IMAGES OF THE DAY by Isaac Sanchez: September 23, 2012

Howdy, Seabirders,

Say what? Yep, that there is a BURROWING OWL, some 26 miles offshore. Actually, it is not all that uncommon, as they often land on at the Farallon Islands. Please enjoy Isaac Sanchez's images, below. Isaac hails from Texas and is on a mission to photograph as many bird species as possible. Please do not use these images without permission. 

A BURROWING OWL, above and below, that tried to land on our radio antenna!

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below.

 RHINOCEROS AUKLET, below.

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, an elegant flier, below.

 POMARINE JAEGER, above and below.

 SCRIPPS'S MURRELET, above and below, recently a split from Xantus's Murrelet.

 These murrelets, again, below, are often very shy of boats. When they fly, it is often to the end of the Earth— or so it seems!

 CASSIN'S AUKLET, below, also known as the "starlings of the sea" as they are very common breeders at the Farallon Islands.

 CASSIN'S AUKLETS, below in flight, feed on krill. 

 The elegant, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below.

 BLACK--FOOTED ALBATROSS, below.

 SABINE'S GULL, below, a High Arctic breeder.

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS in flight, below.

 A duo of PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, below.

 SOOTY SHEARWATER, below. Its numbers are declining.

 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below, showing its two-toned bill.

 BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, showing its dark cap and wedge-shaped tail.

 BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, undersides are gleaming white.

 The lovely, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, follows tuna.

 SOUTH POLAR SKUA & PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below. Notice the beefiness of the skua's chest! 

 The all powerful, all mighty, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, below.

  SKUAAAA!

 Nearshore, at the end of the day, a father (right) and his chick, COMMON MURRES. 

JOIN THE FUN!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: SANTA ANA VALLEY ROAD

ROLL OUT THE RAPTORS—

EAGLES, PRAIRIE FALCONS BURROWING OWLS—

AND, CONDORS, OH MY!

Howdy, Birders,

Many of you know that driving the Santa Ana Valley Road, San Benito County is my "relaxation" drive from the post office to my home in Hollister. For the past two days, I've made that loop, sometimes including John Smith Road or Quien Sabe Road. Being mid-August, I was a bit surprised to see raptors already staking their positions for the coming fall. Plenty of GOLDEN EAGLES around!

 The immature GOLDEN EAGLE, below has a full crop. Hunting is already starting to look good.

 Next, I spot an immature BALD EAGLE, below. 

 These birds, along with a lot of TURKEY VULTURES were hanging around the "Eastern Phoebe Spot," if you know where that is. It is a labeled eBird location. 

 Next, an adult BALD EAGLE appears. Timing is everything. If you arrive just as the air is warming and the last bits of fog rise, it is possible to witness "lift off" of the raptors.

 This PRAIRIE FALCON, below, has already staked its spot. Please do NOT harass this bird by making it fly repeatedly for "your" flight shots! The bird has to eat and rest. And, I know who you are. I'm watching you!

BURROWING OWLS nested this year in these rapidly disappearing grasslands. 

 

Finally, toady, after seeing so many eagles and turkey vultures, I spotted this distant image of a raptor flying with flat wings, high in the sky, Humm, another eagle. Then, I look through my bins, and think, "Dang, what eagle IS this?" Then, "Oops, it is an adult CALIFORNIA CONDOR, all but in my backyard!"

 I shot off a few frames, then looked at the images on my camera. But, when I looked up, again, the bird was nowhere in sight. That was that. Below, the "fingers" show. This condor was near the intersection of Santa Ana Valley and Quien Sabe Roads at 12:47 pm, today.

 Scooting on down the road in disbelief, I found this adult GOLDEN EAGLE, drinking from a cattle water trough. It even tried to get in to take a bath. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to save it from drowning. Apparently, there is some sort of blocking boards, or something, to prevent that. 

The RAPTORS OF SANTA ANA VALLEY ARE RETURNING. 

Certainly, I did not see as many individuals at this time, as I hope to see as the fall and winter seasons progress. In fact, very few kestrels and red-tailed hawks and loggerhead shrikes are around. A few CASSIN'S and WESTERN KINGBIRDS are still hawking insects, though. Amazingly, I saw adult Cassin's Kingbirds feeding young in Tres Pinos town. Seems late for that.

