The Elusive Quest: Finally, Pictures of a Red-Breasted Nuthatch

What a week! Back from a trip across the Sierra Nevada, I arrived home and made some interesting personal discoveries, including a Red-breasted Sapsucker on the Tuolumne, and the first sightings of Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese on the same day. And then there was this morning...

Some birds are very rare, and I'll never see them at all, and there are some birds that are around, but I just never catch them. The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is one of those birds. Prior to this year I had only seen one, a chance sighting in 2018 at Modesto Junior College. Ever since, I've been trying to see another, hoping to get better pictures than the fuzzy ones I got last year. My interest was piqued when local birders starting using the term 'irruption' in discussing the nuthatches. It seems that when major food sources fail in the normal home range of the bird, they will spread into new areas, and some suspected that we were in the midst of one based on a fairly high number of local sightings. So my 'spidey-sense' was on high alert.

I finally spotted one two weeks ago on campus, but I was victimized by a failing zoom lens on my camera (since replaced), and I only got two very poor pictures that served only to prove the identity of the bird. But this morning I was following the movements of some Cedar Waxwings when my eye caught movement in the deodar tree at my side. My new camera was working, and I finally got some reasonably sharp pictures of the beautiful little bird.

The nuthatches gained their name from their habit of jamming nuts into the bark of trees, and breaking loose the edible parts ("hatching" the seed). They also spend their time walking up and down the trucks of trees searching out bugs and spiders. They are found all over the United States and Canada, except by me; I don't find them very often. But on this day I got lucky!

An Argument for Looking Closer at Little Birds: Western Bluebirds on the West Campus

Before I  became a geologist, all rocks were gray, and there were a few crystals, but all of them were quartz. Then, a small bit of education intervened and my eyes were opened to a vast and complicated world inhabited by a dizzying array of rocks and thousands of kinds of beautiful and colorful minerals. It was a revelation that changed my life and led me into the career I've enjoyed now for more than thirty years.

Jumping ahead a few decades, birds have become my new minerals. A decade ago, I pretty much figured the birds I saw in the neighborhood and at work fell into a few categories: sparrows, pigeons, and crows. And they were little gray things, just like the rocks once were. So imagine my surprise when I found I lived in one of the more critical bird habitats in the country. Nearly a thousand bird species have been identified in the lower 48 states, and almost a third of them have been sighted at one time or another in Stanislaus County where I live. There are plenty of reasons for the biological richness: mild winters, providing shelter for many migrant species; and a wide variety of habitats, including foothills, prairies, rivers and flood plains, and mountain slopes. Despite being a rank amateur at bird watching, I soon had identified more than a hundred species.

One of my favorites of my new world are the Western Bluebirds (Sialia Mexicana), as evidenced by the fact that this is the 14th time I've posted pictures of them. They're irresistibly colorful. I saw these during my recent wanderings on the West Campus of MJC, which turns out to be a pretty good habitat for bird watching, with more than 60 species seen so far. They'll probably be headed for the hills very soon as spring arrives. They are actually more of a woodland bird in their breeding choices, and move into the Sierra Nevada or the Coast Ranges.

I'm not an expert, and my blog has become just the 300th most-read bird blog, but I've enjoyed writing about my discoveries, and I've appreciated hearing from those who have been along for the journey!

Winsome Little Warblers of the Yellow-rumped Kind in the MJC Mini-wilderness

I see that it has been an entire month since I've posted pictures of Yellow-rumped Warblers (also called Audubon's Warblers, latin name Setophaga coronata). It's hard not to. They are attractive little birds, and they are all over our campus in west Modesto. They are one of the most common species that I see in the central plaza area of the school.

We are getting on towards spring, so they may soon be leaving for their summer breeding grounds, which could be far to the north, or possibly in higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada (I've seen them on the road to Glacier Point at elevations of almost 8,000 feet).

In the meantime, it's fun to try and get decent pictures of these extremely active foragers. I got lucky in the last few trips around the campus and caught a couple of sharp shots I was happy with.

A West Coast Special: Anna's Hummingbird on the West Campus

One day, I'll get the perfect picture of the Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna). I know it's possible because Mrs. Geotripper got one on her first try (see it here). I got pretty close to one during my lunchtime stroll on the west campus at Modesto Junior College, but the day was gloomy and the bird was framed by the skies. It took a bit of obvious photo manipulation to bring out the color, although I'm happy with the details visible.

