Last week, we spent a morning at the Bird Walk Coastal Access Trail in Bodega Bay. This trail is a short, easy loop around seasonal ponds with views of the nearby mudflats and salt marshes.
When we arrived, the fog was thick and visibility low.
The first bird to greet us was a well-camouflaged, singing Song Sparrow.
This little guy belted out his best song repeatedly, letting everyone around know that he and his family occupied this patch of bramble. He sang a classic Song Sparrow song – four intro notes followed by a jumble of buzzes and whistles. Listen to two performances below.
Oh! And how exactly can we tell he has a family in tow? Those slightly descending, high-pitched, buzzy sounds repeating throughout (the smeary lines on the spectrogram around 8kHz) are his youngsters’ begging calls!
American Goldfinches flitted about all morning long.
We just love the variety of nasally calls American Goldfinches make. They can sound so whimsical, especially when contrasted with the loud Western Gull in the first half of this recording.
As summer progresses, adult songbirds begin to look ragged due to wear-and-tear on their feathers throughout breeding season. This female American Goldfinch was no exception, and she’ll be molting into fresh non-breeding (basic) plumage in the next month or two.
Here’s a different yellow-and-black bird – the vibrant Wilson’s Warbler. It hid behind some stalks with food in its bill, waiting for us to pass by so it could get back to feeding its young.
Bewick’s Wrens were abundant in and behind the cypresses lining the perimeter of the trail.
Bewick’s Wren’s are known for their diverse array of harsh, scolding calls. This recording is of three individuals foraging low in bramble.
A slew of roving Bushtits flitted by in front of us, though none of them paused long enough to get any clearer shot than this one!
The pond was quiet with just a few Mallards – until this Western Gull came in for its crash landing.
The surrounding salt marshes and mudflats are great places to see herons, egrets, gulls, terns, and various shorebirds. Due to the fog, however, this was our obscured view looking out toward Bodega Harbor – barely clear enough to make out a group of Caspian Terns, a line of Great Egrets, and a mass of shorebirds behind.
Though hard to see, we had no trouble hearing the Caspian Terns screaming in the distance.
Many egrets flew by us – like this Great.
This Snowy Egret sailed through the salty air.
Another Great Egret floated down, disrupting the Mallards’ peace and quiet.
Along the southeast edge of the trail across Cheney Creek stands a very popular cypress. At any given time, you’re liable to see perched Great Blue Herons or Great Egrets. How many can you spot here?
A small group of American White Pelicans glided by.
Below is a nice photo representation of views we often get in the field.
The overcast skies and low lighting make colors, field marks, and plumage patterns difficult to discern. In these instances, it is especially important to focus on the general shape, posture, and flight style of a bird.
So what do we see here? Two long-necked, long-bodied birds flapping continuously over the harbor, with straight bills, and no feet visible past the tail. These features quickly narrow down our ID to a pair of cormorants – but which one? Our coastal area hosts three species of cormorant – Pelagic, Brandt’s, and Double-crested.
Well, let’s look closely at the neck. The neck is crooked with a kink in it, resulting in the head sitting a bit higher than the body, especially in the upstroke. This crooked neck clinches our ID of a Double-crested Cormorant, as Pelagic and Brandt’s show straight necks in flight.
Once we get a closer look, the Double-crested’s field mark of signature yellow surrounding the bill became apparent.
As with the cormorants above, low visibility conditions are a great time to put your bird silhouette skills to the test.
Based on shape, can you tell who we have here, flying away in the fog?
From the Bird Walk Coastal Access Trail, you can access Doran Regional Park by way of the Cheney Creek bridge, where another trail heads south and connects with Doran Beach Road.
The bird that bid us adieu for the day was another rough-and-tumble-looking American Goldfinch. His white wing bars are worn down to just a fringe, and his back feathers are completely worn out, with even a few missing!
Did you guess the mystery M-shaped bird above? It was an Osprey! Happy birding!
As always, wonderfully informative
Thanks! We end up learning a lot too, while writing our posts! 🙂