Exploring the Laguna de Santa Rosa

The Laguna de Santa Rosa freshwater wetlands complex houses a fantastic amount of biological diversity and offers great birding opportunities. Recently, we explored a section of the southern reaches of the Laguna down near Stony Point Road.
 
Right off the bat, we encountered a family of Hairy Woodpeckers, including this juvenile male below. Though adult males display a red nape, juvenile males instead exhibit some amount of red feathering on their crown.

We’ve wanted to record the Hairy’s whinny call for a long time. According to a paper on the “Reproductive Behavior of Hairy Woodpeckers,”** the whinny appears to be a contact call between adults and juveniles. This day, we finally succeeded in capturing this communication between family members.

Another juvenile woodpecker soon joined the party – a young male Nuttall’s. Again, we can tell it’s a young bird by the red crown (versus nape), and the extensiveness of the red separates it from a juvenile female.

Other species of young birds popped up along the trail too, like these juvenile Western Bluebirds quietly perched wing-to-wing on a branch. We love the spotted chest these youngsters sport for the first several weeks of their lives.

An hour into our morning, an unexpected sighting thrilled us. The pointy-winged silhouette of a soaring hawk caught our eye and we exclaimed in delight to discover a Swainson’s Hawk overhead! We enjoyed a second look at the uncommon buteo in the afternoon, soaring again in a similar area.

A sweet song rang out from the riparian corridor and warmed our hearts – a Yellow Warbler!

We followed our ears and located the flash of yellow bopping around the cottonwoods and willows. A Yellow Warbler has yet to grace us with an eye-level photo opportunity – here’s how we typically observe them.

Farther along was a second Yellow Warbler, this one with a fledgling in tow! The juvenile followed its parent around vocalizing constantly – listen below.

Two other warblers graciously presented us with up-close views. This might be the brightest lemon-yellow Wilson’s Warbler we’ve ever seen!

A bonafide explosion of House Finches greeted us along the entire trail. We conservatively estimated 100+, including many juveniles busily following their parents around.

We captured this recording of a small group of House Finches calling, with a Bullock’s Oriole letting loose with a few chatter-rattles in the background.

A different winged creature caught our eye – this Anise Swallowtail landed close by and sunned itself for a spell.

Of the many Fox Squirrels around, this one munching on an acorn happily posed for a photo as we walked by.

We’re used to the sight of Eurasian Collared-Doves on telephone wires, so seeing one perched in an oak was a nice contrast.

On our drive home, a funny-looking Wild Turkey caught our eye and we pulled over for a look. Upon inspection, we realized it was a leucistic bird, showing a white neck, white head, and light-orange coloring on its back and tail. This surprise white Wild Turkey was a fun way to wrap up our day of birding!

** Kilham, L. (1966b). Reproductive behavior of Hairy Woodpeckers, I. Pair formation and courtship. Wilson Bulletin 78:251-265.