July 4, 2024
Sizzle, bang, boom!
Except NO FIREWORKS OF ANY KIND in Plumas County, CA, and thank you very much.
🧨🎇🎆
But you gotta admit, there is just nothing much sizzling cuter than these:
Common Merganser hen mother with seven chicks in parade, swimming upstream on Spanish Creek immediately adjacent to Gansner Park, Quincy, CA
Although I’ve photographed the Common Merganser many times before, both female and male, this is the first time ever I’ve photographed their chicks.
And then Mom takes a dive and I don’t know what happened next because they all went out of sight around a brushy spot on the creek.
Other birds from this morning, on and along Spanish Creek:
Song Sparrow
Western Wood Pewee
This time of year around here these open and territorial perchers are omnipresent and ubiquitous.
Mallard hens
My big prize of the morning, a Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage:
I would have taken more (and it was to be hoped, better) frames than this but not two seconds later a gaggle of Canada Goose, which had been out of sight so I wasn’t aware of their presence, was startled into flight by my presence and they all flew right over this spot, barely a few feet above the water. The instant they cleared the airspace I watched the Sandpiper take off and fly fast the opposite direction. This is but the fourth time I’ve ever photographed this bird.
✨ ✨ ✨ July 7, 2024 ✨ ✨ ✨
Out for my 2-mile around-the-town-and-up-the-hill bird walk, starting at 6:00 a.m. and going for a couple of hours, covering a couple of miles. I do this walk about once a month, and it usually produces a fair variety, as was the case this morning. These are in the order I encountered them.
Full press of Anna’s Hummingbird at the feeder
Steller’s Jay at a bathing venue
Acorn Woodpecker, in the groove
Bullock’s Oriole; male at upper, female at lower
Spotted Towhee, juvenile, coming up through the ranks
Hairy Woodpecker, very busy searching for bugs under the bark
Spotted Towhee doing feather maintenance
Norther Flicker (Red-shafted) female
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) male
Bug of the Day: Variegated Meadowhawk
💦 ♒ 🌊 July 9, 2024 🌄 🔮 🚴🏼♂️
Back over by the river, and there’s been a big change.
This is how a small patch of Cottonwood tree and Willow tree looked back in November 2023. This is immediately adjacent to the airport taxiway. You can see a signal beacon pole in the far upper left of this photo.
Sometime between the end of June and today’s trip a massive chopping and thinning took place on this woody little patch. I have no idea what the reason* was for this, and I wouldn’t have thought the trees were interfering in any way with airplane traffic, and at first I was rather dismayed to see this.
The stumps of just a few of dozens of Cottonwood trees that were standing at least thirty to forty feet tall.
This sure represents a significant loss of wildlife habitat and cover, but of course it will grow back and it wasn’t wholly wiped out. In fact, it looks like the way it was done was to very purposely retain regenerative growth. But at any rate it sure opened up what was otherwise just impenetrable overgrowth. I realize that now I have a “new” bird habitat at my convenience.
But before the photos I took from the newly opened area, a couple of others.
House Finch alongside the bike path I ride to get over to the highway to get over to the airport.
A most unexpected treat: a pair of Red-tailed Hawks on a light beacon at Gansner Airport. The airport happens to be just across Spanish Creek from the spot where I have been watching a Red-tailed Hawk nest over the past two years. I wonder if this pair is related to the nest. I would venture they almost have to be, given the proximity. But, there’s no way for me to know for certain.
And if I can get a big poop shot, you betcha I’m gonna post it, hee hee!
Launch!
Now, down in the thinned-out trees, I found a spot to sit. Lots of activity, but more than anything it was these juvenile American Robin. I also spotted Black-headed Grosbeak and Bullock’s Oriole, but didn’t manage photos of those.
However, this Bewick’s Wren was somewhat obliging.
As was this very pretty Western Tanager female.
Today’s capper was this Red-breasted Sapsucker. For these shots I had moved away from the thinned wood patch to another spot down by Spanish Creek.
He flew off, across the creek, and paused on top of this telephone pole. With this, I called it a morning and headed on back to the house. Sheesh, I hadn’t even had time for coffee before I headed out this morning. Now, my next planned excursion will be up a steep hill. If this diary continues, you’ll know I made it up and back down. Nah, I reconsidered. Too steep, too long, and unlikely to be productive. I’ve got another idea, and if it works I’ll be finishing this diary with that trip. Or, maybe one more after that.
😍 😅 😛 July 11, 14, 15, 2024 🍿 🥨 🧁
Back to the newly cleared wood patch by the airport. I’ve decided to salt the mine.
And it worked, a little.
This Black-headed Grosbeak female was a taker. She fed for several minutes, picking out all the black sunflower seeds from the mix.
This little patch has been very lively over the past week, attracting a fair variety of species.
Downy Woodpecker, juvenile
(if mature the red cap would be on the back of the head)
Yellow Warbler
A much better photo of a Bewick’s Wren, in action
And another Bewick’s Wren, this time in a gray plumage
I picked up and pedaled around to the other side of the river, down a frontage road. Caught this Gray Fox, sure made my morning.
More Black-headed Grosbeak, female. I don’t know where all the males have wandered off to.
Same story for the Western Tanager females. Where are all the dudes?
