A Bird That Doesn't Get Much Respect: The American Coot

Here's a bird that doesn't get very much respect: the American Coot (Fulica Americana). After all, what is that we call an eccentric or crotchety person, especially an old man? I was mildly shocked to go down my list of blog posts to find that I've never done one about the coots. Still, they are versatile birds that do very well in aquatic environments. I see them often when we tour our local refuges, but maybe because they are common, I find I've taken few pictures of them. I did take a few, though, when we stopped in at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge during our holiday travels. They have very interesting red eyes.

The coots are not ducks, but are instead more closely related to Sandhill Cranes and rails. They don't have webbed feet, for one thing, and aren't the most graceful of flyers. They consume vast amounts of vegetation, but are also opportunists who will eat bugs and crustaceans at times. They are common in any bodies of water from Central America all the way to Canada.

Bird-watching in the Yard? Nah, Never Anything Interesting...What?

Sometimes one might think that birdwatching in the yard is slightly monotonous. I've found that's not actually true, as I've probably seen two or three dozen species in my own, but I've never seen this in my 26 years at this address. Two snakes, yes. An occasional possum, yes. But leaving for work this afternoon, it was a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). It had been in my front yard, but got up and wandered off down the street (unnoticed by quite a few neighbords!).

We had been working in the back yard a little earlier in the day and heard some odd vocalizations that we couldn't identify or locate, but I'm thinking it might have been the Turkey hiding out behind the fence.

The lesson? Don't sell your yard short as a place to see interesting birds!

Speaking of California Endemics, Here Are Some Yellow-billed Magpies, Found Nowhere Else in the World

The Sierra Nevada is a barrier to more than just humans. Magpies "invaded" the western United States from Asia perhaps 3-4 million years ago, but the populations became isolated as the Sierra rose to higher and higher elevations, separating the Great Valley and Coast Ranges from the rest of the west. Eventually there were two races of magpie, the widespread Black-billed Magpie found across the western states from Canada to Mexico, and the Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli), endemic only to California. There is very little mixing of their ranges.

They are entertaining to watch, and are easily seen in my area. I saw these two apparently having a quiet argument on top of a street light ("I'm not speaking to you!") on the west campus of Modesto Junior College (actually, they were just sitting and watching things; I'm not supposed to anthropomorphize animals). Most of the time they are kind of raucous.

They used to be more numerous, at times forming large flocks, but they were decimated, almost catastrophically, by the West Nile Virus. Beginning about 2005, between 50-75% of the population was killed off, until the few resistant ones could begin to reproduce in larger numbers. The birds are making a fairly decent comeback. It would have been a terrible shame to lose them.

A California Endemic, Nuttall's Woodpecker on the Tuolumne River

The Tuolumne River Parkway Trail has been closed for a couple of weeks while the operators of Don Pedro Reservoir try to build up some storage space by flooding the lower river. The waters have been flowing at around 10,000 cubic feet per second since early January. The emergency spillway was open for several days, increasing flows to 18,000 cfs, and putting portions of the trail underwater, but the spillway closed a few days ago, so the river level has fallen a little. I got down to the trail this afternoon, and except for one makeshift detour past a flooded stretch, I was able to follow the whole trail. And no one else was there. Except for lots of birds.

The most striking discovery of the day were several Nuttall's Woodpeckers (Picoides nuttallii) exploring the old cottonwood trees above the river. I haven't seen any since May of last year, so it was a bit of a delight. I wasted a lot of shots trying to hit fast-moving targets.

Along with the Yellow-billed Magpies and the Santa Cruz Island Scrub Jay, the Nuttall's Woodpecker is endemic to California (at least as long as you count Baja; about 1% of the population is found there). They live in the oak woodlands and chaparral zones of the state, although they don't consume acorns. They mostly spend their time search the crevices in tree bark for insects.

Northern Mockingbird at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge

There are birds that we see every day, and so often, that they tend to fade into the general background. If they didn't sing, that would be true of the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), but they do sing, and so it is hard to ignore them. Especially when it's three in the morning and they are outside your window. Still, they are so common in the urban environment that I rarely try to photograph them. But they are interesting and intelligent birds. I was at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge a couple of months ago and among all the rare and colorful migrant species I spotted this Mockingbird perched out in the open. I like the way the shot turned out, so here it is. It's only the second time I've posted about them!

Red-wing Blackbirds at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Yeah, spring is just a few weeks away. We were out at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge a few weeks ago, and the Red-wing Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were out in force, wing epaulets blazing bright red and yellow, singing their hearts out.

These birds can be hard to photograph, not because they are particularly shy (they're not), but because their black feathers absorb the light, and one has trouble getting anything but a black shape. Luckily, the sun was behind us and reflected well off their feathers.

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge preserves the small percentage that remains of the vast wetlands and prairie that once existed across the Great Valley of California. It is a fascinating place to visit and to speculate on the changes we've made to the valley. It was so very nice to see water again in the places that have been so dry for the last five years (the refuges tend to be on the low end of priority when water is divvied out in California).

The birds appreciated the water too...

Killdeer at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Is there anything more striking than the fiery eye of a Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)? They are certainly interesting to watch for other reasons, but that eye just commands one's attention. We were on a short exploration a couple of weeks ago at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, and one of them was kind enough to hang around close enough for a few pictures.

Killdeers are members of the Plover family are named for their unique call, not for anything violent they might do to a deer. They are found across all of northern and central America, and have done well living close to humans. They are ground-nesters, and as such have developed a dramatic broken-wing act designed to draw predators away from their nests.

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge preserves a portion of the floodplain of the San Joaquin River and Bear Creek on the floor of the Great Valley south of the town of Turlock. There are three auto tours, and eight nature trails that provide access. The Killdeer was seen along the Bear Creek Unit auto-tour, a loop of about two miles just off of State Route 165 (Lander Road). The road passes a variety of riparian wetlands and grassy prairie. We'll be back in a few weeks, because the abundant rains this year promise a stunning wildflower show.