A while back, our friend Rich Cimino asked if we’d fill in to lead his annual Beginning Birding event for the Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival since he’d be out of town giving the keynote address for the Owens Lake Bird Festival. Excited for the opportunity, we eagerly agreed.
The event is at Point Reyes National Seashore’s Woodpecker Trail next weekend, so yesterday we headed down to do a walk-through.
Pine Siskin sounds greeted us as we parked. Lo and behold, we spotted one collecting straw from the ground in the horse trailer parking lot while its mate kept guard on the nearest fence-post.
Woodpecker Trail starts near the Bear Valley Visitor Center and, after a gentle climb up a grassy hillside meadow, enters a beautifully lush riparian woodland where Black-headed Grosbeaks, Spotted Towhees, Pacific Wrens, and Hairy Woodpeckers sang and called.
Pacific-slope Flycatchers are back in town, and constantly gave their guy-in-the-dark-alley-who-wants-to-sell-you-a-fake-Rolex-out-of-his-trenchcoat whistle. You know the one.
Wilson’s Warblers easily won the “All-the-While” Award for the day – the award we give to the bird who seems to be everywhere, vocalizing incessantly at every turn.
At one point, four Willies bopped around the same shrubs with two of them giving these interesting interaction calls. Starting around 33 seconds, you can hear one sing with a hushed tone. What were they saying to each other!?
Here’s one last photo of Our Beloved Willy Warbs in a funny goblin pose.
This Spotted Towhee sat quietly in a California Hazelnut. He then called a few times and performed a few bars of his classic buzzy trill song.
Golden-crowned Kinglets are a bird we suspect are around more than we realize. They’re often hard to see, buried high in conifer trees. Making detection even more difficult, we have a tough time distinguishing their call notes from those of a Brown Creeper. Yesterday, we were excited to hear their song which they perform throughout breeding season.
A Nuttall’s Woodpecker called frequently throughout the day. At one point, it flew directly overhead into a nearby oak and let loose with a loud drum and a series of squeaks. After staying silent for about 45 seconds, the drumming began again.
As we walked by Morgan Horse Ranch, we heard a buzzy Setophaga-type song and followed our ears. We scoured the inner branches of a Coast Live Oak and discovered a real treat – this beautiful Black-throated Gray Warbler!
As Teresa snapped photos of the Black-throated Gray popping in and out of sight within the tree, she realized she was looking at a different bird in the camera’s view-finder. The warbler had magically morphed into a Warbling Vireo!
Listen to the Warbling Vireo’s lazy yet emphatic, up-and-down warbling song below.
The pastel yellow wash under its wings really complements the soft look of the Warbling Vireo’s white-eyebrowed face.
It turns out a Townsend’s Warbler (another warbler of the Setophaga genus) was also foraging in the same live oak – a popular tree!
Teresa was quite excited after such a flurry of action in a single tree.
We couldn’t have asked for a better spring day to spend in beautiful Marin County.
They’re lucky to have you both!
Aww shucks, Ellie – that’s so kind of you to say, thanks! 😀
Oh Boy you are a team so wonderful to have you part of the PR Bird Festival! Hope to bird with you later this spring.
Thanks, Rich! We’re very much looking forward to being a part of the Festival!! Let’s pick a date in May to go birding 🙂