A not so common sighting for me; Lincoln’s Sparrow, juvenile
Bullock’s Oriole, even the female is a stand-out, I get a good photo like this I’m going to share it.
A Red-shafted Northern Flicker took the stage and started preening. I put my camera on continuous exposure mode, clicked off sixty-four frames, and decided these two were the only two worth showing. Them’s the breaks.
🍒 🍓 🍅 July 16, 2024 🍉 🍄 🥕
Time for a change up. Down Spanish Creek, “south” of town, heading down the creek as far as I can go on my bicycle. Turned out to be 14.4 miles (round trip) total; and boy was I bushed by the time I got back. I was looking for a place I could safely get across the creek, by wading and wearing water shoes and using trek poles for safety, but I never did find a suitable spot. Where it was narrow enough there were too many rocks and rapids and where it was calm it was too wide and deep. There’s a developed hiking and mountain biking trail on the other side I wanted to get to, but that will have to wait for another day when I can get to the trail from its bottom-end terminus, which will involve putting my bicycle on the rural bus and making it down the Feather River Canyon a few miles. For now, this is what the day provided:
OK, so not a bird but it was the first wildlife I encountered for the day and I love Gray Fox. Especially when it’s more Gray Fox.
Soon enough though there were birds to be seen, and first this very fortuitous capture of yet another July sighting of Red-tailed Hawk in American Valley. Generally speaking all of the raptors moved out of the area back around the end of April and migrated onward, wherever it is they go.
Red-tailed Hawk, a young one I think
Brown-headed Cowbird, female
Now, down on the creek...
Canada Goose down in the creek...
...and up on the stream bank
Another Common Merganser brood, but way past little chick stage. These seem fully fledged.
Down at the very end of the trail I rested for a bit with a good view of some trees across the creek.
Acorn Woodpecker
Steller’s Jay
And then it was pedal pedal pedal all the way home. Just before getting back into town there were a bunch of Turkey Vultures circling and one on a fence post way out in the field. Good thing I was on the move. I was feeling like just about any minute I was liable to turn into vulture food.
Turkey Vulture in the heat shimmer
And that was it for the day and the day after that and for Thursday and for Friday. Saturday, yesterday the 20th, I was rested up enough to get out early in the morning and back to the brushy patch out by the airport. I brought along more wild bird food.
The Spotted Towhees took the stage for the morning, more prevalent than any other bird yesterday morning. Lots and lots of juveniles and some adults. But there were others for the morning. Mostly repeats, but not all.
Just as I got to the close end of the airport, here was a Sandhill Crane juvenile hiding a bit in the tall grasses. Definitely not a repeat.
Even as I photographed, in came mom and dad.
After the Cranes, out along the frontage road by one of the airplane hangers, a California Mule Deer young buck, just into his spikes, still in velvet:
Repeat: Bewick’s Wren
Repeat: Bullock’s Oriole female
Not a repeat: Lesser Goldfinch, female
Ho-hum, repeat, Black-headed Grosbeak, female. Remember I was asking where were all the dudes?
Oh, there you are.
And a final not-a-repeat. Western Kingbird. (But I still don’t have a Western Tanager male for the season. They’re playing very hard-to-get.)
The Towhees take the stump.
That’ll do it for Dawn Chorus. But that trivial personal milestone? This is my 350th Daily Kos story. Not that three hundred fifty is any significant number in its own right, but it is a nice round number and seems like something of note. Just a few over one hundred of those stories are from when I was doing Morning Open Thread every Saturday for two years, and a couple of others are non-nature related, but the majority have been the Daily Bucket and Dawn Chorus. Thanks for having me.
By the way, in case you weren’t keeping track, I have been. For this diary, the birds of July:
1. Common Merganser
2. Song Sparrow
3. Western Wood Pewee
4. Mallard
5. Spotted Sandpiper
6. Anna’s Hummingbird
7. Steller’s Jay
8. Acorn Woodpecker
9. Bullock’s Oriole
10. Spotted Towhee
11. Hairy Woodpecker
12. Northern Flicker
13. House Finch
14. Red-tailed Hawk
15. American Robin
16. Bewick’s Wren
17. American Goldfinch
18. Red-breasted Sapsucker
19. Downy Woodpecker
20. Black-headed Grosbeak
21. Yellow Warbler
22. Lincoln’s Sparrow juvenile
23. Canada Goose
24. Turkey Vulture
25. Brown-headed Cowbird
26. Sandhill Crane
27. Lesser Goldfinch
28. Western Kingbird
…
* I found out the reason for the trees having been cut down and thinned way out. It was because they were blocking the view of the light beacon, a red flashing beacon on top of a pole, that is one of three along the airport, but actually along the frontage road more than in the airport proper; that is, not along the taxiway or runway. Here’s a work-up of what those poles look like and where they are located. My trees are at the right-most in the view of the runway, below.
The beacon at the far right of this group is the beacon that had its visibility blocked by the trees. I don’t know the exact purpose of these lights, so if anybody does recognize them (hey, any pilots out there?) please let me know in the comments. I suspect they are to keep a pilot from erroneously making a turn into the mountain when it’s dark; don’t begin a turn during takeoff until you’ve cleared the lights. But I’m just guessing.
