Joshua Tree CBC, 12/30/10

Thursday, December 30th, was my son's birthday and another Christmas Bird Count or CBC, this time in Joshua Tree. A good day.

For the uninitiated, Joshua Tree National Park is a high desert environment. It has massive piles of sandstone boulders that are impressive enough, but it also has its' namesake Joshua Trees, and vast fields of "Teddy bear" or "Jumping" cholla. It is probably most famous in recent years for rock climbing. There are several schools that will teach those intrepid enough to use ropes and other equipment to make their way up sheer rock faces. There are miles and miles of hiking trails, as well as a lot of open desert to explore as well. It is always amazing the amounts of wildlife one can find while wandering through the washes and rocks of the National Park. At first glance the place looks deserted, (no pun intended), but walking just a little ways out, or over a hill, down into a wash, and suddenly the place is alive with activity.

I met Bill and Herman who were two of five of us who showed up in the near freezing dawn to count birds in the Park. Seth and Jack(?) were the other team, and they went to 49 Palms campground to find and count birds. Bill drove Herman and I through the Indian Cove area to do the same.

The sky was clear and as we watched the sun climb steadily, we drove to a canyon at the extreme end of the campground. We hiked to and up the wash looking for something to fly out and introduce themselves. Bill talked of a Golden Eagle nest found on the canyon wall farther back in the canyon. We scrambled over rocks and up a wash that still had running water, carrying our binoculars and camera and wearing four layers of clothing. It was a glorious 35 degrees and a steady breeze was blowing, finding the inch or so that separated the top of my pants and the bottom of my jacket, giving me a frozen belt. I fixed this later, but for this initial foray it was amazing how efficient that wind was at finding the chink in my armor.


We didn't find anything bird-wise. We did find frozen pools of water, frozen mud, and a few interesting tracks frozen in the icy mud. After some time, we returned to our car with chattering teeth and shivering everything else. My hopes were as low as the temperature, but determined to see it through.

Then we drove through a campground and started seeing birds. A Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya), was sitting on someone's camp stove on a picnic table. A Black Throated Sparrow, (Amphispiza bilineata), flew past and foraged with it's buddies between two campsites. In amongst the Sparrows was a Black Tailed Gnatcatcher, (Polioptila melanoma), who foraged with them then jumped into the little bushes in his hyperactive way.

(Black Throated Sparrow foraging near a campsite).

(Black Tailed Gnatcatcher)

We were excited to see these little guys and were using our binoculars and concentrating on counting both the number of species and the number of birds we were seeing. At some point we realized a few of the campers were eyeing us with skeptical expressions, and at least one young lady was pausing on her way to the restroom, concerned there were three perverts between her and relief. We tried to assuage their fears by waving and smiling, but I am not sure we were entirely successful. We moved on.

We moved on to what Bill, (a former Ranger at Joshua Tree National Park), called Rattlesnake Canyon. He informed us we were going to hike up the canyon first, then down into the more open desert in our search. I wasn't too concerned about finding the canyon's namesake as it was still hovering near freezing. As we crested the hillside and dropped into the canyon, we saw a small flock of Black Throated Sparrows, and then a larger flock of Gambel's Quail,(Callipepla gambelii). We watch the flock of Quail run up the other side and run in single file up the hillside past the canyon.

(Gambel's Quail running away in single file).


We wandered up the canyon and heard a Ladder-backed Woodpecker,(Picoides scalars). We searched and soon found the Woodpecker sitting on a Yucca stump. I was surprised by this find. This is not the kind of environment I expected to find a woodpecker of any kind, Bill just smiled.

(Herman looking up the canyon, while Bill catches up, I took the high road).

We wandered up and down until Herman, who kept wandering off up hillsides, down into thick brush, the whole time snapping pictures and asking "What's that?", pointed up a little draw. We stopped and scanned the area he was indicating with our binoculars, and found a flock of about 18 Lesser Goldfinches,(Carduelis psaltria), working the hillsides. The flock let us get very close, then actually flew toward us. As we continued on our walk, the flock and another smaller one later on, kept us company as we wandered through the desert.

