Santa Barbara County "Target" Birding with Wes Fritz, July 29 and 30

With the cuckoo project in full swing with more than a few active nests, Alex and I were due for a few days off.  Since we didn't get to spend enough time in southern California, we decided to head back to try to get a few shorebirds that are migrating down the coast now (Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, etc.).  Also, Alex's birthday is coming up, and to deny him a birding trip on his birthday would be cruel. 

Two days ago, July 29th, we met up with Wes Fritz of "Target Birding," who is one of the best birders in California, and the United States, for that matter, with a PA list larger than ours.  Wes is a professional bird guide, and runs Target Birds, where he can easily get you as many lifers and CA species as you ask for in a day.  He knows this place like the back of his hand, and if you miss a species somewhere, he's got about 20 different places to find it.  Luckily we found him through a birder friend we met on our last trip...we've found CA birders to be some of the friendliest we've met anywhere! 

So, that evening, we joined Wes for some owling.  Wes monitors an amazingly high population of Western Screech, Long-eared, Barn, Great-horned, Pygmy, and Northern Spotted Owls in a (secret) canyon near his home.  This is a beautiful canyon filled with grassy meadows and the biggest California live oaks I've ever seen, which in turn are full of cavities of all sizes to accomodate owls of all sizes.  We started out listening for some Long-eared Owls, but didn't hear any.  On the next few stops, we heard tons of Western Screech Owls, and heard Long-eared owls in the distance, while Barn Owls were shrieking in the background.  If you love owls, then this is one of the best nights of your life.  Up the road a little, we tried to get some Pygmy owls to come in, but only heard them in the distance.  We didn't end up seeing them, but Wes usually has them all over the place! The best find of the night was at the highest elevation of the canyon, where we found a juvenile Northern Spotted Owl, that was calling as soon as we go out of the car.  He flew right in over us!  Wes was really excited about this one, since it showed the owls were able to fledge chicks this year.  Alex and I were so excited we forgot to take photos. 

Back down the road, we got a Western Screech to fly into a huge California live oak, and stare at us for a few seconds.  In the background, tons more were calling.  We tried again for Long-eareds, but only heard them.  In total we heard 6 species of owls within the area of only a few miles!!!!!!!

Western Screech Owl

The next morning, we went back to the canyon to see if we could catch a glimpse of a Pygmy Owl.  We didn't, but we did see the following specialty birds, in addition to Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned and Wilson's Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting.

Pacific Slope Flycatcher (very common)

Nuttall's Woodpecker (finally!)

Wes and Alex birding

California Towhee (very common)

Next, Wes took us to his friends ranch, which has to be the best place to see Yellow-billed Magpies up close!  With a great array of feeders, this is an excellent stop, but you can only get here if you take a tour with Wes!!!!  There were also tons of hummingbirds around.

Yellow-billed Magpie and Band-tailed Pigeon

magpie feeding frenzy

The magpies stuck around for some great photos!

Band-tailed Pigeons

female Anna's Hummingbirds were everywhere

(notice magpie in background)

Anna's Hummingbird

Lesser Goldfinch

Wes took us to a few more birding spots, even though he was about to go on a 2 week long birding trip...the man loves to go birding!  On the way, he stopped so we could photograph this dark Western Red-tail.

At another spot, we picked up a few shorebirds, including Baird's sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Semi-palmated and Black-bellied Plovers.  There were also tons of Belding's Savannah Sparrows here, and a few juvenile White-crowned Sparrows.  At a nearby ocean overlook, Wes found us a Pacific Loon, Sooty Shearwaters, and Pigeon Guillemonts with the scope!

Belding's Savannah Sparrow

juvenile White-crowned Sparrow

The landscape in the area is really dominated by agriculture, including corn, grapes, squash, lettuce, and even this field of "gourmet" artichokes.  There were also a handful of marigould fields, which are used for seed. 

artichoke field

marigould field

At another spot, Wes found us a few Chestnut-backed Chickadees.  He wasn't satisfied with the look, so we went to another reliable spot, where I got this great photo...thanks Wes!!!!

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

We said goodbye to Wes and got on our way.  Visit Wes's website to set up a birding tour in Santa Barbara County, CA if you plan to be in the area soon!!!!  He knows all the secret spots and can show you everything on your target list.  He is also great company and can take you to a bakery where you will eat the best cookies of your life.

We headed for the city of Goleta next, but stopped at a park first, where we found this Band-tailed Pigeon on the side of the road!