Anna's Hummingbirds are one of the rare success stories of the birding world. They were originally confined to Southern California and Baja, but with urbanization of the west coast and the attendant landscaping of delicious nectar-producing flowers, the birds have been able to expand their range far to the north into coastal Washington and British Columbia (inland would no doubt be too cold for them). Hummingbirds in general are only found in the New World. European colonizers thought for a time that they were some kind of strange hybrid of an insect and a bird ("flybirds").

Update: Almost everyone who usually reads these posts has already done so. However I ended up walking again at dinner, and wouldn't you know the hummingbird was still patrolling the bush! So I added another highly manipulated shot below...clearly the iridescence is not so visible from some angles!

Western Bluebirds in a Changed "Mini-wilderness" on Campus

The storms of 2017 are changing many things. It's been a week since I wandered over to our campus "mini-wilderness", a drainage pond that has a grazing area for sheep from our agricultural unit as well as a collection of old and maturing trees (some are 70 years old). It's been a good spot for seeing a variety of birds. Today I was shocked to see that not one, but two huge Eucalyptus trees had fallen during the weekend. It appears that the first one to fall took out the second.

As I continued walking around the pond, a Western Bluebird (Sialia Mexicana) alit on the fence post only a few yards away from me. These beautiful birds tend to be a little more cautious in my presence, but maybe the coming spring is releasing some of their inhibitions. It stayed in place while I got some of the sharpest pictures I've ever managed to capture of these colorful creatures.

Great Egret in the Campus Wetland

The campus wetland, my "mini-wilderness" has been undergoing some changes. The campus is "improving" the road system to give our students better access to the various parking lots, which is a good thing, but part of the process has been to shore up old fencing, and provide new secure fencing on the west boundary of the school property. As a result, I can only walk around three-quarters of the wetland before running into fences. I'm not sure what that will mean for our campus foxes or the other creatures that use the wetland. History generally shows that foxes and the others are pretty resourceful, so they'll probably be okay.

On the other hand, the pond has been dry for months. It serves as the drainage and groundwater recharge basin for the entire west campus, and it has been very dry, to say the least, for the last six months, and for much of the last five years. Consequently, without water there have been few birds hanging around. The last two storms brought some record rainfall totals, though, so I was pleased to see water in the pond, and even a few Mallards in attendance. There was also a Great Egret (Ardea alba), which I haven't seen on campus in months. It was a bit skittish, taking off before I even arrived at the fencing, but it perched in the old cottonwood tree while I walked by, and allowed me a few pictures.

If the pond persists for a few weeks, look for a few more members of the bird community in these posts!.

Cedar Waxwings Gather in the West Campus "Mini-wilderness"

Oh, how I love the little Cedar Waxwings! They visit the region during their spring and fall migrations elsewhere, and will camp out on available perches. Sometimes the perches are in my front yard, along the Tuolumne River, or sometimes in our unofficial bird refuge on the West Campus of MJC, the "mini-wilderness".

The mini-wilderness is actually a drainage reservoir that often has a shallow pond, a cattail thicket, and a small oak and eucalyptus woodland. There is a dead cottonwood tree that seems to host a different flock of birds each evening. There has been a day of Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, American Robins, Yellow-billed Magpies, and an occasional solitary Egret. But today I was thrilled to see a large flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum)

The pond has swelled in the last few days as a result of the intense storms of the first half of March. In addition to the roosting birds in the cottonwood tree (center of the picture), there have been Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese.

The Waxwings were high up in a tall tree, so I got no close-up shots. I got some nice ones a few weeks ago, so here is a replay of one of my favorite shots of one of my favorite birds...

American Kestrels in the Campus Mini-wilderness

It didn't take long to get distracted from the Hawaiian bird series that I started yesterday. I was on my lunchtime walk around the mini-wilderness that is slated to become part of our Outdoor Education Laboratory when I saw yet another bird species occupying the top of the dead snag. It's been a constantly changing cast of characters in the one tree. Last week it was a Red-tailed Hawk, and in previous weeks the top of the tree has been occupied by Great Egrets, Starlings, Red-shouldered Hawks, Robins, Yellow-billed Magpies, Eurasian Collared Doves, and Cedar Waxwings.

