Archive for the ‘phoebe’ Category

Rancho Jurupa Regional Park

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Have been at one of my frequent stopping points, Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California for the past week. Had gone without hookups for more than a week, so really appreciated having electricity again. The weather fronts with rain keep coming through California on a regular basis. Today heavy rain and thunder have been present most of the day.

Two pairs of herons are reusing two nests from last year. Saw one heron bring one twig to the heron in a nest and the waiting heron spent some time arranging that one twig. A red-tailed hawk landed between the two nests one day. The herons in the nests flew away and one came back so it was facing the hawk and started hissing at it till the hawk flew away. Heron’s can hurt hawks with their beaks if they are facing them and are not taken by surprise.

Have seen both herons and egrets hunting gophers in the field by me. The gopher exterminator that was here in the fall must have left some.

Saw an adult and then a juvenile night heron resting in the same tree on two different mornings.

Northern flicker

Cormorants. Have read where some places are killing them because they eat fish meant for fishermen.

Say’s phoebe. Probably the same one I saw in the fall, at least it was hunting and perching in the same spot.

Mallard. Have also seen a small group of ruddy ducks.

Feel like I’m seeing old friends when I see the geese mascots that have been here as long as I’ve been coming here. Glad to see they have made it through another season of kids, dogs, and fishermen.

Posted in County, Riverside, cormorants, geese, heron, northern flicker, phoebe | No Comments »

Rancho Jurupa, birds galore

Friday, October 30th, 2009

kestral_jurupa

Have been at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside for about a week. Have been surprised at the wide variety of birds I have been seeing. There are the regulars that I have seen in the past, as well as some new ones.

Do not recall seeing a kestral (above) before.

black_crowned_night_heron

Have seen a number of black-crowned night herons, as I have in the past.

Blue herons and egrets are here as well. Saw a blue heron hunting for gophers this morning. The park has finally hired a gopher control professional who is putting some type of gas into the gopher tunnels.

It’s funny how a blue heron, a night heron, and a great egret will stand side by side next to the water, but will usually get territorial and chase away their own species.

black_phoebe_jurupa

says_phobe

Black phoebe (top) and a Say’s phoebe (lower).

woodpecker_unknown

Not sure what kind of woodpecker this is. Doesn’t look like any of the pictures in my bird book.

3_western_kingbirds

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cedar_waxwings_jurupa

A lot of birds are here as part of a flock. These include Western kingbirds (top), Western bluebirds (middle), and Cedar Waxwings (botton). I have never seen cedar waxwings here before. Also have had first time sightings of Western meadowlarks, but haven’t gotten a good picture yet.

turkmenistan_caracal

A few more photos from the San Diego Zoo. Above is a Turkmenistan Caracal, an endangered cat found in the Middle East and Africa. At the zoo it is located next to the polar bears. I was watching the polar bear cam the other day and saw the outline of the cat’s ears in the background. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was an antelope or deer.

Below, Frank the one-year-old male gorilla, is watching an adult female gorilla eat a green pepper. Parts of it is in her right hand and her left foot. Frank had tried to get some of it, but she wanted it for herself.

gorilla_green_pepper

Posted in American kestrel, County, Riverside, bluebird, cedar waxwing, gorilla, kingbird, phoebe, woodpecker | No Comments »

The Lost Coast & Humboldt Bay

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

lost_coast_1

lost_coast_2

Moved a little south of Eureka, to the Victorian village of Ferndale, so I could be closer to the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge and also the road to “The Lost Coast” of Northern California. Highway 211 is a rough, narrow, twisting, and often very steep highway that goes along a segment of the coastline that was too rough for Highway 1 or 101 to go. I wanted to drive it to see if I could take my trailer over it. The only good thing you can say about the 211 is at least it is paved, except for a few very small segments. I would not want to take my trailer over it. If it was a one-lane, one-way road, maybe.

The first picture above is the stretch of coastline you get to after going over the mountains from Ferndale. The second picture is of “The Wall”, a one-mile 18% grade just north of of the coastline stretch.

south_spit

Picture of the South Spit Management Area of Humboldt Bay. A five mile road lets you drive over it.

paraglider

A paraglider was able to take off and land in the same spot on a bluff over the South Spit.

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sandpipers

Birds seen along the sand spit: brown pelicans, cormorants and sandpipers.

Below, a goodwit seen on mudflats on the wildlife refuge.

goodwit

Below: a black phoebe and a dark-eyed junco.

black_phoebe_eureka

dark-eyed_junco_ca

Posted in Ferndale, cormorants, godwit, junco, pelican, phoebe, sandpiper, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge I have come across that has campsites where you can boondock (free) for up to 14 days. I stayed there for 4 days and was the only camper I was aware of. It was very quiet. Hunting season just ended, so maybe hunters scared all the wildlife away. The weather was perfect. It was in the 70′s during the day, did not have to use my fans, and at night it was in the 50′s, so the furnace was not needed.

The area is a semi-desert grassland with lots of mesquite trees. The refuge is trying to restore it to the way it was before cattle grazed here. They want to encourage masked bobwhite quail and pronghorns to return.

Airforce jets practice over the area. One day I had my back to the window, something made me turn and look out. Saw a Airforce jet coming right at me, I could see the pilot! By the time I ran to the door, it had done a 90 degree roll and was gone. It happened so fast. There were a lot of jets in the area the next day. Maybe the jet that flew over me was just checking out the area because of this.

This area is called “cocaine alley” because of all the drug smugglers that enter the United States through here. That may be why there is a helicopter landing pad on the refuge and a strong presence of border patrol. Also, I got the best internet connection I’ve had for a long time. A communications tower was nearby, out in the middle of nowhere.

Mule deer in a no hunting area of the refuge.

Saw what I think is a western harrier at Arivaca Cienega on the refuge.

Getting here

After leaving the Benson, Sierra Vista area, stopped at Patagonia State Park. There were a lot of pipevine swallowtails there (above). The park was crowded. You have to get there early in the day to get an electric spot. A lot of people were on a hunt to see an elegant trogon. Unfortunately, I never saw one.

Black phoebe.

While Big Bend and the Buenos Aires Refuge are trying to repair damage caused by cattle grazing, Patagonia State Park allows ranchers to graze cattle at the east end of the lake, near some marsh and the Sonoita Creek (prime birding area). People swim and catch fish in a lake that cattle go into. Along with going into the lake, the cattle eat and trample tree saplings. You would also not want to walk along the trail at night, with cow droppings all over the place.

Sleeping bull, with muddy feet.

Posted in Airstream, Arivica, National, Northern harrier, Patagonia, State, cow, deer, phoebe, wildlife refuge | No Comments »