Birding Sweet Springs, Cerro Alto, and Turri Road

Sweet Springs - 8:00 am.  I was greeted by a robustly singing White-crowned Sparrow.  Feeding in the pond was a lone, Blue-winged Teal and a pair of Mallards.  Song Sparrow was scratching in the leaf litter, Spotted Towhee was singing.  Best birds were, Tree Swallow, Cedar Wax Wing, and a Purple Finch singing from the top of a tall Cypress.  The highlight of the visit was a lingering look at a Pacific-slope Flycatcher and a Western Tanager.

Cerro Alto - A National Forest campground off Hwy 41, between Morro Bay and Atascadero.  The road to the campground (photo) follows a creek that is densely vegetated with Willow, Oak, Sycamore, California Bay, and Poison Oak.  Wilson's Warbler, singing with intense gusto, flitted through the shrubbery.  Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warbler were numerous, House Wren was active.  As I progressed up the road the singing became intense.  In spite of the cacophony, was able to identify, Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, and Warbling Vireo.  The walk to the small camping area is beautiful but watch out for the poison oak. 

 

Turri Road -  Yesterday two Blue Grosbeak were seen where the creek comes close to the road; I had no luck finding them.  Continued up the road to the fallow pea field where two years ago I had seen a Blue Grosbeak.  Lazuli Bunting was singing from a large tangle of Willow (photo).  I stationed myself across the road from the Willows, as I did not want to spook the 5 inch little darling.  Finally noticed movement and was sure the bird would show his self when a band of cyclists sped by.  The singing stopped.  I waited, eventually relocating to the other side of the road.  While waiting, observed a pair of Lark Sparrows mating on a twig of a nearby Coyote Bush (a first time sighting).

After a few more minutes of quiet, the Lazuli Bunting perched on an outer twig and began to sing. I could see him perfectly.  Success!  As I was getting into my car 37 motorcycles passed by (I counted).  From now on I will only bird Turri Road on weekdays.

A Phenominal Week For Birding

About 2 miles east 0n Turri Road, in the area of the windmill and the pea field, birding mania was in full bloom. I believe it all began with the appearance of an Indigo Bunting in the latter part of June (see June 23 blog). Then on July 5th an Eastern Kingbird, rare to our area, was seen. Birders flocked to the site.

In the same clump of Willows, alongside the road where I had first seen the Indigo Bunting, a male (below photo) and female Blue Grosbeak had taken up residence. Two days ago the male sat at the top of the willow singing his melodious song while the female dashed back and forth across the road with insects for her brood, clasped tightly in her beak. Today, the male was singing from a tree across the road and the female was feeding 3, maybe 4 youngsters, that were waiting impatiently in the brush on the edge of the pea field - most delightful to view.

A Lazuli Bunting was feeding along the fence across from the windmill, and the song of an Indigo Bunting could be heard coming from the willows across the field (I hope I have all these names right). Up the road a few yard were several Cassin's Kingbird and a Lark Sparrow. By the old corral a female Bluebird was gathering insects for her nestlings. And perched on barbed wire was a juvenile Cassin's Kingbird fussing for food. Thank you Maggie Smith for use of yourIndigo Bunting and BlueGrosbeak photos.

As of Monday, I had yet to see the Eastern Kingbird. The most success at seeing the bird was early morning or early evening. Yesterday, I set my alarm; at 6:30 I was looking for the Kingbird and there it was sitting on the barbed wire directly across from me. I, per my usual, got a fuzzy photo, but it is proof that I saw the little darling (below photo). He was making his call sound and flying out for insects and back to his perch. Eventually he flew out of sight. I did get caught up in the birding mania and loved every minute of it. Below is a link to a video on my latest birding adventure.
http://youtu.be/fIq4fOVMcEE

Making the Best of Difficult Circumstances

Turri Road Pond

The difficult circumstances this morning was an overcast, gray sky with light drizzle. My limited birding skills were put to the test, especially when looking into the glare, but I persevered; managing to identify 41 birds in 3 hours.

Little birds, especially if they were at a distance or on a utility line, all looked alike, but due to the season of spring many were singing which helped considerably in their identification. My goal this morning was to see how many birds I could identify along the road.  Fortunately traffic was very light with just a few bicyclists.

First stop was the main pond (Photo).  3 Northern Shoveler, 2 Semipalmated Plover, and a Killdeer.  In the brush were Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, Wrentit, and an Anna's Hummingbird. Overhead, moving at sonic speed, were three species of Swallow and a bird that I adore, the White-throated Swift.

This week, Lazuli Bunting, Purple Martin, Blue Grosbeak, and Grasshopper Sparrow (most adorable) had been seen. I found 2 out of  4 - Lazuli Bunting and Grasshopper Sparrow. As soon as the sun comes out, usually after 1:00, I'll make a return trip to Turri Road to look for the Martin, which I have yet to view.