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Birds starting to feel Spring-ish on cherryridge property

2/27/2015

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Male Nuttall's woodpecker checks out nestbox near backyard, but hammers on it loudly, obviously feeling it needs major modifications - fortunately this is one of the store bought boxes, and not one that I made (so that I did not have to feel responsible for any defects of construction).
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Male Nuttall's woodpecker at bluebird nest box
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Red house finch, back yard
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Oak Titmouse waiting for me to put up sunflower seed feeder, front yard
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Northern Mockingbird in back orchard
Walking in a new to me park, saw this Red-shouldered hawk in an oak tree overlooking the path I was on
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Red-shouldered hawk, Crane Creek Regional Park
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Hawk gets ready to fly off
Also took a stroll at the Ellis Creek Water Treatment Facility, in Petaluma
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Killdeer on the shore of one of the ponds, Ellis Creek
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Killdeer, Ellis Creek Water Treatment Facility
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A lesser yellowlegs was in one of the ponds
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Small group of Northern shovelers still in residence at the first pond
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Along with the Northern Pintails
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Female Goldeneye
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Great Blue Heron flew over
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Male Bufflehead
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Song sparrow on one of the cottontail reeds
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Large flock of tree swallows, zooming everywhere
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Lots of Canadian geese, some grazing
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Twin female canvas back ducks in flight, Ellis Creek
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Male and female canvas back ducks in flight, Ellis Creek
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Cooper's Hawk near front porch

2/23/2015

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Cooper's hawk makes an early evening low pass over side yard near front porch, scattering a small group of dark-eyed juncos that had been feeding on the ground, and coming to rest on the fence post.
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Resident Cooper's Hawk
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Sitting on the fence post for a little while, making sure there are no other small bird opportunities
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Often confused with the sharp-shinned hawk, the Cooper's hawk head coloring looks like a cap and they are not as stocky
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Small group of bushtits twitter and flit through the backyard trees (this is the male)
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Females have pale eyes - here she is in the backyard quince, which is beginning to bloom
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(Above): White-breasted nuthatch finds a seed in a tree branch, near private drive, Furlong Rd (Below): Dark-eyed junco on oak tree with new leaves beginning to bud, near the Farm
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One of the lower orchard's Red-tail hawks leaps from the Eucalyptus grove as I approach
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Western bluebirds everywhere in the orchards
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Male Anna's hummer, lower orchard
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Western Meadowlark close-ups

2/20/2015

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While birding near the Napa River and the Hudeman Slough area, came across this Western Meadowlark - usually pretty frantically shy bird - that let me get a series of close up photos!
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Western Meadowlark - across from Napa marina
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A bemused Western Meadowlark
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Western Meadowlark

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Love these feet!
Also, a very obliging Snowy Egret
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Snowy Egret, Napa Sloughs
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Snowy egret
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Lots of red-winged blackbirds
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Song sparrow, Napa slough
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Plump white-crowned sparrow
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These are American Avocets, considered one of the most beautiful of shorebirds - best photo of them on overcast day when they were a fair distance away.
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Stretching Anna's hummer, Napa slough
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Several Anna's hummingbirds flashing their red courtship feathers
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Merlin Hawk? in Cherryridge orchard

2/18/2015

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Surprised this small hawk on a recent walk through one of the orchards - we saw each other at the same time, so it took off pretty fast, only got a few photos...but my research suggests it was a Merlin hawk, which are in the county here, more so in the winter months.
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Merlin Hawk? Cherryridge orchard
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Nuthatch with a peanut - which they love
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White-breasted nuthatch in the back yard
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Merlin in flight looks very similar to kestrel, but notice there are no colorful stripes on head which the kestrel has
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Fierce Allen's hummer lower orchard
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Our resident male kestrel, cherryridge
PictureWhite-crowned sparrow, the Laguna


Short walk through the Laguna, early afternoon

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Canadian geese were on the pond
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Tree swallows in an aerial spat - although I have seen tree swallows in the parks, there are none yet on the cherryridge property
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Golden-crowned sparrow eats a blossom in an early blooming tree, the Laguna
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Female kestrel, usually seen near one of the main trails, the Laguna
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Female Kestrel, the Laguna
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Migratory Allen Hummingbirds have returned

