Because the Ice Machine Broke, Here's a Townsend's Solitaire...

I guess that title requires a little bit of explanation. Townsend's Solitaires (Myadestes townsendi) are birds of the conifer forests of the montane west of the United States and Canada. I don't get to see them very often since I live near sea level on the floor of the Central Valley. Last weekend I was at Lava Beds National Monument in the far north of California near the border with Oregon (south of Klamath Falls), which is one of the few places I've seen them regularly.

The problem with Lava Beds is that the monument and the lava flows it protects has no surface water. Rain and snowmelt drain into fractures and fissures in the basalt, so with the exception of some ice pools in the bottom of a couple of lava tubes, birds have no water unless they fly several miles to the Tulelake basin. I've therefore had some great birding experiences in the park campground near the water spigots because the birds gather there in the morning for a drink. This time, though, I was at the visitor center and I didn't expect to see many birds out and about.

But there were. There were at least a half dozen Townsend's Solitaires flitting about, and I soon realized why. The ice machine outside the building was broken, so the park staff had taken the bags and blocks of ice and scattered them into the sagebrush next to the building to melt. And the birds loved it. I was standing there waiting to speak with a ranger about something, and the birds were landing all around me getting drinks, barely heeding the fact that I was only 6-7 feet away.

Townsend's Solitaire (but not so solitary) at Lava Beds National Monument

Water, or more accurately, lack of water makes for strange bedfellows. Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California is really a semi-arid climate, supporting a forest of Pinyon, Juniper and Ponderosa. But surface water is practically non-existent because precipitation sinks into the fissures and cracks that are characteristic of basalt lava flows.

As we've been finding over the last three posts, there is a secure source of water in the monument, at the campground faucets. We were awakened each morning of our recent visit at Lava Beds with the chattering of different kinds of birds waiting for a chance at the water. We've already seen the Robins, the Red Crossbills, and the Pinyon Jays. Today's bird is the Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi), which I've only seen once before.

Sibley's guide had this to say about the Solitaire: "Usually solitary, perching inconspicuously in trees". The lack of water seems to have changed that metric. I counted at least half a dozen Solitaires perched conspicuously in the top branches of the Junipers in the campground waiting for their turn at the water.

The bird is also described as "uncommon", but they certainly seemed common enough that morning in the campground. They no doubt spread out widely during the day, looking for looking for juniper berries or mistletoe. 

There were lots of birds at Lava Beds and Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge. After a slow summer for birding, I've now got a serious backlog of bird sightings to share. More to come!