February 7, 2025
9:30 to 12:00
Sunny and cool
We had gorgeous weather – clear, sunny, around 50° F – for our first Vertebrate Biology field trip of the semester. We gathered in the parking lot at 9:30, so I could give an overview of what we’d be doing that day, and had plenty of birds to look at right away. One of my instructions for my students today especially was to focus on making good, accurate observations, and keeping track of the field marks that they see – shape, color, size (as much as it can be estimated), vocalizations, behavior, etc. I’ve asked them to include a description of every species we see today, even the common ones that we’ll probably see over and over throughout the semester.
Our first birds of the day were a couple of Turkey Vultures, including one that was flying reasonably low just west of the parking lot, giving us a nice, long look before it gained altitude and soared high overhead. In the trees along the parking lot edge, a very small bird spend time time foraging pretty high in the branches. It was yellow-ish gray, with some wing bar striping. Either a Ruby-crowned Kinglet or Hutton’s Vireo – I never got a good enough look to have a hope of making that ID. American Crows were calling in the distance, and a Great Blue Heron flew overhead.
On the east side of the parking lot, several (4 or 5) ducks were swimming and foraging in a small pool. They were just a bit far away, and were backlit with some pretty harsh lighting, so I wasn’t able to make an ID. While watching the ducks, a few Killdeer flew in and landed nearby, making their distinctive “ki-DEE” calls. A couple of Song Sparrow were perched nearby – with others vocalizing nearby – and a Black Phoebe swooped periodically from its perch on some tall grass. While we were at this spot, I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling, but didn’t see the bird at that time.
As we made our way to the large pool south of the entrance, Canada Geese were calling, and we would soon see several of them (8 – 10) at the pool, but the first bird that I saw in that area was a gorgeous Black-necked Stilt that flew away from us as we approached, but settled in another part of the pool. There were a few Stilts in the area (3 or 4) – such very pretty and distinctive birds with their bright white and dark black, and noticeably red legs.
Swimming in the pool were a few Northern Shovelers (at least 1 male and 1 female, although there may have been a couple more), at least 1 pair of Mallard, and several Green-winged Teal (probably about 6). At least 1 American Coot was present. There were also several Red Swamp Crayfish seen throughout the day – or, parts of them, anyway. At this location, one of my students discovered one that was fairly intact (although I don’t think it was alive).
We made our way around the big pond toward the bare Eucalyptus, a Black-tailed Jackrabbit ran past us along the trail. I only caught a quick glimpse, but some of my students did have a better, closer, view. When we reached the Eucalyptus, Tree Swallows were swooping overhead and using the nest boxes, and an Anna’s Hummingbird perched on one of the smaller trees. At least one Yellow-rumped Warbler was foraging in the tree tops, as well as a small, loose flock of American Bushtits. I heard Marsh Wren singing from the reeds to the south, and the Canada Geese were honking pretty consistently. There were also several Golden-crowned Sparrow and White-crowned Sparrow foraging on the ground in a more open area of reeds.
At another of the impoundments, when I climbed up onto the platform to look out over the water, several Bufflehead flushed, flying north out of sight. Fortunately, a pair of the birds remained – a male and a female – so everyone was able to get a look at these beautiful ducks. There was also a single female Common Goldeneye swimming near the Bufflehead. This is also where I saw my first Pied-billed Grebe of the day (there would be handful of others in some of the other ponds). I had a moment of excitement when I spotted a rail in the reeds – I thought for a moment that it might be a Sora or a Virginia Rail – but once I got a clear view of the bird, I realized it was a Moorhen (now called Common Gallinule after a recent name change). It was a nice view of just one of these birds swimming near the platform. Another Great Blue Heron flew past overhead.
Just past this pond, I spotted a couple of blackbirds near the top of a small tree. I had a moment of difficulty with them – I just couldn’t quite place what they were. Then, I saw the epaulets and thought they were probably Red-winged Blackbirds. But there was still something a bit off about this. They were tail-flicking, and both of them had extremely wide white bands at the bottom edge of their epaulets – if it had been just one bird with a white band, or if the bands had been thinner, I might question this. But I’m going to call these Tri-colored Blackbirds. They have been seen in this area before (I’ve seen them at least once before at Ellis Creek), so I feel good about this ID. I do with that the binoculars I was using were better quality, or that I’d had my camera. Maybe next time. 😀
Just past the tree with the blackbirds, there was a group of what turned out to be White-crowned Sparrows. I did need my students to help me with this ID, because, in my words on the day, “the binoculars I am using are garbage, so I can’t get a good look at anything and I want to cry.” (I didn’t really want to cry, but it was frustrating.
We did have another very nice bird . . . on the far side of the south-eastern-most pond, we spotted a lone Say’s Phoebe. It was flycatching from some tules relatively near the path, and we were able to view the bird for several minutes. I think it was about this time when a Red-shouldered Hawk soared overhead (it’s about time! They are usually much more visible here). Nearby is a spot where I typically see Cackling Geese, but none seemed to be present today. I also spoke with a fellow who passed us on the path, and he said he hasn’t seen any Cackling Geese this season. Around this time, a Northern Raven gave us a very nice look as it soared past right over our heads – the wedge-shaped tail clearly visible.
From this trail, we also spotted a smaller bird of prey – a White-tailed Kite. It was pretty far away, but some of the students witnessed it kiting, and I was able to get a look to verify the sighting after the bird landed on a wooden fence post.
As we began to make our way back to the parking lot, a large bird flew fairly low over the tules: either a bittern or a juvenile night heron. I didn’t get a good look (BINOCULARS URGH), but I think this was an American Bittern. My impression was of a very rusty color along the trailing edge of the wings, and I’d associate that warm color more with a bittern than with a night heron. So, can’t be sure about this one, but this is exactly the spot where we saw one of the bitterns two years ago. (Of course, we’d also seen a night heron here, as well).
There were also some gulls overhead periodically, although I didn’t give them too close of a look. Probably Ring-billed. And once, I saw something that might have been an American Pelican high overhead, but I never got it in the binoculars to verify.
At the big pond, a gorgeous Great Egret was wading very near the trail. As we approached, it flew a bit father away, landing along the far edge of the pond, where we still had a good view. Here, we saw a few more ducks (well, probably the same ducks we’d seen on the way in), along with a few Stilts.
We did have one final bird while watching the egret and the ducks: a small, brown bird with some striping on its bib: an American Pipit. This was a great bird for my students to see, since it looks superficially like a Song Sparrow, until you look a bit more closely – both at the pattern of striping and also at the bird’s orientation and way that it moves. A great sighting to round out a wonderful first day in the field this semester.
Species seen by others, but not by me personally: Northern Harrier, Columbian Black-tailed Deer.
Species List
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), American Crow* (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans), Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), American Coot (Fulica americana), Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla), White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), Audubon’s yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga auduboni), Marsh Wren* (Cistothorus palustris), American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata), Tri-colored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor), Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya), American Bittern? (Botaurus lentiginosus), White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus), Great Egret (Ardea alba), American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
*Heard only
Let me know what you think!