There was also a huge family group of Acorn Woodpeckers

This California Quail sat quietly on a post near the road

In Goleta on the coast, we found a huge tree with red flowers, that was the scene of a constant hummingbird battle.  Most were Anna's, but an Allen's was darting in and out as well.

Anna's Humminbird

Anna's Hummingbird

We watched a few small flocks of whimbrel, likely migrating south, land on the

 sandy beach nearby for the night

These noisy Double-crested Cormorants were fighting over a skinny, shaky branch, but

eventually decided they could all fit for the night and sleep in peace.

Double-crested Cormorants on roost

Tracking "Alfy"

Today I set out to track Alfy (short for "Alfy Alfalfa"), a cuckoo we caught a few weeks ago in a restoration plot that still has a thick bed of alfalfa on the forest floor.  He had a succesful nest that fledged chicks about a week ago, and he is likely feeding the chicks in the area.  I found his roost location aound 5:00 am this morning, then he took off for the area near his former nest, about 100 meters south of it.  After awhile I got a visual of Alfy sitting in a willow tree with a huge cicada in his beak!  Of course when I started snapping away photos, probably the best I'd had yet of any cuckoo (bands and transmitter in view), actually in good lighting, my camera informed me that I had forgotten my memory card.  So here is where I would have put the photo.  Use your imagination.

Alfy was likely about to feed one of his fledglings, who probably look quite similar to adult cuckoos right now.  However when we saw eachother, we each froze, and Alfy decided to stay frozen for the next ten minutes while I crawled away to a less obtrusive vantage point.  So, I couldn't figure out what he had planned for the cicada.  Soon a flock of cowbirds moved in and started harassing Alfy.  He flew to a few different trees with the cicada before escaping into a thicker stand of cottonwood.  I followed him but found nothing miraculous.  He never called and no other birds in the area called. 

Nearby, on a nest (of unbanded birds) that hatched a chick yesterday, we found two chicks today.  In just 4 days the first chick will make his way out of the nest!  Here is where I would have put the photo of the two fat little cuckoo chicks...

There is another pair of cuckoos at a nearby site, but we couldn't figure out what they were up to...cuckoos are acting very strange right now with breeding season in full swing, and are no longer talkative.  When they do talk, it is to lead you away from their nest and chicks.  So just when you think you've got a nest area pinned down, they fly away and start alarm calling elsewhere.  They might even enjoy watching us walk in circles, taking bearings in every direction possible.

To find a cuckoo...

Today I set out to find a cuckoo.  Any cuckoo really!  Everyone went to our site that is loaded with cuckoos to make an attempt at capturing another cuckoo and tracking down some more nests.  This site is our cuckoo hotspot and going their is a guarantee that you will see a cuckoo! 

I went to a site at Cibola NWR, where a pair of cuckoos has been heard calling together early in the morning.  So, I set up shop near the area they were last heard, and I waited, and listened.  At 4:57, nothing but White-winged and Morning Doves were calling, hundreds of them, cooing from their nests in the cottonwoods.  At 5:04, house finches started singing, followed a few minutes later by Ash-throated Flycatchers.  At quarter after five, I heard the days first Ladder-backed woodpecker, but still no cuckoos.  A few minutes later, Western Kingbirds started calling, and bats started flying low in the trees looking for places to roost.  At 5:24, mosquitos apparently woke up and started buzzing into my ear.  This was quickly followed by the sound of bullfrogs, and the sight of a green darner dragonfly patrolling his territory and snatching up bugs.  At this point it seemed like everything was active but this mysterious pair of cuckoos.  At 5:30, as a Black-chinned hummingbird buzzed by, cicadas started moving in the trees, being chased by birds.  Surely the cuckoos were up by now and chasing bugs somewhere else.  When tracking LJ about a week ago, he made his first vocal exchange of the day at 5:25, and was off his nest and contact calling in his territory by 5:40.  If there were any cuckoos here....well, there weren't any cuckoos here, at least on this side of the plot.  I set off on foot and played a few contact calls.  It took a few minutes, but a YBCU did come in and contact call.  I believe I called him from afar since it took him so long to respond.  So really, this didn't show me anything about a nest, just that a cuckoo was here and responsive, since he quickly headed back east towards where he came from when he realized I was just a human intruder.  When he got back east, he started a vocal exchange with another bird, so I headed that way about 200 meters along a trail lined with thick mesquite and an occasional cottonwood.  I got to where I thought the birds were calling from and played a call...I immediately heard a loud "KUK KUK KUK KUK KOWLP KOWLP KOWLP!" only about 10 meters away from me, showing that the cuckoo didn't really have time to fly in from anywhere, and this spot might show something important, like a nest.  Immediately the cuckoo flew in to check me out, and was apparently shocked to see a human.  He started alarm calling with rapid knocks, but stuck around for a few minutes.  To my surprise he was banded, with a bright orange band over a vivid white band on his right leg.  I knew it had to be Kicker, a cuckoo the team caught a few weeks ago at this location, but didn't put a transmitter on (since we ran OUT of transmitters!).  He let me know I was not welcomed while I recorded all of my data.  Meanwhile, another cuckoo flew in to see what the commotion was about, and both quickly started exchanging contact calls, likely discussing this horrible intrusion in their home.  This second bird appears to be unbanded, but it looks like Kicker is paired up!  I backed off to let the birds settle down, hopefully back on a nest or territory.  About 20 minutes went by before one of them contact called, so I quickly walked back to the area.  I got their quick enough to see a glimpse of the bird who called fly off towards the direction of the other birds contact call.  It looks like the pair is just checking things out; I nest searched the entire area around the area where they knocked, but found nothing but doves and baby doves in dove nests.  I think at least in a few days, they will be nesting, if they aren't already, and the nest should be relatively easy to find since the area they used today was small and easy to search.