Seeing them perched from a great distance, I thought I was seeing a pair of doves, but the moment they took off diving at the pond I know they were something else. They were a pair of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius), and they were on the hunt. There's not much pond left, but they were swooping down and picking off dragonflies.

I got a couple shots of one of them enjoying lunch.

These aren't the best shots I've ever gotten of Kestrels, but I think these are the closest I've been to them here on our campus. It's nice to know they can find a home here (or at least a quick meal!).

The soon-to-be-constructed Outdoor Education Laboratory will complement the indoor exhibits of the Great Valley Museum at Modesto Junior College. There will always be value in having permanent displays of animals and plants to educate our children about the natural history of the valley that they live in, but nothing will quite compare to seeing the museum exhibits and then going outdoors, and maybe, just maybe, seeing one of those creatures in real life. It's certainly been enriching my life.

Red-tailed Hawk on the West Campus "Mini-wilderness", Where Big Plans are Afoot

Unlike many colleges and schools, our campus has been blessed with a lot of land, and some of it has been kept as undeveloped habitat. I've mentioned quite a few times the mini-wilderness that sits on the northwest side of Science Community Center. It is a drainage pond that has been ignored more or less since the 1940s. It is thick with cattails, and the trees include mature Valley Oaks, Cottonwood and Elms. Sheep occasionally graze the plot, but most of the time it serves as wildlife habitat. I've noted three dozen species of birds hanging out on the little section at one time or another. Last year more than a thousand American Robins wintered in the trees there.

We had some good news about the pond and mini-wilderness last month. We are developing an outdoor education area adjacent to our Great Valley Museum, a facility that will include native vegetation, geological displays, and natural animal habitats. It was to include a pond, but the ongoing drought put that out of the planning. We instead are planning for a vernal pool, a dryland environment that will illustrate one of the Great Valley's most unique habitats. But we'll still get a pond, because one is already in place. We'll be adapting the pond in the mini-wilderness into part of the educational experience with some walkways and an access point for collecting water samples.

I often walk around the pond during my breaks, and today I got a rare treat. A Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) was patrolling the area and making the other birds a bit nervous. It soared around the campus a couple of times and moved off to the west into the farmlands beyond, but not before perching for a few minutes. I don't see them on campus often, but it's good to know they are around.

Northern Flicker at the MJC Mini-wilderness

The Northern Flicker is such a lovely bird. I've been seeing more and more of them, and I am having a hard time understanding how I could have missed them in the past. I've seen them near my house, at Chaw'se Grinding Stone State Park, at the Joe Domecq Wilderness Area, on the bluffs above the Tuolumne River (almost every time I wander down there), and the Turlock Lake State Recreational Area. This week was a new locality, and it was somewhat of a surprise: it was on the west campus of Modesto Junior College, in my little "mini-wilderness". The area had been overrun with thousands of robins for several weeks during the week, but they've moved on, and other birds seem to be taking up residence. Up in the highest tree I spotted a unique shape and snapped a quick picture, and found upon closer inspection that it is the first Northern Flicker I've seen on campus.

I said yesterday that the Cedar Waxwings are the most colorful birds found in our area, but the Flickers give them a lot of competition.

Bird of the Day: Red-winged Blackbird in the Mini-wilderness

Back to a "normal" life after three straight weekends on the road. I've had a tiny bit more time to wander the outer reaches of the west campus and "mini-wilderness". With the beginning of the autumn season, more birds have been showing up. Today's guest is a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) roosting on the tree above the pond in the mini-wilderness. Although there is a nice cattail thicket by the pond, it's been several months since I've seen any Red-wings on campus.

I've found it difficult to photograph the Red-winged Blackbirds. Their absolute black color trips up the auto-focus on my camera, and they tend to be very active and a little restive if I get too close. This one was being cooperative, mainly because I was probably 200-300 feet away using my most extreme zoom!

