Rosemary IM'd me early to see if I wanted to zip out to Morro Rock to see
the Peregrines before the field trip, so out we went, and as I pulled up to
the meeting spot, one of the field trips was already there doing a Big Day!
I shortly heard a ruckus overhead and sure enough, one of the Peregrines
flew around the rock while the other sat on top! (The Canyon Wren was
singing unconcernedly as well...) Rosemary pulled up a little late so I
greeted her with, "Well, I saw the Peregrines; wanna go eat?"
J She was amazed I saw them that
quickly, but we quickly scanned for the reported Long-tailed Duck (nada)
then headed over to Morro Bay SP to see some Turkeys she had seen earlier on
the golf course.
When we got there they were gone (of course), so she
decided to see if the Northern Parula was still hanging around the rangers'
residences, and she was; her bright chirp gave her away! As we pulled out
another visiting birder was looking for the same bird, so Rosemary pointed
her out; he was a happy camper!
Digiscoped Peregrine on Morro Rock
Vagrant Northern Parula hanging out at Morro Bay SP
From there we headed back, where I grabbed breakfast and gathered for
the morning crew; I was honored to have Nigel Marven ride with me, a
British wildlife photographer who had worked on the Life of Bird series,
among other things! (He had to kinda fold himself into a pretzel in
Jip's front seat...) We had a pretty good crowd for this trip; Rosemary
led the way (she offered to be the "flag car" and she very literally
meant that as she had a flag hooked onto her window), and on the way the
whole group wheeled off the road: Rosemary had found her Turkeys! (I
kinda wondered about this one hen as she was almost white...)
Turkeys on the way to Montaņa de
Oro; the hen on right was either leucistic or had some domestic blood in
her...
Eventually we made it to Spooner's Ranch and headed down into the
campground; unlike our scouting trip, it was rather quiet, but we were
eventually treated to good comparative views of White-crowned and
Golden-crowned Sparrows (mostly the latter), and eventually a Song
Sparrow gave fleeting looks (but good listens of its song and bark).
Several non-sparrows delighted the group, the star of which was
"Droopy", a rehabbed Red-tailed Hawk who successfully bonded with a mate
and had the campground staked out! We also had good comparative looks
at Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Hutton's Vireo, and a Wrentit decided to
come out and give the gang very good looks! A Fox Sparrow called during
that event, but unfortunately he wasn't as cooperative... Flickers were
big show-offs as well, and a Hairy Woodpecker "peek"ed and finally
decided to fly and perch on a more conspicuous branch! Chestnut-backed
Chickadees were less cooperative, but a female Townsend's Warbler was
nice. California Towhees were of course underfoot, performing their
Towhee Shuffle.
Brewer's Blackbird Mob
California Quail still guarding the campground...
The eager sparrow-hunters, flanked by Rosemary on the
right
Monterey Cedars in the campground
Proud Flicker
We ended up spending the whole time there and actually had to scoot to
get back (but not before enjoying a Coyote in the parking lot), so once
back at the center I hugged Rosemary goodbye, ran over to Albertsons to
get supplies and lunch, and came back here and crashed, readying for a
long drive up to Solano County tomorrow in hopes of bagging a Snowy Owl
for the state!
Coyote giving us the evil eye in the parking lot