Meanwhile, Alex re-sighted Black Annie today near one of her fledglings, and got photos of her bright yellow eye ring!  See his blog here for photos and stories.  LJ was recaptured today, and a new bird was caught and banded!

I didn't bring my camera on the cuckoo hunt today, which almost always ensures something cool will happen, like a re-sight or finding a nest.  I did however, have it when I drove past this very hot roadrunner, that couldn't even be bothered to run away in the heat.  At this time in the day it was around 105 degrees, and the roadrunner didn't mind me taking a few photos.

note cucko-like tail and zygodactyl toes

Searching for YBCU's near Yuma, AZ and Blythe, CA YBCU update

On the 23rd and 24th, Alex and I continued our surveys near Yuma.  There were no cuckoos to be found, and if they were there...they weren't talking.  As usual we kept from going into cuckoo-depression by finding some other birds at our sites. 

Abert's Towhee trying to knock down sunflower seeds

Vermillion Flycatcher

female Lazuli Bunting (lifer)

Red-tailed hawk being chased by a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds

We passed the time in town searching for bookstores, where, at Hasting's bookstore in town, we found the newest edition Peterson's Guide to the Birds of North America for just 8 dollars and had to refrain from buying multiple copies.  Even better, it was a "value" book, which meant that you could buy 2 at this value price and get one for a dollar.  So, three Peterson's for 17 dollars....what a bargain!  At a used bookstore we found a 1956 Peterson for 3 dollars, where we then passed even more time comparing the two Peterson's.  Aside from range accounts and a few species accounts, in addition to a few name changes, not much has changed!

Back in Blythe, we missed a lot of action!  Black Annie, a cuckoo that dropped her transmitter (and tail feathers) earlier in the season was spotted feeding fledgling cuckoos at a nest that Tim found a day earlier!  Even more interesting is that Black Annie now has a full yellow eye ring; when we caught her, it was all gray.  It is speculated that juvenile or younger cuckoos have this yellow eye ring, but this is clearly not the case!  Shannon says there is one account where a researcher made this observation of a full yellow-eye ring in the breeding season, but as with most theories about cuckoos, it needs more research!  Most of the cuckoos we capture have grayish eye rings, and only a few show slight yellow on the eye ring.  Alex observed another cuckoo with a bright yellow eye-ring at a nest we found about a week ago, while he tried to tape record some YBCU calls at the nest.  Also, two new unbanded pairs were seen copulating, and we will try to capture them tomorrow to band them and hopefully pin down some more nest locations!  In other news, LJ the cuckoo has abandoned his nest due to potential predation.  The last day he attended his nest was July 18th while I did telemetry on him, when he visited the nest a few times.  A chick was likely hatched, but got predated, as did the other egg in his nest.  LJ is now roaming around, likely looking for an area to re-nest.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveys at Imperial NWR, AZ: June 21-23