I'll keep you posted regarding the raptor happenings.

Sorry for my poor quality images. All of them were made during the hottest part of the day and most of the raptors, including the condor, were at least a mile away.

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito County Birding

SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: SANTA ANA & PANOCHE VALLEY

Howdy, Birders,

This is a brief report for Panoche Valley, Paicines Reservoir and Santa Ana Valley, birding in San Benito County, California for Sunday, January 29, 2012. It was a gorgeous day for birding — I couldn't resist getting out there!

PRAIRIE FALCONS continued at all three locations. Birders who were already at Paicines Reservoir when I arrived, said that a Prairie Falcon had just been there. Look on the "H" shaped telephone poles on the west side. The Prairie Falcon, below, was along Santa Ana Valley Road.

By now you, dear reader know how much I love shades of brown. This tangle of oak branches easily conceals an adult GOLDEN EAGLE, below. This eagle repeatedly let out a plaintive call while sitting in this tree. It could have been calling for its' mate.
Sadly, one of my most favorite barns went down with the last storm. GREAT-HORNED OWLS have nested in this barn for the past 12 years.

At PAICINES RESERVOIR I found 1 EURASIAN WIGEON, 2 CACKLING GEESE, 5 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, one 4th year BALD EAGLE in the morning and one adult MALE BALD EAGLE in the late afternoon, 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER and an assortment of waterfowl. For some reason, this BUSHTIT, below, popped up, chattering and scolding, on the fence right in front of me while I was standing at the dirt pullout, scoping waterfowl at the reservoir!

On PANOCHE ROAD I found the "usual suspects," including PHAINOPEPLA, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, HERMIT THRUSH, etc. Quite a few singing CALIFORNIA THRASHERS, WRENTITS, OAK TITS, etc. as is normal for this time of year. Two HOODED MERGANSERS were at the pond at Summit Ranch. Be sure to look on the duck house! (I failed to find the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker which had been around for several weeks). At the intersection of Panoche and Recalde Roads, a MERLIN was present. Sixteen MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were along Recalde Road. On Panoche Road from Silver Creek Ranch to Jackass Pass at least 28 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were in mixed flocks with House Finches. Unusual birds included one SAGE SPARROW and one male NORTHERN HARRIER. A FERRUGINOUS HAWK was hunting here, also.
Continuing with my love of old barns— this one, above, is located on Panoche Road. A CALIFORNIA THRASHER, below, was — well, thrashing away at the Miller Ranch. Thrashers are singing and on territory about mid-December. This one was no different. When it wasn't thrashing, it was singing from the tops of trees!
Large flocks of mixed sparrow species can be encountered on Panoche Road. This LINCOLN'S SPARROW, below, was with a large flock of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS near McCullough Ranch.
A female, AMERICAN KESTREL, below, near the intersection of Panoche and Little Panoche Roads.
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, a male below, were scattered on the Panoche Valley floor— near Silver Creek Ranch on Panoche Road and on Recalde Road.
An immature RED-TAILED HAWK, below, was on Panoche Road near Jackass Pass. Flocks of HORNED LARKS and AMERICAN PIPITS were also in this location. However, I did not locate a single MOUNTAIN PLOVER.
A LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, below, hangs around Shotgun Pass on Little Panoche Road.
It has been a good year for finding BURROWING OWLS in San Benito County. They can be found in both Santa Ana Valley and Panoche Valley.
Returning from Panoche Valley, I always take Quien Sabe Road just south of the small town of Tres Pinos. The presence of six YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES in the image below indicates that the adult GOLDEN EAGLE (look closely— it is the hump in the middle), had just consumed some prey item, likely a ground squirrel.

Sunset began with pinks and purples.

Late evening shot of a SAY'S PHOEBE, below, a grassland specialist.

Sunset colors begin to change to oranges.

Ravens head to their roosts on the tower powers of Santa Ana Valley.

The boldest colors of sunset over the grasslands that I love.

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito County Birding

All images, copyright, Debi Shearwater. Please ask permission to use.