(House Finch)

(Male Lesser Goldfinch)

It was about here that Bill announced he 'had' a Bighorn Sheep on the ridgeline above us. We looked up and sure enough, there was a big beautiful Bighorn standing and staring directly at us. He was some distance away, but majestic looking. As we watched he worked his way down the rocks toward us. He never got really close, but kept getting closer which was exciting. We didn't have the time to wait for him to come all the way to us, (we had birds to count), so we moved on.

(Bighorn Sheep)

Bill showed us the way as we wandered down the canyon and out into the open desert. Bill told us there was the possibility of finding a LeConte's Thrasher, but we would have to hike to the border of the Park, another three miles or so, and the chances were 50-50 the birds were still there. We decided to make a shorter arc and work our way back to the car. As we walk around a pile of rocks, we see something moving on the sand between bushes. We get closer and sure enough, there is not one but two LeConte's Thrashers,(Toxostoma lecontei)! They not only stayed around for us to verify their identity, but to allow us to take some photographs as well. They seemed to relax as they realized we were only there to watch them, and went about their Thrasher business. These birds are called this because they like to use their beaks and feet to indiscriminately toss debris around under bushes looking for things to eat. One usually hears them before seeing them. I have heard noises in the bushes so loud I swore a cat or raccoon or some other animal was underneath, only to see a Thrasher pop up on a branch. These guys were no different. They were busy scratching and tossing while we froze in the wind and watched. On the way back we saw a Loggerhead Shrike, (Lanius excubitor), on a Yucca, and a Cactus Wren,(Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), sitting on a Pencil Cholla.

(LeConte's Thrasher)

(Cactus Wren)

After lunch, and finding a Rock Wren,(Salpinctes obsoletus), we drove out of the Park and searched the little community that lived right along the boundary line of the Park. There we found a couple hundred more Gambel's Quail, Starlings, Pigeons and Mourning Doves. We also found Eurasion Collared Doves and more House Finches,(Carpodacus cassinii), and Black Throated Sparrows. Ravens were there as well as in the Park.

We finished the day at the Visitor Center where there is a nice little walk near a man-made pond where an American Kestrel,(Falco sparverius), was sitting on a Palm frond and watching our progress against the chill wind. We found a Phainopepla,(Phainopepla intense), sitting on a Cat's Claw and whistling at us. There was another small flock of Gambel's Quail running through the bush as well. We spent a lot of time near a Palm Tree because there were pellets at the base, as well as white-wash along the tree trunk, indicating this was a roost spot for an owl. As the sun was setting, we knew that at any moment the culprit would step out of the skirt of Palm Tree, stretch and fly into the night. We suspected either a Barn Owl, or Great Horned Owl, but we will not know as the culprit was smarter than we were. He stayed in where it was warmer, while we stood out in the cold looking up the skirts, nearly falling over backwards and breaking our necks.

You might be a birdnerd if...You spend your time looking up skirts for owls.

Happy New Year!!!

(One of two Coyotes we saw on our travels, be seeing you!).

San Jacinto CBC

I did it again. I attended another Christmas Bird Count. This one in San Jacinto. This was supposed to occur last Tuesday, but it was raining too hard to go out and try to find anything, in fact, the rain washed out many of the roads and access to many of the designated areas were not available. So, they postponed the count to today.

It was a gorgeous day. I got to go with Chet McGaugh, a recognized birding and biology expert in four counties. He and Gene Cardiff are great friends and are held in high esteem for their knowledge in this area throughout Southern California. Chet and I spent the day together.



Chet led the way and we began looking and counting at around 7:15 A.M. or so. Almost immediately we see two Red Tailed Hawks, (Buteo jamaicensis), flying from one high rock to another, sitting on the rock and watching us pass by. We saw a Merlin, (Falco columbarius), land on a rock between the two Red-Tails. By 8:15 or so, an adult Bald Eagle,(Haliaeetus leucocephalus), flew right over us. This was already a great day.

