Last Sunday was Redwood Region Ornithological Society’s annual Santa Rosa Christmas Bird Count. The day was cold and overcast, but thankfully without rain.
We began at sunrise at one edge of our territory, deep along a forested stretch of St. Helena Road. At first, we could only hear the water rushing through Mark West Creek — but our ears pricked up at the sound of our first bird of the day — two Pacific Wrens calling loudly. Continue reading “2021 Christmas Bird Count #2: Santa Rosa (12/19/21)”
Tag: California Towhee
Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2020
Recording bird sounds has a been a source of great joy for us, as well as a boon to our birding-by-ear skills. First, making a recording forces us to listen intentionally for much longer than we may have otherwise, which helps commit vocalizations to memory. Then, uploading audio to The Macaulay Library allows us to revisit a recording with the helpful visual addition of its corresponding spectrogram.
In 2020, we uploaded 270 audio recordings to our eBird checklists. We picked our favorites to compile this Top 10 list, presented in chronological order. We hope you enjoy them! Continue reading “Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2020”
What’ve We Been Up To?
Long time, no talk, friends! We hope everyone is reading this while safe and healthy.
Fires are raging across the West Coast, and in August, the Walbridge Fire evacuated us from our house for a week. Residential areas of Guerneville and the surrounding towns were generally spared thanks to the herculean work of the incredible firefighters. Their tireless efforts also prevented damage to the Colonel Armstrong tree – the oldest tree within Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, estimated to be 1,400 years old!
Yesterday, along with the entire Greater Bay Area and beyond, we woke up to this surreal skyscape. Continue reading “What’ve We Been Up To?”
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! Continue reading “1-Mile Radius Discoveries”
California Towhee: Friend of the Fox
We’ve arrived at the end of our California Towhee Week. After flooding your inboxes with all things Cal Towhee, we’re pleased to report we only lost one blog subscriber! Our last post is about an encounter that left us scratching our heads. Continue reading “California Towhee: Friend of the Fox”
California Towhee: The “Birb” Factor
For Day 6 of California Towhee Week, we’re presenting the “birb” factor of this charming bird. Continue reading “California Towhee: The “Birb” Factor”