First off, some news — we’ve obtained a permit to give group walks at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail. There are 2 spots left on our inaugural walk on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. For details, visit this Facebook Event page. To register, email us at ImBirdingRightNow@gmail.com.
Now, onto the birds! Earlier this week, we had a hankering to walk among some large oaks. Where did we end up? Crane Creek Regional Park! The rolling green hills, blue sky, puffy white clouds, and massive gnarled oaks made for an idyllic afternoon.
Lesser Goldfinch males are incredible mimics — we love listening to them sing. Listen below to a one-minute song excerpt. We think we can make out these quick imitations:
- 0:04 — Song Sparrow “chimp” call
- 0:08 — White-breasted Nuthatch
- 0:08 — House Sparrow
- 0:11 — Pacific-slope Flycatcher
- 0:11 — Nuttall’s Woodpecker “kweek” call
- 0:21 — American Robin call
- 0:33 — Downy Woodpecker
- 0:36 — Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- 0:37 — Hutton’s Vireo
- 1:03 — Killdeer
- 1:03 — California Scrub-Jay
A super-high-pitched, insect-like song drifted in with the breeze, and we exclaimed to each other “Grasshopper Sparrow!” These funny little sparrows are quite secretive, as they tend to walk or run on the ground in the cover of tall grass. One has to get lucky to catch sight of this well-camouflaged bird once it perches on a taller stalk to sing — which is exactly how we lucked out.
We recorded the singing sparrow’s song — listen for a couple high-pitched intro notes, followed by a long insect-like buzz.
You can really see how the Grasshopper Sparrow’s tan and brown color scheme blends in well to its grasslands habitat.
A visit to the oak woodlands wouldn’t be complete without a Western Bluebird.
As we stood listening to the birds in a quiet, shady spot, this Turkey Vulture slowly swooped in for a landing. The combination of blue sky and great lighting really emphasized the deep-red skin of its featherless head. What magnificent creatures they are — it’s always a treat to look at them up close!
As we marveled at the vulture, it silently launched into the air and glided just over our heads to perch over this hollowed-out tree trunk base. Almost immediately, a second vulture joined the first.
We wondered if they were a mated pair checking out potential nesting sites, as they sometimes utilize hollowed-out trunks like this one. However, Turkey Vultures are known to choose very isolated and secretive nesting locations, so maybe such close proximity to a trail would be an unlikely spot?
If California Ground Squirrels are your thing, look no further than Crane Creek Regional Park. They seemed to appear at every turn.
As we looped around the back of the park, a thin, whiny call caught our ear. At times, the high-pitched, repetitive vocalization led into a bar of classic Bewick’s Wren song.
We observed the wren moving low inside a dense tangle, vocalizing all the while. Usually when we spot a Bewick’s Wren singing, it’s at the top of a bush or tree, so it was interesting to discover this one singing while hidden so close to the ground.
The wren moved over to an adjacent blackberry patch and continued to vocalize while exploring the ground.
We heard a jumbled, squeaky chatter that we first mistook for a Barn Swallow song, but then realized was a Western Kingbird vocalizing. After scanning the landscape, we finally spotted it atop a shrub in the distance.
Nearby, the sound of an Ash-throated Flycatcher excited us and we spotted it moving perches within a hillside oak.
This single-note call of the Ash-throated Flycatcher reminds us of a referee whistle.
Crane Creek is a wonderful place to spend a spring day enjoying the expansive views and mix of grassland and oak woodland birds. What an abundance of beautiful parks Sonoma County has to offer!
A referee’s whistle is perfect description for ash-throated flycatcher!