[EBB Sightings] This morning's bird walk at the Botanical Garden

Dear Birders:

As usual, we all enjoyed a delightful bird walk in the UC Botanical Garden this morning - one of the regularly-scheduled quarterly Saturday morning walks.

As one would expect in mid-July with the nesting season winding down, we heard more calls than songs.? The Hooded Orioles second brood have fledged -- this second nest not in a palm but in a deciduous Chinese wingnut tree near the stone bridge crossing the creek. But it was constructed of palm frond fibers.  We had good views of a female feeding on a nearby agave flower.

We heard the "Pip-Pip" issued by an Olive-sided Flycatcher, more common late in the season than the earlier "quick-three-beers."

Though we didn't see one today, Chris Carmichael reports seeing a pair of California Thrashers within the garden fence a few days ago.  Good news indeed.

The only bird we saw on a nest was a Black-head Grosbeak -- the nest in a small tree on the slope above the path in the Chinese section.

The next walk will probably be in October after the breeding birds have departed and the wintering birds are in residence.

-Phila Rogers