As we walked up the fire road into a kind of canyon, we kept hearing gunshots in front of us. We passed several signs saying in English and using the pictograph of a stick figure holding a rifle with a red circle and a line through this figure. Supposedly this is an international sign that depicts no shooting, hunting, or anything to do with a rifle in the area. Yet we heard several gunshots ring out as we cautiously approached. At the top of the road we saw several men off to one side dressed in hunting orange holding shotguns. From the other side walked three more hunters, dressed in hunter neon orange and carrying shotguns. Chet politely admonished them to pay attention to the signs and reminded them that hunting in the area was illegal. The man that appeared to be the father, looked right at us and with a straight face told us they were not shooting, it was someone else. Luckily, I don't have to deal with human crap like this anymore, and we left the issue at that and left. Once again, the worst thing out in the wild were the two legged animals with the biggest brains. Sad.

We went on to look at what was around the horse ranch in the valley. There we saw a Ferruginous Hawk, (Buteo regales), sitting in the field near the ranch. Soon a White Tailed Kite,(Elanus leucurus), landed nearby in the field. Both birds of prey are birds I haven't seen for years. While we watched these two, a flock of Red Winged Blackbirds, (Agelaius phoenixes), flew into three large trees in the ranch near the main house. In amongst the Red Wings, there were five or six Yelllow-headed Blackbirds, (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), sitting on branches of the tree. Another bird I haven't seen in years.

As we walked through large fields we scared up flocks of American Pipits,(Anthus rubescens), and Western Meadowlarks,(Sturnella neglecta). We were surrounded by their calls. We walked the fields, returned to our cars, drove to another location, and walked some more. We took a break for lunch on the roadway, and watched a Great Egret,(Ardea alba), fly to near our lunch location and begin to hunt the flooded field.

After lunch, we walked along a muddy roadway and up the hillside into a stand of olive trees. Chet told me this was a good place for owls. He told me we should split up and walk through the trees in the hopes of scaring up something the other would see. We did, it didn't work. Nothing scared up. We didn't find any owls hiding in the trees.

We slogged our way back along the flooded roadway and fields. We did see Mountain Bluebirds,(Sialia currucoides), at the edges of the field, in a near riparian area along the irrigation channel. Chet announced it was time to go to the Chicken Ranch, (not the one in Las Vegas).

We drove over to the location and pulled off the side of the road. There was a large puddle in front and a good number of Ringed Billed Gulls, (Larus delawarensis). Now, I would have left it at that, but Chet pulled out his Kowa scope and began to scan the flock. There he pointed out a Thayer's Gull,(Larus thayeri).

Chet then led the way to the ranch proper where large bulldozer's were moving small mountains of chicken manure. Perched all over these mountains were an estimated 2000 gulls and Cattle Egrets, (Bubulcus ibis). Once again, Chet began scanning with his scope. Soon he was oohing and aaahing, and dancing like a small child needed to find a restroom. He looked, stepped away from the scope, and looked again. Then he made a phone call. I asked if he found something good, and he said oooohh yeah. He put the bird in the scope and explained to me what I was looking for, and there it was, a Lesser Black Backed Gull, (Larus fuscus), a much larger and darker gull compared to the many Ring Billed Gulls surrounding it. Chet knew it right away, this was a bird not seen in this Christmas Bird Count before. It was also a lifer for me. In fact, both the Thayer's and Lesser Black Backed gulls were lifers for me. Another good birder arrived and verified the find, and Chet was able to take a couple photos of the bird. My camera would not take a good photo of the bird as it was too far away for the lens I currently have. Later, we also found a Western Gull,(Larus occidentals), that was rare to find at this location, but not a new bird for the count. We spent some time at this place.



We looked at a couple other locations, then decided to go to the Coco's we all agreed to meet. There we met the other participants in the count, including Gene Cardiff and Dori Meyers who worked Lake Perris. After all was said and done, Tom Benson, (a co-compiler with Tony Metcalf), announced we had all seen a total of 154 species this day. This was a CBC record for at least the five years Tom kept the records. Nice day. We all went home with slightly sunburnt faces, a little tired, (having walked anywhere from 4 to 9.5 miles, Chet and I walked nearly 7 miles according to his wrist pedometer), and very satisfied.

You might be a birdnerd if...you walk toward people with guns holding only a pair of binoculars.

