Mute Swan Family on the Tuolumne River (and Swans in Europe)

There is a lake across from the Tuolumne Parkway Trail in Waterford that once served as a gravel pit or gold dredging pond. It's kept full by groundwater seepage, and is more or less inaccessible. There are two rich-looking estates along the shores. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Geotripper noticed that two swans were in residence, and photographs with the long zoom revealed that the swans had cygnets. They didn't get mentioned on the blog because at that distance, the pictures were a bit fuzzy. They were Mute Swans (Cygnus olor), and they are not native to North America. They are European, and they were brought to the continent in the 1800s to grace the palatial estates that were built in the image of the Old World architecture. The swans have done very well in urban environments, but can be a real problem at times with a voracious appetite and aggressive nature that can be a detriment to native species (not to mention kayakers and swimmers).

This morning I took a quick walk along the river trail and saw that the swans had come off the lake and were floating in the river itself, in a spot where I could get some pictures (if I didn't mind crawling through some willows, which I didn't). There were both adults (the species is monogamous), and four cygnets. They were a pretty sight!

Just because I saw this today on Twitter, I had to add in a picture from the flooded streets of Worcester, England, where the swans are native (courtesy of Weird History).

Source: https://twitter.com/weird_hist

American Robins Nesting in St. Louis Area

American Robins (Turdus migratorius) are of course one of the most familiar birds in North America, although I don't see them all that often where I live in the Central Valley, with the exception of my MJC Mini-wilderness where more than a thousand wintered last year.  On my recent trip to the St. Louis area they turned up just about everywhere, and were the most visible bird I saw during my visit.

Two of them were nesting, one outside our hotel, and the other just outside the foyer where the wedding was taking place. If the bird was panicked about the dozens of people milling just below, it gave no sign.

A couple of posts are coming in quick order, as I am "clearing the decks" for my overseas journey to the Hawaiian Islands. There may be many birds to see, but probably little time to post!

Bald Eagles Nesting Near St. Louis

If you've been following my last few posts, you'll know that I was in St. Louis over the weekend for a wedding. Being not one of the bridal party, instead being just an uncle, I didn't have to get caught up in the maelstrom of wedding planning. The groom's father didn't have a lot to do on Saturday, so he took me kayaking on an 80-acre lake on the outskirts of St. Louis. One of the attractions, besides being my first kayaking "adventure", was a Bald Eagle nest along the shoreline.

I'm amazed, of course, that my camera didn't end up on the bottom of the lake, and we were able to float close enough for some good shots of the Bald Eagle family. Both parents were in attendance, along with one chick, which appeared to be getting reasonably close to being a fledgling.

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) got treated rather shabbily for being our national bird. They were shot and poisoned almost to extinction in the lower 48 states, and the widespread use of DDT made things worse. They have recovered nicely, and are reclaiming much of their lost range. It was nice to see a thriving family in the Midwestern U.S.

We Don't Have Blue Jays in California: Here's one in St. Louis

Even when I was young, I remember hearing from park rangers and others that California "doesn't have Blue Jays". California has Steller's Jays, Scrub Jays, and Pinyon Jays. But no Blue Jays. Which left me wondering what a Blue Jay actually was, and where a person could see one. Eventually I found that actual Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) are birds of the eastern United States and Canada. They are quite common, of course, but you have to be east of the Rocky Mountains to see them.

I'm in St. Louis this week, and so there are Blue Jays to be seen as easily as going into the back yard of my sis-in-law's place. It was dusk, and they barely ever stopped hopping from tree to tree, but here are some reasonable shots. 

When the Commonplace isn't so Common: Northern Cardinal in St. Louis

Certain birds are very common, so much so that it can be easy to "not see" them while looking for the other more unusual birds. Crows, for instance, or European Sparrows. And then there are birds that are interesting to look at even though they are common and easy to find. In our area of California, I would put Yellow-billed Magpies in that category. They can be seen by the hundreds on a given day, but someone who doesn't live in California's Central Valley would find them fascinating, even a great thrill to see for the first time. That's the situation I'm in this week. I have spent very little time east of the Rocky Mountains, and thus I haven't seen a great many kinds of birds that are common and widespread across the eastern United States.

So it was that I was standing in the back yard of a house in the St. Louis area today, when I saw a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) up on the wire. My hosts weren't overly excited to hear that there was a Cardinal in their backyard, as that is something that happens pretty much every day. But it was the first actual Northern Cardinal that I've ever seen (in person anyway; they're on a lot of Christmas cards that I get!). And one can't deny that they are one of the showiest birds to be found anywhere.

It was dusk, so the shots a bit fuzzy, but I'll be here for a few more days, and I will try to get some sharper shots!

Ash-throated Flycatcher on the Tuolumne River

I guess I need to do more morning walks along the Tuolumne River. Yesterday's stroll yielded sightings of not one, but three birds new to my Parkway Trail list (up to 45 species now). One the birds was a first for me as well (the Bewick's Wren from yesterday's post). I've seen today's bird, the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens)  a couple of times, but not on the Tuolumne River (that doesn't mean it's rare, just that I haven't been observant enough to see them). This one stuck around enough for some pictures.

The flycatchers like open woodlands and riparian habitats, which means the Tuolumne is a pretty good place for them. Not surprisingly, they feed on bugs, but will eat fruits once in awhile as well. Like the Bewick's Wren, they are creatures of the American Southwest and Mexico.

I'm trapped in airport limbo for a bit, but I have a chance at some species from the eastern U.S. over the next few days. I'm sure I'll find time to post them if I see them!

Bullock's! Mrs. Geotripper Finds an Oriole

Durn it all. While I was busy conducting an outdoor business meeting for our upcoming field studies class, Mrs. Geotripper was serving as the official photographer of the event. But instead of taking pictures of her stunningly handsome husband holding the rapt attention of his students, she was catching a marvelous shot of a Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii) that was taking in the proceedings from a high branch nearby.

We were out in the farmlands east of Turlock and Modesto. The Bullock's Oriole is a bird of open spaces in the American West, although they range south into Mexico.