During our recent family visit in Reno, we popped over to Truckee for a day of birding at the Donner Camp Picnic Ground in the Tahoe National Forest.
This section of forest is dominated by Jeffrey Pines, Lodgepole Pines and White Firs, interspersed with golden, grassy meadows – a beautiful combination.
Right away, we heard a woodpecker call that sounded like a cross between a Hairy and a Nuttall’s Woodpecker. Hmm… could it be?!!
Yes! White-headed Woodpeckers! We’d only seen this species once before and didn’t get a fully satisfying look. But on this day, four flew in and landed in the dead trees directly in front of us, calling and pecking away.
The Mountain Chickadee isn’t quite as adorable as the incomparably cute Chestnut-backed Chickadee that we share our hometown with, but it’s just as feisty and noisy. The trees and bushes were filled with these tiny firecrackers, infusing the trail with a palpable energy.
Mountain Chickadees are just as talkative as our Chestnut-backeds, but have a harsher call.
As it turns out, chipmunks are very difficult to identify. There are no fewer than four species that occur in the Tahoe National Forest: Lodgepole, Yellow-Pine, Long-eared, and Allen’s Chipmunks. Not being able to name them didn’t diminish our enjoyment of these boldly patterned tiny Sciuridaes.
This large pinecone belongs to the Jeffrey Pine. These cones can grow up to 15 inches.
Mature Jeffrey Pines have a richly textured bark with warm reddish-brown tones.
Lodgepole Pines sport a much different-looking, but equally rough, bark. Though both the Jeffrey and Lodgepole Pine are beautiful – as tree-huggers, we still prefer the soft and spongy Coast Redwood for literal tree-hugging!
In comparison to the impressive Jeffrey pinecone, the Lodgepole cone is downright diminutive.
The goofy-sounding “honk-honk-honk” of a Red-breasted Nuthatch always makes us smile – and there were no shortages of smiles on this day.
Here’s a Red-breasted Nuthatch in classic Downward-Facing-Bird pose.
Not be outdone in the Pine Forest Yoga competition, this White-breasted Nuthatch scored a 9.2 with this even more flexible pose, extending its bill almost fully horizontal. Impressive! Check out its larger bill compared to the Red-breasted Nuthatch above.
When a mated pair of White-breasted Nuthatches forages together, you can sometimes eavesdrop on these delicate little contact calls shared back and forth. We love these dainty sounds.
A small group of Red Crossbills gave us great recording opportunities. Red Crossbill researchers are always looking for more location-specific confirmations of the various crossbill types – so we sent this recording to Tim Spahr and confirmed these were Type 2 Ponderosa Pine birds.
Evening Grosbeaks are another species with multiple types being researched and documented. It’s also another bird we’ve only seen once before, so imagine our delight to encounter a flock flying around the treetops!
These boldly patterned birds – color-blocked in yellow, black, and white – zipped by repeatedly overhead, never perching for more than a moment. Listen below to their flight calls.
We really enjoy exploring the Reno-Tahoe area and its different mix of birds!
awesome, as usual.
Why, thank you very much!
Thanks for another wonderful post! I love the bird sounds woven through the beautiful photos and fine prose.
Hi Monica, thank you! We have fun trying to share the story of our day birding with the media we’ve captured and the memories we’ve made.
Yes…what Monica says;-) Such a delight to hear these mountain birds. I haven’t been up to the Sierras in what feels like a really long time. So cool to hear the Crossbills and the Grosbeaks. They are birds I have heard before but never with the thought of identifying the different types. How cool!!! Thank you, as always, for sharing.
We have been having such a great time exploring the Sierras (although, very slowly!) the past year or so. It’s so much fun getting to know different groups and mixes of birds up there. Looking at the spectrogram really helped us when trying to figure out which crossbill type we had encountered.
You were so clever to get out into nature this crazy holiday weekend! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Cynthia – getting out into nature has been a great way to balance the craziness of holidays!
I always like to see your site pop up in my email and relish the adventure and knowledge you have to share. It’s helpful to study all aspects of the natural setting like you do. I guess the saying “Gentle Jeffrey and prickly ponderosa” doesn’t always live up to its name if you got a cone injury from a Jeffrey.
Thanks so much, Brook, we really appreciate that! Yeah, we learned the hard way that ‘Gentle Jeffrey” can be a bit misleading depending on how you’re holding the cone! =) We learned that those 2 species can be difficult to separate, but the massive cones we were finding on the ground seemed to seal the deal.
Have only been to that spot in the snow. Neat to see so much life. Love the recordings and added tree identification. Thanks for taking the time.
Let’s go camping there this spring or summer, we know a good spot! 🙂