February Birds

Though the area rain levels were disappointingly low in February, the flipside was an abundance of spring-like birding days. With the relaxation of shelter-in-place restrictions and beautiful weather beckoning us, we made it out several times to enjoy Sonoma County’s bird life.
 
When we hear the faint whispers of a flock of honkers, it’s always fun to scan the skies for a cloud of geese coming our way. While birding around the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a flock of 250+ geese approached slowly. As the honking grew closer, our ears perked up at the high pitch of the calls – we wondered if they were Cackling rather than Canada Geese (whose honks are deeper). Once they were close enough, we indeed confirmed it was a massive flock of less-common Cackling Geese.

Listen to their honking flight calls, particularly around 0:10 seconds as they pass directly overhead.

As the mini-honkers veered off to land in an adjacent field, this Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler dried off after bathing in the creek.

A Peregrine Falcon cruised into the airspace above, only to be promptly escorted away by two Common Ravens. This photograph illustrates the difference in size and silhouette between the two species.

The black, white and rufous coloration of a Red-shouldered Hawk is so eye-catching, it’s no wonder we spied this gorgeous specimen through the tangle of eucalyptus branches.

Nearby, another rufous-breasted species perched – this vibrant Western Bluebird male.

Why thank you, young White-crowned Sparrow, for giving us such nice looks at your wing and back feathers.

We watched with equal parts fascination and squeamishness as this White-tailed Kite picked apart the entrails of a rodent. Seconds after the kite devoured the remainder of its prey, we snapped the photo on the right – check out those blood-soaked talons.

A drive along Sweetwater Springs Road yielded views of both male and female American Kestrels. The collage below highlights the major difference of wing color between the sexes – steely blue-gray on the male, and orange with thin black barring on the female.

We also witnessed this funny scene below when a female American Kestrel landed atop an Acorn Woodpecker granary snag. The woodpecker stared up at the kestrel for a couple minutes straight, seemingly absorbed in investigating the falcon who had interrupted its acorn-caching. The kestrel, however, appeared oblivious to the woodie!

This Red-breasted Sapsucker played peek-a-boo from a eucalyptus grove.

A trip to Bodega Bay provided the fun observation of a large flock of Brant feeding frenetically in the harbor. We love how forcefully the geese tip themselves forward to forage, and how a handful of birds are more concerned with “goosing” each other than feeding!

 
Among a wide variety of birds swimming in the harbor, we also captured this Red-breasted Merganser and Horned Grebe.

The Varied Thrushes who haunt our local redwoods are like shadows – so hard to pin down and photograph! We’ve started referring to them as “Ghost Thrushes.” We enjoyed encountering this one out in the slightly-more open.

One day while walking in the rain in our neighborhood forest, we came upon a magical scene of tall redwoods ornamented with an active flock of the secretive “Ghost Thrushes.” We only caught glimpses of the birds as they flew above us from tree to tree, obscured by the thick and misty air. All the while, they emitted a variety of spooky whistles and whines – the perfect soundtrack to the damp, drizzly scene.

Speaking of thrushes, here’s an American Robin gobbling ivy berries just feet from our living room window.

Speaking more of thrushes, here’s an adorable Hermit Thrush peeking out from behind a Valley Oak gall.

We’re not really certain what’s going on with the light coloration of this lady Mallard, but she sure is beautiful!

As spring nears, Mourning Doves have been performing their advertising coos more and more. We recorded two counter-cooing across a canyon.

Our final February birding excursion was to the Southern Laguna Discovery Trail. Right away, we heard more Mourning Dove coos, so it was no surprise to see these two paired off.

This Lincoln’s Sparrow posed for a portrait, showing off its buffy breast coloration – a helpful distinction separating it from a Song Sparrow.

In the distance, we heard the cacophony of a flock of Lesser Goldfinches vocalizing all at once – listen below.

These were just four of 20 or so birds perched tightly together in the willows.

After some time, the flock dispersed but individuals continued to sing and vocalize. We stopped to admire the vocal prowess of this male.

 
Red-winged Blackbirds were abundant along the trail. We are so impressed with the vocal array of this species, and have been recording the many call variations we encounter. This recording captures two of their many call types, along with a couple bars of song near the end.

Our last sighting along the trail was this brand new calf. We delighted in watching it clumsily stumble around on the grass – an adorable send-off for the day and for February!

Happy soon-to-be-spring, everyone!!!