running towards the little puppy. Then, I started walking along the trail I spotted such a cool yellow bird. It was flying very quickly and all of a sudden another wind came and met it on a branch about 10 feet in the air. I identified them as yellow warblers. I had never quite seen that type of warbler before and I was amazed by the yellow coloring and small stature. I saw an American Robin as I walked further down the trail, but other than that there were not many birds along the trail until I got back to the grass patch adjacent to the pond. There I saw some song sparrows as well as a Black Phoebe and a California Towhee. It was easy to identify all of these birds because they have become very common in my recent birding excursions. I enjoyed this birding experience a lot because most of the birds I had seen before and they were easily recognizable, so I got to practice for her our field quiz later in the semester. Hopefully, next week I am able to see some birds that haven’t been as frequently spotted.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68086385

Citations:

Yellow Warbler. (2020, March 10). Retrieved from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-warbler

Yellow Warbler Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/id

Caption: Small patch of grass where I spotted many birds

Caption: Pond where mallards and coot’s live

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68086932

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67633393

Bird Journal Entry #10:

DATE: 4/21/2020

Location: 37.7710, -122.4868 approx.

Site Description: 

The place I visited this week was in Golden Gate Park. I walked from 26th ave to 48th ave on JFK drive. The skies were extremely clear and it was about 62 degrees Fahrenheit.The terrain of the park is a mixed riparian forest because there is a river that runs from a waterfall into a river along JFK. The urban park is full of angiosperms, conifers, and small lakes, so the bird species found are very diverse. Prior in the semester we went to Golden Gate Park, but in this outing I explored a new part of the park. I started birding at Spreckels lake and then continued on down JFK toward Ocean beach. The species I observed were Canada Goose (7), Mallard (14), Band-tailed pigeon (2), Anna’s Hummingbird (1), Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird (1), American Coot (5), Double-crested Comorant (4), Black Phoebe (3), Steller’s Jay (1), Common Raven (3), Western Bluebird (5), and American Robin (11).

Species Account: 

The species I wanted to focus on this week was the Double-breasted Cormorant. Cormorant’s are large waterbirds that are noticeable by their black body and yellow beak coloring. I saw these birds in two different lakes in Golden gate Park, but both of the bodies of water resembled one another. These birds look like water dinosaurs because they have long necks and sleek black bodies that are different from other waterbirds. The have hooked bills and are known for diving under the water. Their nature on constantly diving made it difficult to spot them when I was birding, but luckily some were standing on rocks in the middle of the lake. These cormorants are the most widespread in North America and they tend to breed on the coast, which makes sense because Ocean beach is not far from where I saw them. They were floating in the center of the lake, but not swim close to one another. I found that interesting until I realized that many forage for their meals of fish and frogs and water plants alone. I found out that that the male mating ritual is to flap their wings aggressively through the water and then swim in a snake-like pattern to attract females. This ritual is very fascinating because various species of birds have different mating habits and I think this one in particular is very cool.

Narrative: 

This week I went birding in San Francisco. I came back up to San Francisco from SoCal so I could pack some of my things. I was able to go to park and explore some places with my roommates that I had not previously explored before. We went around 4 pm and started at Sprekels lake. I wanted to hopefully see some new water/shorebirds because the week prior I had heard that Muscovy ducks were seen in the park, but I didn’t identify any on this excursion. At the lake we saw a few double-breasted cormorants and they were highly distinguishable compared to the other shorebirds because of their yellow beaks and longer necks. We continued to walk around the lake and saw a pack of Canada geese glide in to the center of the lake. There were surprisingly many seagulls around the lake. Also, I saw turtles swimming in the lake which was unique because I had ran by that particular lake many times, but had never seen the turtles. As we continued to walk down the path we went behind the where the bison paddock was and saw many house finches. Then, out of nowhere there was a small group of western bluebirds that flew over. I enjoyed seeing their iridescent blue coloring illuminated by the sun setting on them. We also saw a Stellar’s Jay walking across the path, which we had seen before on our birding field trips, but I am still in awe their stunning blue and black coloring. As we finished our walk we stopped by another smaller lake snd saw a some red-winged blackbirds, which my friends were fascinated with as well as some American Robins and a couple of California Towhee’s. Overall, this birding excursion was very refreshing because I not only got to practice identifying many birds we had seen before, but also the weather was wonderful and I was glad I got to share this experience with my roommates.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67633419

