1-Mile Radius Discoveries

When the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order was initially issued back in March and the county parks subsequently shut down, it became clear to us that non-essential travel was prohibited. Since we interpreted driving to see birds as sadly non-essential, we knew we had a lot of neighborhood-birding in store!
 
So, finding the “Social-Distance Birding – 1 mile radius” Facebook Group created by local birder Lisa Hug was a comfort. Seeing others’ 1-mile sightings and sharing our own has been a fun way to feel engaged with the birding community during this novel and isolating time.
 
Over the years, we’ve birded a ton along our standard walking route. But, after mapping out our 1-mile radius, we began checking out some lesser-explored roads. Several unexpected discoveries awaited us.
 
Our first surprise occurred during a dawn walk. We ventured up a previously unexplored area where the elevation increases. In the quietude of the forest disturbed only by the sound of a small creek, we heard a very unexpected bird – a Mountain Quail performing an advertising call!
 
Listen below – the Mountain Quail call is the sonar-like sound just under 2 kHz.

In this same spot, a male Wrentit sang – another species previously unobserved in our home-patch! Coyote brush and other chaparral cover the steep hillside across the creek – a different ecosystem from our typical mixed evergreen forest – but one ripe for a Wrentit.
 
On another early morning meander, we noticed a blob at the top of a distant, tall redwood. Upon training our binoculars on the blob, the shape of a Northern Pygmy-Owl appeared! We’d never heard, much less seen, a pygmy-owl in our neighborhood before – though we often wonder which owls are hidden up in the dense woods.

In mid-April, a Hermit Thrush sang and called regularly from a hidden perch near our deck. Then, one afternoon, we heard a thrush-like call from that exact preferred perch – but it didn’t sound like a Hermit Thrush – hmm, very curious. Listen below to this “weeep” call.

The next day, we heard that same call again, followed by a soft “whit” (or “drip“) – a classic Swainson’s Thrush call. We were momentarily confused: “Wait – so both a Hermit and a Swainson’s Thrush have been calling from the exact same perch? Really?” We checked eBird and didn’t see any reports of Swainson’s Thrush arriving in the county yet this spring, which added some doubt to our “two-birds, one-perch” theory. Listen below to the “whit” call.

Research confirmed the “weeep” sound above to be a Swainson’s call given during migration. And to top it off, we discovered the below song on an audio recording from the day before – indeed, it was a Swainson’s Thrush!

Swainson’s Thrushes generally don’t sing much until they’ve been on their breeding grounds for a couple weeks. This bird’s song was quieter than a typical song, and lacked gusto and the full upward spiral effect.
 
On the Swainson’s fourth day around the house, we finally caught a peek. It disappeared the next day – perhaps to continue along its migration path? We felt so fortunate that this bird stopped over in our yard for a few days.

One day, we stepped onto the balcony just in time to see two Bald Eagles (one adult and one immature) circling above the house before moving on. What lucky timing! Though we occasionally see Bald Eagles down by the Russian River, this was only the second time we’ve seen one from our house.

Hermit Warblers arrived right on time this year and our walks have yielded a singing bird or two daily. The singing males prefer to proclaim from the tops of our tallest conifers, and our necks suffer as a result – listen below.

Last week, this male made a pit stop lower in a Pacific madrone. Since then, we’ve also spotted a female grabbing nesting material – so here’s to Hermit Warbler babies soon!

Though Barred Owls reside in our patch, we hear them so infrequently that it’s thrilling each time our ears pick up their distant hoots. While sitting in our living room just last night, the sound of a rather loud “who cooks for you?” startled us. We rushed outside just in time to finally get an audio recording – listen below.

Our last fun 1-mile discovery was of a non-avian variety. As we explored in an earlier post (I’m Crittering Right Now), we love that birding naturally leads to other wildlife encounters since it slows us down and heightens our awareness. Deep in the forest, a tiny flash of movement caught our eye, and we discovered this gorgeous, blue-and-green Northern Alligator Lizard peering at us from the redwood duff. (Big thanks to our friend Taylour for the ID!)

While we’re on the topic of non-avian beauty, here are three beautiful butterflies from the past month.

As awesome as uncommon discoveries are, spending time with the usual suspects in our 1-mile radius is always a delight – let’s check in on them!
 
One of our resident California Towhees had a stare-down with potential prey.

An incredibly vibrant male Black-headed Grosbeak has been visiting our neighbor’s feeder with his female counterpart.

The Ospreys in our home-patch are thriving. The nest visible from our walk has been occupied every single day – wonder how many eggs there are?

This female Hairy Woodpecker peered into the forest to scope out her next perch.

An Acorn Woodie in the bay laurels called to nearby clan members.

Daily, we see an American Robin pair puttering around this particular stretch of road. One day, we happened upon the male giving what’s called a “hawk alarm” or “aerial predator” call, presumably in response to a Common Raven that had just flown overhead – watch below.

 
This Mourning Dove took a puddle bath moments prior before settling down cozily into the grass.

A bold Steller’s Jay caught us looking and squared off.

Lastly, we enjoyed looks at two perched swallow species. The Violet-green and Northern Rough-winged Swallow contrast completely in color and vibrancy, but we love them both just the same!

When it comes to home-patch birding habitat, we recognize we have it really great. And, had it not been for extra-thorough shelter-in-place birding, we may have never discovered that a Mountain Quail or Northern Pygmy-Owl lurked within a mile of our house!
 
Have you discovered any bird- or nature-related surprises near your home?