KRV Birds Winter 2005/2006

Goal: To provide a motivating mix of bird species observations with reports of interest to all birders: beginning to expert, Kern County &/or Tulare County specialists, northern California & southern California, out-of-California (U.S. & International), listers and non-listers,...

Major Tip: Birding early (starting at dawn) and carefully (spending time) = birds seen...

SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS & FIELD TRIP REPORTS FOR THE SEASON (Updated as of: )

Fr, 17 Feb 06 - Portions of Kern County's Kern River Valley, Indian Wells Valley, and Piute Mountains (6:45am-4:30 pm). Weather: cold, sometimes windy, and sometimes snowy. HIGHLIGHTS: 21 Sage Thrashers (in groups of 6, 12, 2, & 1)in a 2.5 mile stretch of Kelso Valley Road between 4 and 6.5 miles south from CA Hwy. 178 in Weldon. NOTE: BOBA and STSU strongly suspected that if they had made more than the literal passing effort, they would have seen many, many more as several of those they did see were running around on the ground between low shrubs. Sage Thrashers migrate through Kern County February through April, often in numbers, with very few detected by the last week of April. ... A flyover Red Crossbill was at Landers Meadow in the Piute Mountains and two were perched on a low snag in the pinyon pine woodland along Piute Mountain Road east and downhill towards Kelso Valley Road. ... Le Conte's Thrasher was observed at the Middlemiss property north or Inyokern and Burrowing Owl, Long-eared Owl, and Brown Creeper were found at Desert Memorial Park (cemetery) in Ridgecrest. BOBA, STSU.

Sa, 4 Feb 05 - Desert Memorial Park (cemetery), Ridgecrest. An adult male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was observed 8:30am-8:45am this morning at Desert Memorial Park (AKA Ridgecrest cemetery) in Ridgecrest. Other bird species present that might be of interest included white geese (up to 2000 Snow and Ross's, including 4 blue phased) and Long-eared Owl.

DMP is reach by heading east on Hwy. 178 (AKA Ridgecrest Boulevard) to San Bernardino Road (AKA County Line Road) at the Kern County and San Bernardino County line. Turn right off Hwy. 178 onto San Bernardino Road and proceed 0.7 miles to the cemetery entrance.

Proceed to the large parking lot inside the cemetery. Walk to the far (north) end. Turn left (west)., then immediately left (south) again onto the narrow crossroad found immediately west of the large parking lot. In the third evergreen on the right (west) side of this road, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was heard tapping, then seen working freshly made "sapsucker" holes 15'-20' up the tree on the west side of the tree.

On this individual, note the black line completely framing the red throat, the white stripe leading from the back of one eye around the hind crown to the back of the other eye, a white line on the nape connecting the above-mentioned white stripe to white on the upper back, and lack of a red nape. Note the messy, light barring on the lower half of the back, then splitting into two columns on the upper back. The latter mark, although suggestive of Red-naped Sapsucker, has been reported to be seen in photographs of YBSAs taken deep in the heart of their core range in the northeast, suggesting that the plumage of the YBSA at DMP is well within the range of variability for the species.

This YBSA appears to be the same individual present at DMP in part of November and December. It was photographed and researched at that time by Susan Steele.

Apologies to those of you who do not like long epistles. The above reflects what I have learned through this sighting rather than a confident prior knowledge. Perhaps others are in a similar position now to where mine was in November when the first sighting of YBSA was made at DMP. Thus, what I am hopeful are helpful points are given. BOBA

Su, 25 Dec 05 - Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanza, Merry Christmas, etc., et., etc... Desert Memorial Park (cemetery), Ridgecrest.

HIGHLIGHT: The party of birders walked up and down the rows of pine trees lining the interior roads of the cemetery looking for Long-eared Owls. Twenty Long-eared Owls were found in all, including seventeen in one tree bordering the east edge of the main parking lot. The Brown Creeper was still present, as it has been all this past week and back into November.

Other bird species recorded at (or from) the cemetery this morning included: Snow Goose, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Common Raven, Horned Lark, Verdin, Rock Wren, Bewick's Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler (all Audubon's), White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, and House Sparrow. BOBA, ROGI, RIRO, ALSH.

Other species found at or from the cemetery in the last week include: Mallard, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, American Robin, American Pipit, Vesper Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch, and American Goldfinch. BOBA.

KEY: KRP-Kern River Preserve, KRV-Kern River Valley, S&D-Status & Distribution

day, date month -

OBSERVERS: BOBA-Bob Barnes, ROGI-Ron Gillentine, RIRO-Richard Rowe, ALSH-Alison Sheehey, STSU-Steve Summers

Bob Barnes & Associates • PO Box 953, Weldon, CA 93283 • E-mail: Bob Barnes

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This page was last updated on Saturday, August 25, 2007