Citations:

Double-crested Cormorant Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant/id

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67286937

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66867938

Bird Journal Entry #9:

DATE: 4/7/2020

Location: 33.1646, -1172521 approx.

Site Description: 

The place I visited this week was my backyard because there has been quite a bit of rain in SoCal and I haven’t been able to go on a walk to go birding. My backyard is filled with palm trees and grass, but there is a large slope behind my house that is filled with many trees and angiosperms, so the birds that I saw mostly were from there. I observed some species from my front windows as well because the foliage differs from the backyard, so I thought maybe different species would appear. My neighborhood is planned and all of the houses are fairly close to one another, so the birds that I have been seeing are the same species for the most part. The rain as a result limited my eBird list to only 6 species. The species I observed were the American Crow (3), Anna’s Hummingbird (1), Black Phoebe (4), American Goldfinch (1), Song Sparrow (2), and Western Tanager (1).

Species Account: 

The species I decided to focus on this week was the American Goldfinch. The goldfinch is a rather small bird with a short beak and  has a notch in its’ tail. I believe I saw a male because they have this stark yellow and black coloring. I really took notice of the black patch only on the top of its’ head. I saw it at the first on the top of my neighbor’s about twenty feet in the air. Then, the bird slowly came down closer to the ground and I was able to see the bright colors more clearly with my binoculars. The bird was very active, which is extremely common for this bird. Although these birds are most commonly found in floodplains, they can still be found in backyards. Their diet consists of mostly seeds and insects as well as weeds and daisies, which are plentiful in my neighborhood. The one common thing I noticed between the species account of Cooper’s Hawk that I wrote about last week and this week’s is that both of the males feed the females while they are nesting and they both play a crucial role in bringing up their young. Lastly, a cool fact I learned was that the nests these birds build are so strong that they can withstand water. This is a very good adaptation because they are prevalent pretty much all across the U.S. and many parts receive a lot of rain, so this is a key evolutionary adaptation of this bird species.

Narrative: 

This week I did my birding from my house in Vista, California. I was unable to travel this week because it has been raining for the past three days. Thus, I have not seen many birds because the weather has been about 60° and it has been on and off showers for the past 72 hours. Fortunately, I have a backyard that when the rain lets up I can see some birds flying over my yard. Today, I was working all day on homework and observed some birds from my kitchen table. I saw a few Black Phoebe’s. They were very easy to identify because we had seen them during our birding excursions in San Francisco. I was also able to see a American Goldfinch flying through my neighbor’s yard. I was unsure what kind of bird it was, but through my binoculars I saw the yellow pattern and was able to ID it from eBird. I also saw American Crows as usual and some Song Sparrows. These sparrows tend to forage in the grass both in my front yard as well as in my backyard. I also believe I saw a Western Tanager, but it was far away and my binoculars only did such a good job of detailing what the bird look like. From the coloring and the style of the beak as well as the tail I identified the bird at the Western Tanager. Lastly, as always I saw Anna‘s hummingbird which was actually a very unique siting because it flew so close to my window that I didn’t even need to use binoculars to see clearly that it was an Anna‘s hummingbird. This birding adventures was fun because I was able to identify the birds that most likely inhabit my backyard daily. Also, it was made easier by my cat who always meows when he sees a bird,  so I was able to quickly grab my binoculars and run to see which type of bird he was talking to.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66849398

Citations:

“American Goldfinch Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/id.

“American Goldfinch.” Audubon, 11 Oct. 2019, www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-goldfinch.

