Two weeks ago, I headed out to Mines Road (and wrote about it here). It felt like it was just a little bit early - things hadn't quite peaked yet, though it was a splendid day... no complaints. But when the chance came to do it again this weekend, I was completely up for the trip. w00t!!
Or maybe h00t!! Like last time, we stopped for the great horned owl nest a few miles into the road. I was surprised to see that the kids were still hanging out; they looked pretty big last time and I was sure they'd have moved on by now. But all three owlets were there, and mom was preening them when we came by. (The redtail next door was sitting low enough to make me think she's still on eggs.) It was a lovely sight, but I didn't really have my act together on trying to get a photo. I slept badly the night before, woke up late, forgot my binoculars (!!) and was always half-a-step off pace all day. So this week's photo offerings will be a little skimpy. [Update: Less skimpy now... see the end of the diary.]
But I was at Mines Road, so really... how bad could it be?
Well, one bad thing - we missed on Golden Eagle. (!!?!??!) WTF, that almost never happens. But friend and I have a particular genius for not seeing birds when we're birding, so that was consistent with the game plan, so to speak.
We did see tons of Yellow-billed Magpies, which was great - a few years ago, West Nile was taking a huge toll on them and I only saw two of them on one trip. But they've bounced back nicely in the past few years. I wouldn't say they're out of the woods yet, but a good number of them seem to have made it through the bottleneck. It's a warm spring after a wet winter, though, so mosquitoes might be a bigger problem this year. Fingers still crossed.
The Bullock's Orioles have started arriving in good numbers, but they were not so cooperative for me:
Well, at least this female came out in the open, if not exactly close.
But the wrens! OMG... the wrens. Bewick's singing from the start of the road to the finish. (I had this photo one of them two weeks ago.) And, to my complete happiness, the Canyon Wren was back in action at "the Canyon Wren spot" - he sang almost the moment we arrived and even popped out to give us some nice visuals.
At the spot where we saw orioles above, several House Wrens were singing up a storm in some willows. This guy did a lot of singing in the shadows below me, but did manage to come out into the sunshine and belt out a tune a few times:
He kept a wary eye on me most of the time, pausing between verses to shoot a glance in my direction...
Rock Wrens at a couple of spots along the way, including the Canyon Wren spot. All we needed was a Pacific (aka Winter) Wren to complete the bay area possibilities. None of them, but we did come across one singing (but invisible) Sage Sparrow, and their song is kinda reminiscent, so....
At the Junction (our lunch stop), we found about 100 bikers and 100 bicycists, so we headed down San Antonio Valley Road in search of Lewis' Woodpeckers, who did eventually cooperate and show up. (no photos, of course) Some Western Meadowlarks were hanging out by the same ranch, our only chance to hear their melodious song all day. By the time we backtracked to the Junction the bikers had gone and the bicyclists has slowed to a trickle. We ordered lunch and sat down to watching Chipping Sparrows, Western Bluebirds, Acorn Woodpeckers and Lawrence's Goldfinches in the field next door. No photos of any of them (as you might have guessed), but check out this great car that pulled in while we were there.
In my diary two weeks ago, you might remember that there were some amorous Western Toads (ID'd with matching mole's assistance) who were photographed in flagrante delicto, surrounded by their own and others' eggs. This week, the toads were back on dry land:
... and the eggs were now tadpoles ...
At the end of the road, at Owl Rocks, the Great Horned Owl family had fledged, but the redtail was still at the nest. Couldn't tell if she was on eggs or chicks...
Update - A few new (better!) photos, courtesy of Walter Kitundu (used with permission).
The Canyon Wren, in a rare visible manifestation, at the Canyon Wren spot. There were also Rock Wrens here, and a female Costa's Hummingbird working the tree tobacco.
Western Kingbird, not quite dressed for a royal wedding but looking dapper nonetheless in a grey topcoat.
One of the now-abundant yellow billed magpies, dining on the very-abundant road-killed ground squirrels. (After getting a few photos, Walter moved the squirrel off the pavement to keep the magpies and other scavengers from becoming road-kill themselves.)
The start of Mines Road has been a pretty reliable location for White-tailed Kites in recent years. They were hunting there when we arrived in the morning, and they were hunting there when we finished the day.
The kites don't always have an easy time of it. Morning and evening, blackbirds were aggressively chasing them off. This one actually succeeded in grabbing the kite's tail for a moment. No doubt it felt a bit triumphant as the kite headed across the road, but that was actually due to the (barely visible) rodent it's carrying to its mate.
Okay, so now it's not so skimpy... but I'm keeping the title.