[EBB Sightings] birding at its best

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I arrived this afternoon at Huckleberry Preserve, in the Oakland hills,
just as the sun was breaking through the gloom. It must've made the
birds happy, too, because they were everywhere. I was in a number of
mixed species flocks as I strolled along the trail. Highlights were a
blazing yellow, female yellow warbler, and a handsome male Townsend's
warbler, still in breeding plumage. A lone R.C. kinglet foraged busily
in the oaks. A close brush with a hermit thrush revealed his handsome
gray side-plumage, contrasting nicely with the rufous of his tail. Here
and there in the canyon were the jeering calls of a Steller's jay, and
the hoarse cawing of a raven. I was especially heartened to hear the
raven, since I always enjoy their presence, and they have been absent as
of late. 
 
A little farther afield, my husband and I, and a number of members of
Golden Gate Audubon, had an impressive sighting of a rarely encountered
and new-to-us bird. We were birding the Mono Lake area with Rusty Scalf,
and Mono Basin expert Emily Strauss. After many fine sightings of
migrants amongst the tufa and willow-studded meadows, and a peek at Mono
Lake's floating and wading birdlife, we went off to search for the
mysterious and elusive, but hardly diminutive, Greater Sage Grouse. Sage
grouse had been rumored to be visible near the old ghost town of Bodie,
northeast of Mono Lake, so we all agreed to meet at Bodie after an
afternoon break. My husband David and I, and our new friend Helen,
arrived early, and set out into grouse habitat near the parking lot. We
high-stepped through the chaparral, carefully picking our way through a
graveyard of rusted metal, but saw nothing. The rest of our group soon
arrived, and we set off down the road, dodging cars and eating dust.
Suddenly Rusty called out "There! On the road"! Sure enough, there was a
beautiful female Sage grouse, mincing across the road. She disappeared
into the brush. We continued along, and then started spotted more
females in a shallow ditch along the side of the road, for a total of at
least five. They were quite habituated to the presence of vehicles,
barely fluttering off the road when a truck went by. We 'scoped them
feeding on sagebrush, and walking calmly about, and feasted our eyes
upon the striking black markings on their heads; their beautifully
scalloped backs turned golden in the lengthening light. With supper-time
approaching, I couldn't help thinking how tasty one of those plump birds
would be, naturally sage-infused, and stuffed with porcini and covered
in huckleberry sauce (ingredients that we had back at camp); I shook off
those thoughts as one flew up, and gently wheeled, showing off its
unique, spiky triangle of a tail and the broad, black belly, just like
the painting I had studied in my bird-book.
 
No mere tick off of a list, this.
 
Debbie Viess
 

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style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'>I arrived this afternoon at Huckleberry Preserve, in the =
hills, just as the sun was breaking through the gloom. It must’ve =
made
the birds happy, too, because they were everywhere. I was in a number of =
mixed
species flocks as I strolled along the trail. Highlights were a blazing =
yellow,
female yellow warbler, and a handsome male Townsend’s warbler, =
still in
breeding plumage. A lone R.C. kinglet foraged busily in the oaks. A =
close brush
with a hermit thrush revealed his handsome gray side-plumage, =
contrasting
nicely with the rufous of his tail. Here and =
there in
the canyon were the jeering calls of a Steller’s
jay, and the hoarse cawing of a raven. I was especially heartened to =
hear the
raven, since I always enjoy their presence, and they have been absent as =
of
late. 


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'> 


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'>A little farther afield, my husband =
and I, and
a number of members of Golden Gate Audubon, had an impressive sighting =
of a rarely
encountered and new-to-us bird. We were birding the =
 Lake area with =
 Scalf, and =
expert Emily Strauss. After many fine sightings of migrants amongst the =
class=3DSpellE>tufa and willow-studded meadows, and a peek at =
Mono Lake’s
floating and wading birdlife, we went off to search for the mysterious =
and
elusive, but hardly diminutive, Greater Sage Grouse. Sage grouse had =
been
rumored to be visible near the old ghost town of Bodie,
northeast of Mono =
so we all agreed to meet at Bodie after an =
afternoon
break. My husband David and I, and our =
new
friend Helen, arrived early, and set out into grouse habitat near the =
parking
lot. We high-stepped through the chaparral, carefully picking our way =
through a
graveyard of rusted metal, but saw nothing. The rest of our group soon =
arrived,
and we set off down the road, dodging cars and eating dust. Suddenly =
Rusty
called out “There! On the road”! Sure enough, there was a =
beautiful
female Sage grouse, mincing across the road. She disappeared into the =
brush. We
continued along, and then started spotted more females in a shallow =
ditch along
the side of the road, for a total of at least five. They were quite =
habituated
to the presence of vehicles, barely fluttering off the road when a truck =
went
by. We ‘scoped them feeding on sagebrush, and walking calmly =
about, and
feasted our eyes upon the striking black markings on their heads; their =
beautifully
scalloped backs turned golden in the lengthening light. With supper-time
approaching, I couldn’t help thinking how tasty one of those plump =
birds
would be, naturally sage-infused, and stuffed with porcini and covered =
in
huckleberry sauce (ingredients that we had back at camp); I shook off =
those
thoughts as one flew up, and gently wheeled, showing off its unique, =
spiky
triangle of a tail and the broad, black belly, just like the painting I =
had
studied in my bird-book.


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'> 


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'>No mere tick off of a list, this.


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'> 


Roman">Debbie =
Viess


style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'> 





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