Yellow Warbler (and a Western Tanager) on the Tuolumne River

A couple of weeks ago I saw a Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) for the first time, and posted a fuzzy picture. I said I'd work harder to get a less fuzzy photograph next time around, and that finally happened today. It's only one photograph, because the bird perched above me for only the most fleeting of moments, but that's what you get sometimes. I was on my normal walk on the Tuolumne Parkway Trail in Waterford.

The one I still need to work on is the Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana). In that same post a few weeks ago, I had a very poor shot of a Tanager along the same section of trail, and I saw one again about a week ago. Unfortunately it was almost completely silhouetted in the shadows, and I had to really work the contrast to bring out the colors of the bird (above). The image is sharper, but I'm still not happy yet. I guess I'll just have to keep walking...

Update 5/22/18: I'm pretty sure that's not a Yellow Warbler at the top, but I don't know exactly what it is: an Oriole? A female Tanager? Some help would be appreciated!

A Pair of Belted Kingfishers on the Tuolumne River

It's been a battle of wits and tweets. I've known there were Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) on the Tuolumne River. As a species, the bird is common all across North America, and the Tuolumne River where I live is excellent habitat, providing good fishing, lots of riparian vegetation for perching, and high dirt banks that are perfect for digging nesting burrows. I've even seen them a couple of times, perched along the section of the river where I've seen otters a few times now. But so far there was nothing to show in terms of photography. They've been too far away and unfocused in the few pictures I've attempted.

I was back on the river today making my usual trek along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail, and I made my way down to the banks of the river to a favorite sitting spot (I've seen both otters and raccoons from here recently). There was a lot of chattering in the trees, but I couldn't quite see who was responsible.

This is the last thing a fish sees sometimes...

Before long it was clear that the noisemakers were a pair of Belted Kingfishers. I'm not sure they were excited about me in particular because they were patrolling a large section of the river downstream, flying back and forth, perching briefly, and then patrolling again.

Once in a while they landed close enough to snap a few okay shots from a distance of about 200-300 feet. The pair were male and female. Kingfishers are one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored. The male has a plain white breast (with the black "belt" near the neck). The females (top photo) have some rusty bands as well.

I waited for some time, and they teased me by coming closer and perching in a nearby tree that made focusing a bit harder (it'll work one of these times!). Finally, I needed to get going so I started walking back downstream. As if to tease me, the female landed on the tree snag practically over my head and posed for a single shot, the one that appears at the top of the post. And then they flew off again, chattering and twittering away.

Cassin's Kingbird at Dana Point, California

We are still catching up with a summer of bird watching! I was in Southern California in early July, and we found ourselves at Dana Point along the Orange County Coast. I saw what I assumed was a Western Kingbird, which are common around my home region in spring and summer. It wasn't until much later looking at the photos that I noticed the slight green color to the back feathers, and the white patch under the throat. It was a Kingbird, but not one I've seen before. Cassin's Kingbirds (Tyrannus vociferans) have been seen back home in Stanislaus County, but so rarely that sightings cause some local excitement among birders.

Dana Point is a particularly beautiful stretch of California coast, with some nice cliffs and mountains nearby. We saw the Cassin's Kingbird at a gazebo that overlooks the small harbor.

Allen's Hummingbird in Costa Mesa (Maybe)

For today's post, we find out why I'm still an amateur at the birding game. I was touring the Sherman Gardens in Costa Mesa in Southern California at the beginning of July. In other words, I was on unfamiliar ground. The gardens were nice to tour, and there was a hummingbird. It posed for me. It just sat there waiting for me to finish snapping a few pictures. It was clearly a Rufous Hummingbird female (Selasphorus rufus), since the Rufous is the only golden colored hummingbird I know (from my area, anyway).

But I wasn't in my home area. So I looked it up, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology had this to say: "Female and juvenile Rufous and Allen's hummingbirds are nearly indistinguishable in the field - it's probably better not to try to identify them during migration, when their ranges overlap considerably."

An Allen's? What's that? So it's an Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin). Maybe. They live in the coastal areas of Southern California and Mexico. Or a Rufous Hummingbird, which has a much wider range across the American West, but the area we were in is a migration route rather than a breeding or wintering ground. So I settled on the Allen's for the title of the post. I welcome an identification from an expert!

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird on the Tuolumne River

Female hummingbirds can be hard to tell apart. I'm going with the white eye spot and slightly curved beak to call this one a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). I've also seen males on these same shrubs. The hummingbirds in general have been one of the most common birds I've seen along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail over the last few days. Some of the shrubs are flowering despite the dry conditions, providing a food source. There have been quite a few bugs flying in the air, and hummingbirds aren't at all averse to consuming bugs. They need the protein. They need the sugar too, given that their metabolism is such that they could starve in the space of a few hours or a day.

Black-headed Grosbeak on the Tuolumne River

It's another case of a bird species being relatively common, but not for me. I saw a Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) a few days ago while I was strolling on the Tuolumne Parkway Trail where the Tuolumne River flows into the Great Valley. The Grosbeaks spend the summer in the United States and southernmost Canada, and migrate to Mexico and Central America for the winter. The males and females have kind of an egalitarian relationship, as they both will tend to the nest, sit on the eggs and feed the young.

I wasn't close, so the sharp focused pictures will have to come at a different time! I'll keep trying...

Young Turkey Vulture (or a Vampire) on the Tuolumne River

I didn't see many birds on my stroll along the Tuolumne River this morning, and I'm not entirely convinced that this Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) would have seen its reflection in a mirror. This may be the same juvenile I ran across a few weeks ago. I've seen it several times now along the same section of the Parkway Trail. I'm going to start carrying garlic and a cross with me on these walks.