Caption: My backyard where I did most of my birding this week

Caption: My frontward where I also saw some bird species

Bird Journal Entry #8:

DATE: 3/31/2020

Location: 33.1843, -117.2002 approx.

Site Description: 

The place I visited this week was around my friend’s neighborhood on a street called Buena Creek Trail in Vista, California. The street has many trees and the houses have very large plots of land with dense bushes, making it a perfect place for many bird species to inhabit. There were many flowering plants, orange trees, and shrubs present along the path with a various array of tall trees that were dispersed along the properties. The path was very well paved because it was a residential area where most houses had their own private gates. I didn’t expect to see any potentially dangerous animals since we kept to the street, but there were occasional rabbits and lizards along the path. There hadn’t been any rain since the last time, so the environment was very dry. The species I spotted during the 1 hour trip were Band-tailed Pigeons (2), Anna’s Hummingbird (3), Cooper’s Hawk (1), Acorn Woodpecker (3), American Crow (4), Wrentit (10), Western Bluebird (1), House Sparrow (1), Chipping Sparrow (1), White-crowned  Sparrow (10), Song Sparrow (1), and a California Towhee (1).

Species Account: 

The species I enjoyed seeing this week was Cooper’s Hawk. This species is a medium-sized bird with very long and rounded wing tips. I saw the adult version which has more of a gray backing with red spots running down it’s chest. I saw streaks of red coloring as it flew away because the coloring runs along the legs as well. It was very poised and was simply sitting on a telephone line observing the sky. The hallux was extremely prominent because of the bright yellow coloring of the legs. They live in a range of areas from thick forests to people’s. I noticed that the flight pattern was not consistent and had a period of flapping and then gliding. The bird only flew about 100 yards before it landed again, but it was obstructed from a clear view because trees were blocking it. They usually hunt their prey by first stalking it from above the ground and then quickly moving in on it before the bird or other small mammal has a chance to escape. There are usually between 3-5 eggs that are produced at one time from the female and when they are young the male bird searches for food to bring back to the nest for his young. One fact that I found cool about this hawk species was their nests are built very dense and large, so it can be occupied by both the male and female.

Narrative: 

This week for birding I chose to go around my best friend’s neighborhood. Don’t worry we were social distancing always walking 6 feet apart. Her neighborhood is about a 2 1/2 miles and we walked around, so we could observe all the birds in the area. This birding adventure lasted around an hour. It was partly cloudy outside and about 66 degrees. We decided to take the trip later on in the afternoon around 4:30 p.m. PST and as we were walking around we saw a chipping sparrow which was very cool because she had seen them a lot around her neighborhood, but didn’t know exactly what kind of bird it was. I was very excited that she was finally able to ID it. As we walked further we saw Anna’s Hummingbird which is very easy to identify no because of the pinkish/reddish undertone around its chest and throat. We also saw some Band-tailed Pigeons and some crows but those are always expected. We were walking in a very residential area and came across a bird’s nest made within someone’s mailbox. There wasn’t a bird present, but it was awesome to see. One thing that caught us off guard was the Cooper’s Hawk that was on a telephone line kind of in the middle of nowhere above the street. We only saw it for a second before it flew away, but it was fun to look up and ID because we had never seen that species of hawk before during our burning excursions in San Francisco. We saw both Wrentits and White crowned Sparrow’s which are very identifiable in binoculars, but from far away they can look similar because they both have a brown coloring and I think are only really distinguishable by the white stripe on the heads of the white-crowns. As we were nearing the end of our walk we saw a Western Bluebird. At first I believed it to be a jay, but it looked quite different and more iridescent than the jays we had seen previously on our excursions. I pulled out the guide to birds that are common in Southern California and was able to accurately identify it. We ended our walk by picking some oranges and observed a Song Sparrow flying over the trees as well as hearing faint sounds of Acorn Woodpeckers in the trees above.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66462355

Citations:

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66428633