Christmas Bird Count 12/26/10

Tis the season!! I know, it is after Christmas, but this is the season for Christmas Bird Counts throughout the country. Here in Southern California there are several in diverse areas, mountains, desert, shores and even a couple in the ocean, (called pelagic trips). The idea is two fold. You get to go out with birding experts and learn more about birds, their behaviors, the sounds they make, ecology, biology, and much more. The other is actually participating in science. It is called citizen science, and volunteers throughout the country go out and actually find and count the birds they see. These counts are compiled and sent to Audubon, which is compiled into a paper that is published each year. This does a few things, it shows patterns of bird species in general, such as the numbers and locations of Red Tailed Hawks, or Bell's Vireos, or Peregrine Falcons. This gives scientists a snapshot of what is happening on a particular day that they can compare to weather patterns, ecology, habitat changes and more. As birds are relatively easy to find, (compared to say, gophers, badgers, and mountain lions), and many are very sensitive to environmental changes, they are a good bellwether of changes and their effects. Therefore, this citizen science is an excellent way to compile accurate information across the country. It is cost effective, a scientist or college (such as Cornell University), does not have to pay assistants or graduate students to travel across the country and count birds, or buy expensive technology and place it all over the country. Now they can get this same information and more from one location, the National Audubon Society.

All the various branches of Audubon sponsor Christmas Bird Counts. This particular count was sponsored by the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, (www.sbvas.org). If you go to their website there is actually a part you can click on that gives you a list of all the Christmas Bird Counts and the person in charge of each count. You can pick the one you would like to attend, let them know via email, and show up the morning they show. You will be put with others in teams. Each team will then get a location, or set of locations, to go out and count birds. If you are a beginner, don't be intimidated, you will be put together with those more experienced birders who will take you to their favorite locations, as well as point out birds and help with identification tips. Especially if you are a beginner, the Christmas Bird Count is a great way to learn the area and birding.

Years ago, I decided to attend a Christmas Bird Count in Joshua Tree. I asked if my oldest son, Taylor, would like to attend. He was in High School at the time. He agreed and we got up early on the specific day and drove up the hill in darkness. We arrived first at the entrance of the Park and watched the sun rise. One of the first participants to arrive after us was a reporter for the local newspaper. She thought it was a great story for a father-son team to be out birding and contributing to science together. My son allowed the interview and even a photograph to occur, but he was mortified. Hours later it occurred to him that he didn't know anyone in Yucca Valley, so he was probably safe. We spent the day hiking around Joshua Tree, (which is always a good day), watching and counting birds. We meet the other members of the count, (all volunteers), at the local pizza place for the compilation and pizza. Taylor was happy with the pizza and tolerated the banter of us "old" people discussing the events of the day. That is until a reporter for our local paper in Palm Springs showed up and after the initial introductions, thought it was a terrific idea to feature the father-son team who had helped out with the citizen science in Joshua Tree. My son was mortified and on the way home decided he was reasonably safe, as he didn't know anyone who actually read the newspaper at school. Hopefully, no one would see his picture in the paper, and certainly wouldn't read the article.

I still have the articles. I told you that story because I attended the San Bernardino Christmas Bird Count with my now-adult son, Taylor. He could only attend half of the day, because he was driving up the coast to camp in Morro Bay. He got up with me at 4:30 AM and we got ready and drove in two cars to the San Bernardino Natural History museum in San Bernardino. This time he was not afraid of anyone knowing he had gone with me and welcomed the attention.


We met Dori Myers who was already parked in front of the museum at a little after 6:00 AM. I recognized Dori's name from the Western Meadowlark, the newsletter the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society sends out. Her name is all over it, contributing articles, organizing events and helping run the museum. She is very personable, and always busy. She is constantly watching her cell phone, looking into a book, or searching for a pen or pencil. She kept up a constant chatter of birding trips, birding events, singing the praises of Gene Cardiff and the museum. Soon afterward, Gene Cardiff arrived. Gene has been a taxidermist, a teacher, and has recently retired as head of the biology section of the San Bernardino Natural History Museum. Now, for him, retirement means he now goes to the museum only two or three days per week. He still leads birding events all over Southern California. He still teaches, if not traditionally in a classroom, in the outdoor classroom where what he sees dictates the topic of discussion.

