Date: 02/20/20

 

Location: 

Ridgecrest Blvd, Mill Valley US-CA 37.91402, -122.60911

 

Site Description:

The environment we covered was at first a mixed coniferous forest. There were various trees in the forest, some of which include oak trees and Douglas firs. The weather was quite clear and sunny, considerably warm for Mill Valley. Then, we progressed to a open chaparral clearing in the forest. The key bird species is the Acorn Woodpecker, a fairly vocal bird with a signature red crown on its head.

 

Species Account:

The Acorn Woodpecker is an average-sized bird with a signature red crown on its head along with a yellowish forehead and throat. It has a black body with a white belly, and it is generally found in mixed coniferous forests, which is exactly where we found them. They were found very high up in douglas fir trees. They have distinct, vocal “waka-waka” calls and love to put their acorns in tree trunks. They are a very communicative species and love to flock together in groups.

 

Narrative: 

The hike we took was actually fairly nice and the weather was awesome- it was actually quite warm, all things considering. We saw plenty of acorn woodpeckers constantly communicating with one another. We arrived at the site around 9:15am in the morning and walked about 1 mile in total. We almost saw a rare bird- its call was heard but it appeared to be too far away so we had to move on.The professor even tried to attract the bird with a recording of its own mating call, but it failed. We also got a very nice view of Stinson beach I believe.

 

Link to E-bird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S64790088