2/14/2015

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Heard rumors there were Allen sightings already, due to the unseasonable spring weather - last year, the first one I spotted was in March
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Allen hummer at the Grevillea shrubs near the old orchard
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Flashing its orange-gold display feathers
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High energy, and more aggressive than the year round Anna hummers
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Northern Flicker, on private drive near Furlong Rd
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Very shy birds, Northern Flicker darting away
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California Towhee, on private drive near Furlong Rd
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Gold-crowned sparrow against the bright green & yellow mustard grass flowers, a too brilliant spring in mid-February. These migratory sparrows will be leaving the area soon, going North to nest, and won't be seen here again until the Fall.
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Spotted Towhee near the Eucalyptus grove
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Chestnut-backed chickadee at the back yard feeders
Tolay Lake Regional Park - Tree swallows and Western Bluebirds already showing nesting behavior - good thing I've started putting next boxes up on the property.
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Tree swallow checking out nest box at Tolay Lake Regional Park
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Tree swallow zooming towards me as I walk close to the nest box
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Swallows migrate to this area to mate and nest, & they are earlier than usual arrivals as well.
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A Western bluebird pair were also shopping for houses
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Western Bluebird, Tolay Lake Regional Park
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Allen hummingbird, Tolay Lake Regional Park, feeding on eucalyptus flowers
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Allen's hummer
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Anna's hummer also at the eucalyptus flowers
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Great Egret in flight, Tolay Lake
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A pair of cinnamon teals, Tolay Lake
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White-crowned sparrows still abundant
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The melody of the Western Meadowlark rang through the open fields of the park
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Say's Phoebe, checking for insects from a fence post perch
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Curious Robin, Tolay Lake Regional Park
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Nesting box time on Cherryridge property

2/13/2015

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Homemade nest box using fence boards
With our intense spring-like weather here, decided to start to putting up nest boxes in the orchards where the old trees were removed the year before last - using a pole system this year, target birds are the resident western bluebirds and the migrating swallows that start arriving next month.
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Home made nest box, design number two
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Hopefully the birds will like these nest boxes!!!
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Back to back boxes in an attempt to maximize coverage for each pole (3/4 inch galvanized pipe); swallows and bluebirds require similar type boxes and will nest close to each other.

Had some useable boxes from last year, but to economize, decided to build some of the boxes myself this year, there are nest box plans on the internet, and many of the store bought boxes are OK for bluebirds, but too small for the swallows, which require at least a five inch by five inch floor.

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Red-breasted sapsucker still active in Acacia tress on the property
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Red-breasted sapsucker, cherryridge
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Say's Phoebe, cherryridge
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Resident male Kestrel, giving me the once over
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Cherryridge Kestrel
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Wild turkey flock adopted my back yard this winter
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Two twin male turkeys still always together and often synchronized
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Male Downy woodpecker in front porch tree
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Northern Pintails and Cinnamon Teals at Ellis Creek

2/6/2015

1 Comment

 
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A pair on Northern Pintail ducks at the Ellis Creek Water Treatment Facility
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Overcast day, so some of the photos reflect that, but many of the ducks and birds were active feeding or resting ahead of a storm that was arriving later in the day or night in the area.

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Female Northern Pintail
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Cinnamon teals, at the Ellis Creek Water Treatment Facility, Petaluma
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Also a large flock of sanderlings, many of them with heads tucked in and napping
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A small group of the sanderlings were feeding at the shore
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The red-shouldered hawk was still around, perched in its usual tree
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A few female ruddy ducks, this bird seems well-named
PictureWhite-tailed kite, Ellis Creek, Petaluma



A pair of white-tailed kites were hunting in the area, perched at times on a small tree near the duck ponds.


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Pair of white-tailed kites in the air
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White-tailed kite
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White-tailed kite checking out the photographer, Petaluma
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Savannah sparrow on the path around one of the ponds
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Savannah sparrow
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A Great Egret flew in near the ponds
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Anna's hummer, Ellis Creek, Petaluma, perched in the dry grasses
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Male Anna's hummingbird, busy giving its call
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Small flock of red-winged blackbirds feeding near the entrance of Ellis Creek as I was leaving.
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The Green-winged teals were still in the ponds, here's a male and female
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Pair of male green-winged teals, Ellis Creek Water Treatment Facility
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Beautiful male Northern Shoveler, re-entering the water at one of the ponds.
1 Comment

    Author

    Walking through
    California coastal parks and redwoods, and sometimes beyond, with a Nikon DSLR & telephoto lens (completely amateur)



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