If you didn't know better, when you watch the interaction between the two long time friends, you might think them a couple. They banter, they laugh, they argue the familiar arguments that occur between couples daily. You know, "What did you do with my jacket?" "I didn't do anything with it." "Well, where is it?" "I don't know." "Oh, here it is, want a cookie?" Add to that the bird count conversation, "Thirteen Mourning Doves." "What?" "Mourning Doves, thirteen of them." "OK, wait, where's the list? Oh, here it is, how many?" "Thirteen." "OK, got it. Want a cookie?"

As there were only the four of us at the museum, Taylor and I went in his truck, following Gene and Dori in Gene's Honda CRV to the various locations. We were responsible for a fifteen mile circle territory that included the hospital, sewage treatment plant and some horse property near the border of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. We drove past a large paintball area with many wooden barriers built throughout a large flat area across from the county dump.

We had a very large storm that dumped a lot of rain throughout Southern California, (and postponed at least one bird count), during four or five days prior to Christmas. We saw a lot of evidence of this storm with roads to favorite spots for birding being washed out, mud scraped off the roadway, and large puddles. At least one road was still under water.

We ended up parking on the side of the road and looking at a creek bed that had a raging creek running through it. There was plenty of evidence the water level was much higher just a day or two before. We immediately saw a Merlin (Falco columbarius), sitting on a wire in the dark cloudy day. He didn't seem happy, with his feathers fluffed out and dripping from the moisture still diffusing the air. Down the road we saw not one but two Peregrine Falcons,(Falco peregrines), and one was chasing the other up the creek.

We saw many Starlings,(Sturnus vulgaris), which were mimicking other birds calls as well as chattering among themselves. In among these Starlings was a Kingbird. I found it and pointed it out to Gene and Dori. I was proud of myself and knew it was a Kingbird, but misidentified it as a Western Kingbird. They smiled in that teacherly way and said we would have to write a very long report if it was a Western, as they have all left for the winter. This was a Cassin's Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans). This is a perfect illustration as to why I like to go to these events with an "expert". My confidence in my birding identification skills is still lacking. I am confident in several birds, but warblers and vireos especially, I will defer to others in a heartbeat. This is also why I attend these things, I learn something at each one.

Today, I was birding with two of the elite birders in the surrounding four counties, and was not going to argue with them. I was also in a little bit of heaven just being with them. Dori is excellent at identifying birds by their calls or sounds. I am weak at this skill at best. I hear the sounds, but just don't know what I am listening to. She taught me the call of the Bewick's Wren, White Crowned Sparrow, and more. She would never see the bird, but knew what she was listening to and called it out. This made it difficult to count the birds, but once she would call out a bird, I would look in earnest, and between the four of us we made a good estimate of the number and type of birds.

We moved on to the sewage ponds and had to sign in at the front desk that is behind an automatic gate. Red Tailed Hawks,(Buteo jamaicensis), were everywhere, soaring, sitting on dead snags, on poles, one eating on a cross bar of a power tower. There were several ponds that had water in them, and in the water were many different ducks. We saw Northern Shovelers,(Anas clypeata), Cinnamon Teal,(Anas cyanoptera), American Wigeons,(Anas americana), Gadwall's,(Anas strepera), at least two Buffleheads, (Bucephala alveoli), a male and female pair. We saw Canada Geese,(Branta canadensis), and spent some time looking for the Aleutian or minima variety, to no avail. Of course, there were a bunch of Mallards, (Anas platyrynchos), and I even found a hybrid duck that looked like a large Cinnamon Teal with a Mallard head, and a black cloak. We saw Green-winged Teals, (Anas crecca), and a bunch of Coots, (Fulica americana). We went to each pond and divided up the responsibility of counting the various ducks. Taylor and I got the Shovelers, Gadwalls, Coots, and Mallards. Luckily Taylor had a hand counter as he chose the Coots on one pond and we watched a large flock walk from the roadway and go into the pond. He counted 175 in that one pond.







After our day of wandering through sewage ponds, hillsides behind housing projects, a cemetery, a park, and an open field between two office buildings, we came back to the museum. I then followed Gene and Dori to the local Marie Callendar's where we met up with the other volunteers to compile the birds they found and the numbers they counted. There were 15 of us. Retired teachers, students, and couples were gathered and sharing birding adventures and using the verbal shorthand that people familiar with each other and the topic of conversation engage in. We found, collectively, around 80 species and the actual numbers of birds will be compiled and will be published later in the new year. I said my goodbyes, and drove home, where after a shower I began falling asleep in my chair. Even so, I can't wait until the next one.

