Author Archive | Larry Jordan

Wintu Audubon’s First Mini Christmas Bird Count

By Larry Jordan on December 18, 2013 in In the News

A group of six youths and thirteen adults split into three teams that scoured Turtle Bay from the Highway 44 bridge to above the Sundial. They were looking for something, and they found it in profusion: Birds! It was Wintu Audubon’s Mini Christmas Bird Count for Youth and Beginners, and December sunshine after the cold snap made for a warm show of feathered flutterings from all over the rainbow.

The three teams each took an area and tried to identify and tally every bird they found in ninety minutes of searching. They totaled 791 birds from 57 different species, from stately herons and egrets, to squabbles of ducks down from the arctic, to “now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t brushbirds who, being hungry in the leafless trees, made themselves delightfully more visible than they often do.

A few highlights: an unstately heron gulping a fish that really shouldn’t have fit. An immature bald eagle in silhouette on a snag, being harassed by a handful of half-hearted crows. A resplendent Eurasian wigeon gleaming in the sun. A brown creeper finding its insect breakfast in the fissures of oak bark. A flock of cedar waxwings enjoying wild berries along the river.

Eurasian Wigeon Drake

The species most counted, at ninety-nine, was Buffleheads, black and white diving ducks who typically nest in northern plains pothole country but come to our area for the unfrozen water in winter. The different counting teams might argue about which was the rarest bird to find in Redding in winter—perhaps the osprey, or the brown creeper or Hutton’s vireo, perhaps the Eurasian wigeon.

Bufflehead Drake

The Mini Count was part of Wintu Audubon’s Youth/Beginner Walks, which meet the second Saturday of every month at 9:00 a.m. at the Turtle Bay Monolith. Binoculars are provided. The public is invited.

Several full-day Christmas Bird Counts run in our area. See our event page for more information.

Youth/Beginner Mini Christmas Bird Count Totals:

Canada Goose 58
Wood Duck 1
Gadwall 8
American Wigeon 50
Eurasian Wigeon 1
Northern Shoveler 1
Mallard 37
Ring-necked Duck 2
Bufflehead 99
Commoon Goldeneye 51
Barrow’s Goldeneye 21
Hooded Merganser 1
Common Merganser 24
Double-crested Cormorant 19
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 6
Turkey Vulture 28
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 88
Killdeer 7
Spotted Sandpiper 4
Gull (species unkn.) 19
Ring-billed Gull 6
Glaucous-winged Gull1
Rock Pigeon 15
Anna’s Hummingbird 5
Belted Kingfisher 2
Acorn Woodpecker 3
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 4
Black Phoebe 5
Hutton’s Vireo 2
Western Scrub Jay 22
American Crow 51
Oak Titmouse 7
Bushtit 26
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
Bewick’s Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 9
American Robin 7
Northern Mockingbird1
European Starling 4
Cedar Waxwing 21
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
California Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 12
Lincoln’s Sparrow 3
Golden-crowned Sparrow 7
Red-winged Blackbird 12

Burrowing Owl Named Audubon California’s 2013 Bird of the Year!

By Larry Jordan on December 10, 2013 in Conservation, In the News

It’s official! From the California Audubon’s Press Release:

San Francisco – One of California’s most beloved owls today was named the 2013 Audubon California Bird of the Year. The Burrowing Owl – which nests underground in burrows rather than trees – received the designation after receiving more than 48 percent of votes cast during an online poll this fall.

The Burrowing Owl finds its home in dry open areas with low vegetation, sometimes in vacant properties along the urban and surburban edges where bird enthusiasts delight in watching them. However, it is exactly this type of habitat is often targeted for development, putting the Burrowing Owl in a precarious position.

More than 22,000 votes were cast in this year’s Bird of the Year poll. The Burrowing Owl finished with 48.3 percent of the votes cast. Thanks to all of you who voted for my favorite bird, the Burrowing Owl! We hope this adorable little bird will get much more attention in the coming year because of this designation.