After returning from Mexico, we started our third round of surveys near Yuma, Arizona.  Alex and I surveyed our site at Imperial NWR, and had two cuckoo detections, likely of the same bird.  It is strange, though, that we detected this bird in nearly the exact same spot as previous YBCU's on previous surveys.  We didn't get to band the Imperial birds, so we don't know if this is the same bird/pair we have been seeing.  At other sites, we have detected cuckoos in the exact same areas, around two weeks apart.  These may be the same birds, or these stands of trees may just be highly attractive to YBCU's for a reason unknown to us.  This reminds me of a few Northern Saw-whet Owls in PA on a tracking project I worked on, when two owls roosted in the same exact chestnut oak tree on different nights, and each a number of times.  Another time, two owls roosted in nearly the same tree, just a few nights apart (Northern Saw-whet Owl Blog 2008) This doesn't sound that odd, but when you look at the surrounding habitat, full of similar-looking chestnut oaks and pines, or cottonwoods and willows, it makes you wonder what the birds can see that we do not. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Imperial NWR

Yellow-billed Cuckoo about to be mobbed by pair of Western Kingbirds

Later in the day while travelling home, we found this Great-horned owl sitting on the powerpole, calling into the darkness.  We also found this burro and her baby walking along in the darkness.

Great-horned Owl

wild burro female and young burro

Los Cuclillo de Pico Amarillo en Mexico

 

Staff from Southern Sierra Research Station, ProNatura, and the Sonoran Institute

endangered Yuma Clapper Rail

On the 19th of June, we arrived in San Luis, Mexico, which is literally right over the border, just south of Yuma, Arizona. I was in a car with Shannon, when we accidentally turned left where there was a sign that said no left turns. This is pretty much the first turn you have to make when on the south side of the border, and I can imagine many people make the same mistake daily. Immediately a man on a bike drove out in front of us, signaling us to pull over. Apparently this was a cop on a bike. Luckily Shannon speaks Spanish very well, and $43 dollars and 10 minutes later we were on our way. We doubt the legitimacy of this encounter with a “cop!”

We then met with staff from ProNatura, the nonprofit group who we were to teach how to survey for Yellow-billed Cuckoos, or as they are known in Mexico, Los Cuclillo de Pico Amarillo. We made a plan for the next day, which included splitting up into 4 groups with each of us (Shannon, Diane, Alex, and myself) in a group to lead the training. We spent the night in San Luis.

Early the next morning, we met with the group of people who were interested in learning how to survey for cuckoos. ProNatura has established many restoration plots, containing the same tree species as our sites in Blythe, CA and Yuma, AZ; cottonwood, willow, and mesquite. These are mostly in the early stages of restoration, but that habitat is already quite suitable for cuckoos, and will continue to get better and more attractive through time.

We were split into groups, and I joined three people from ProNatura in a truck headed for Laguna Corri and Laguna Gato. After a few minutes in the car we all realized that I couldn’t exactly speak Spanish, and they couldn’t exactly speak English. It is amazing, though, how one can communicate with few words and hand signals! I think this trip proved that I have retained about 1% of what I learned in Spanish class in high school. We had also converted our data sheet into Spanish, which helped them figure out exactly what we do on a survey.

At our first point of the survey at Laguna Corre, I understood that this was the exact spot that they had seen a cuckoo on the 29th of June, just three weeks earlier! This cuckoo was likely migrating through, but it would be possible for it to stay for breeding season, since that habitat seemed ideal, with older willow trees surrounded by mesquite and scattered cottonwoods. After 5 broadcasts of the cuckoo contact call, though, no cuckoo appeared. Many cicadas, where out however, which, in Spanish, is “Chacharro.” We managed to get about 11 survey points in on very good habitat, mostly willow. We saw similar bird species at we see at our sites, but specialties were a White-tailed Kite, Cactus Wren, and Green Heron. On Alex’s route, his team found a Western Screech Owl, Least Bitterns, and when I joined them, we found an endangered Yuma Clapper Rail!  Even better, they had three cuckoo detections.  Shannon's team had one cuckoo detection, and Diane's had none.  All of the sites are very promising and will only be more attractive to cuckoos through time.  Although the lower Colorado River will never again be in its natural state, it is amazing to see the species that “return” when the proper habitat is restored.

This area is an excellent birding destination, and ProNatura hopes that Ave-tourism will increase through time as the restoration sites attract more and more birds. If you want to plan a birding trip in Mexico, please contact ProNatura for a tour! Their guides are some of the best birders I have ever met, and they are located just over the border which makes for a close and easy trip.  Staff from the Sonoran Institue also attended the YBCU training.  Check out Alex's blog for some pictures of the YBCU's we found!