You might be a birdnerd if...you schedule your holiday festivities around your birding outings.

My son, Austin, is home from his adventures in Jamaica, serving the Peace Corps. He graduated from USD with a degree in Environmental Sciences last year. He is living with us and working here in the desert until his next adventure in Costa Rica. He will leave for that part of the world near the end of January. In the meantime he is working on us and making us more sustainable at home. He has us storing things in glass jars instead of plastic containers. He has us using plates instead of paper plates. We are using PCB free water bottles instead of buying bottled water. We use a Brita filter, or a filter on our tap water to drink instead of brand named bottled waters. The water is just as good,the containers are sustainable, and easy to clean. We are composting. Our kids make us better.

We have had a planter next to one end of our patio for years. We planted two yucca plants on either side of the 9'x5' slump block planter. Over the years, we have planted various flowers, including tulips, and others in between the yucca's. Over the past five or six years we planted Hummingbird vine, that virtually took over the planter and grew onto our roof and over to the patio cover of our Mother-in-Law's room at the one end of our house. During the winter this vine dies off and I would trim it down to the ground level, thinking it would die. It didn't. Each summer, it came back with a vengeance. You could almost see it growing. It did produce big orange-red flowers the hummingbirds did like, but it took over and covered everything in that corner.

While we did have Mourning Doves nest in this thicket, and of course the Costa's and Anna's hummingbirds spent a lot of time there, it also became home or at least a hiding place for the large rats that are common in the desert. This was not a favorite of my wife.

So, my son came up with the idea to tear out the yuccas and hummingbird vine, and plant a vegetable garden. I suspect some of the impetus for this was that he had a machete he bought in Jamaica that he wanted to use. Mom gave the ok, and he went to work. He used the machete to chop up the vines and a good portion of the yuccas.



I had some old tools, a shovel and an axe, and entered the fray. Soon the axe was sacrificed to the battle, and we had to run to WalMart for new tools. We picked up another shovel, and a new axe. We also bought a file for sharpening the machete and axe. I got the kind of axe that was flat like a sledge hammer on one side, and sharpened on the other side. It was heavier than a normal axe but a kind of multi-purpose tool, a concept I lean toward.



Back at work, we began work on the roots. This was a tough job as the root balls for the yuccas were very large. We used the heavy axe to chop up the root systems and pulled out the roots and dirt down about two to two and one half feet. Then we made a trip to Lowe's and picked up a cloth barrier and some rocks, as well as planting soil. We smoothed out the dirt, put the barrier down, put rock on top, then filled the planter with planting soil.




We made another trip and picked out various vegetable plants, electing to start with plants and work from seeds later should
this experiment work out. We ended up with a couple different kinds of tomatoes, eggplant, cilantro, onions, lettuce, spinach and a couple different colors of bell peppers. So far, so good.




It was a good project because we opened up that area of the patio, got rid of some unruly vines, and have some (hopefully) delicious vegetables on the way. We also made it a family project in that two of my boys were involved in the process and are interested in the outcome, (they will certainly eat the results).

Why am I writing a gardening blog in a Bird Nerd spot? Well, during the couple days it took us to work through the process, I kept hearing a chip-chip in the back yard. For a while I couldn't locate the source, until we took a break and went inside the house for lunch. I stood inside and watched as a small yellow bird landed on our debris pile and made the chip-chip noise I kept hearing. Look at that! It was a Common Yellowthroat, (Geothlypis trichas). It flitted around the debris pile, then over to the planter and thoroughly inspected both. He stuck around for two or three days and inspected each step. Chip-chipping all day as he flitted into and around the debris pile and planter.


Which brings me to my You might be a Birdnerd if... I know in my head that the little bird was probably searching for bugs we unearthed, or for possible nesting materials, or other very practical reasons. However, I couldn't shake the feeling the beautiful little bird was inspecting our handiwork, and making judgement. He has since left, so I am concerned he disapproved. I hope he comes back to see the results.

So, you might be a birdnerd if...you are concerned with the opinions of the local bird life on your gardening handiwork.