Ross’s Geese at Sacramento National Wildife Refuge

By Larry Jordan on December 10, 2013 in National Wildlife Refuges

Every autumn, tens of thousands of Snow Geese arrive in California’s Sacramento Valley following their long journey from the Canadian Arctic (click on photos for full sized images).

Waterfowl numbers at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex may exceed two million by December, after the wetland areas of the Klamath Basin and other areas to the north become frozen. Snow and Ross’s Geese winter there in the tens of thousands.

Currently, about 95 percent of all Ross’s Geese nest in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary in the central Canadian Arctic. The main wintering area for Ross’s Goose (Chen rossii) is presently in the Central Valley of California, though increasing numbers winter in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and the north-central highlands of Mexico¹. Map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds and Birding.

The Ross’s Goose is the smallest variety of the white geese that breed in North America. They look like a small Snow Goose but they have a shorter neck and a rounder head. At the base and sides of its smaller beak, the Ross’s Goose has species-specific vascular wartlike protuberances or caruncles which become more prevalent with age¹ (more apparent on full sized image).

They also lack the “grinning black lips” of their larger Snow Goose cousin.

They are fairly easy to tell apart in a mixed flock by their size and the lack of the “black grin”

Their heads are usually whiter than the larger Snow Goose at winter feeding grounds, probably because their smaller bill is adapted for feeding on short blades and shoots of grasses and sedges as opposed to the roots and tubers the larger geese dig through the mud for.

The bird scratching itself in the background of this photo is a juvenile, still showing some gray feathering on its head and nape.

It looks like nap time for these Ross’s Geese…

at least until something stirs them into flight!

This is a video I shot at the refuge on December 1st, 2013.

References: ¹Birds of North America Online

Sign-up for the 114th Christmas Bird Count is Now Open

By Larry Jordan on November 14, 2013 in In the News

From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission – often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season.

Birders of all skill levels are urged to participate in the Christmas Bird Count.

If you love birds, especially if you are a beginning bird watcher and want to learn about the birds where you live, you will want to participate in at least one Christmas Bird Count. You see, there is always at least one experienced birder in each field party, and each field party needs a recorder, someone to record the birds as they are counted.

While participating in my first Christmas Bird Count, not only did I learn which birds lived in my neighborhood in the winter, I learned where to find them on an American Ornithologists Union arranged bird check list, the same arrangement used by most bird guide books. If you are the group recorder, by the end of the day I guarantee you will have learned how to use a field guide to birds.

If you are an experienced birder you may be asked to lead a field party that covers a specific area within the 15 mile radius of your local count circle. Not only is this an excellent way to support bird conservation but you can also influence younger or less experienced birders by helping them identify birds and build their confidence in bird identification.

Getting involved in the Christmas Bird Count is easy!

All you have to do is go to Audubon’s get involved page to find a count circle near you and sign up! Don’t delay though, the counting starts in less than a month.

If you live in a designated Christmas Bird Count circle and are unable to go out into the field, you may still be able to participate by counting the birds in your own backyard. For more information on the 114th Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count go to their FAQ page.

To see where and when our local Christmas Bird Counts are happening, check out our calendar of events page and above all, whatever you do, have fun birding!

Vote for the 2013 Audubon California Bird of the Year

By Larry Jordan on November 1, 2013 in Conservation

This will be the fifth year for the California Audubon Bird of the Year contest which began in 2009, with the Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli) taking the spotlight (click on photos for full sized images).

This year there are six finalists to choose from or you can write in the bird of your choice. Since the purpose of this process is to recognize a California species of conservation interest, I am personally recommending that everyone vote for the Western Burrowing Owl (Athena cunicularia)!

The Burrowing Owl is listed as a “Species of Special Concern” in California and their numbers have been dropping continuously for decades now. Any spotlight that we can focus on this adorable bird could be a step in the right direction for getting it some badly needed attention.

I urge you to head on over to the California Audubon Bird of the Year website and vote now and vote often for the Burrowing Owl until Friday December 6th when the voting ends. Thank you for your support!