Bird of the Day: Great Egret in the Mini-Wilderness on Campus

What a delightful day on campus. The cooler days seem to have brought out multitudes of birds in the "mini-wilderness" where I work. A short walk at lunch and another in the late afternoon resulted in the sighting of at least a dozen species, including a few I haven't seen in some time on campus. Look for them in future posts. Today's picture is the occasional visitor to the pond in the mini-wilderness, a Great Egret (Ardea alba). It is always wary of me, even though I am a good 50 or 75 yards away when I walk by, but today it was feeling secure up in the high tree. The Great Egret is similar to the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), but is distinguished by the yellow bill and fully black legs (the Snowy has yellow feet).

Bird Watching in (Semi) Urban Settings, Part Two: The Campus Drainage Pond/Mini-Wilderness

The primordial Great Valley of California must have been a fascinating place. I can only imagine the large herds of Tule Elk, Pronghorn Antelope, the Grizzly Bears and Mountain Lions, and the migratory birds. Vast prairies would have stretched for hundreds of miles from the present site of Bakersfied to Red Bluff, but because of the adjacent Sierra Nevada, plentiful river water would have been available in the near-desert environment. The snow-free winters and available food supplies would have made the valley a magnet for migrating birds.

Beyond the baseball field lies the "mini-wilderness"

Not much is left of the original environment, no more than 5% or so. It began with a wave of agricultural development, followed by creeping urbanization. The effect on the uncounted millions of birds who wintered in the valley was devastating. Hundreds of thousands of birds are able to survive because of a patchwork of isolated wildlife refuges that preserve some small part of the original prairie/wetlands, or which have utilized abandoned and purchased farmlands that are being returned to a semi-natural state.

I teach at a community college (Modesto Junior College), and I have come to realize that campuses and parks in urban settings provide a small but maybe critical piece of bird habitat. I spent the first 25 years of my teaching career on the highly urbanized "east campus" near the middle of the city. The campus has some very nice trees, but nothing resembling decent bird habitat. It's simply too crowded and too paved over. But we have a strange property situation with our campus.

Hammond Army Hospital in the 1940s (Source here). The barren drainage pond is just left of dead center of the photograph.

Years ago, the federal government established a hospital complex west of town center to treat World War II wounded. Years later the property became a mental hospital, but when "reform" kicked many mentally ill people onto the streets in the 1970s, the land was given to our college district, and it developed into a "west campus" just three miles from the east campus. True to its origin, our campus has a "split" personality.

Obviously few trees had been planted in the 1940s as the hospital was hastily constructed, but some were eventually planted, and now after 60-70 years, many of the trees are mature, and some are even dying. The diseased and dying trees are quickly removed in the populated parts of the campus for obvious reasons, but in the isolated corners, the trees go through the entire process of life and death without intervention. In particular there is a drainage pond on the northwest corner of the property that has become a sort of mini-wilderness over the years.

A small oak woodland, with a few Deodars and Eucalyptus trees.

Part of the "mini-wilderness" is fenced off, as the agriculture division occasionally has sheep grazing in the compound. Otherwise the site is generally undisturbed. It has developed into an admittedly artificial ecosystem that is surprisingly robust. There are a variety of adjacent environments: a meadow, a lake/pond, a swamp/wetland, and a mature hardwood forest. There are sheep as occasional grazers, rodents, and even a few predators: a fox (see below) and at least two feral domestic cats.

And lots of birds. Since I started exercising by walking the perimeter of the campus (about 2 miles), I've photographed around three dozen species of birds. Many have been temporary visitors, but some have been around continuously, including a beautiful Great Egret, and some cute Black Phoebes. And of course the usual mockingbirds, sparrows and mourning doves (like the young one that was hanging out next to my third floor classroom the other morning, in the first picture).

From some angles, the pond is positively beautiful, especially in the evening sunset. That's the observatory dome in our Science Community off in the distance.

Although I'm mostly seeking out birds to photograph, the other night I saw the fox for the first time after hearing rumors about it for more than a year. I was astounded to see it, and appreciated that it stood still long enough for a couple of pictures.

So this has been an introduction to my second bird observation spot, which I will always be calling the "mini-wilderness". It'll be our secret, because I hope the powers-that-be will continue to ignore it and not develop this little wild corner of the campus. In a lot of ways, I think it has an ecological importance as an environmental "island" that far outstrips its modest size.

A Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) that I saw in the mini-wilderness for only the first time a week or so ago.