An Inventory of Osprey's Nests on the Tuolumne and Merced Rivers

We can't resist the urge to check the Mother Lode Osprey nests each week when we get a chance to go outdoors. There are at least four of them along the lower reaches of the Tuolumne and Merced Rivers that we've found so far, and a fifth hidden in the forest near Table Mountain in the drainage of the Stanislaus River.

The birds themselves are spectacular to watch, if they are out and about. They have a huge wingspan, and are graceful flyers.

Activity at the nests is pretty muted, as we have yet to see any chicks. They may very well be there, but the nests are huge and deep. They are used year after year, and each year brings new sticks and other nest materials. The largest nests can be thirteen feet deep and six or seven feet wide. They have been encouraged to use artificial poles and platforms in our region.

There is a nest at the south end of Roberts Ferry Bridge on the Tuolumne River east of Waterford.

There is another nest on an old telephone pole almost hidden in the trees just south of the Merced River near McSwain Dam. One of the biggest nests is on a pole at the junction of Merced Falls Road and Hornitos Road at Merced Falls (below).

The nearest nest to us is on Lake Road just east of Turlock Lake State Recreation Area. The Ospreys there have both the reservoir and the Tuolumne River to utilize as a source of fish.

Under the category of "what did they ever do before telephone poles?", here is an Osprey nest in the top of a conifer tree near Table Mountain and Jamestown that I saw on a hike last week.

I wonder how often such nests collapse under their own weight?

We'll keep an eye out for young Ospreys and let you know when we get some pictures!

The Other Bird in the Bush: Ash-throated Flycatcher at Merced Falls

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I saw and got pictures of two new birds for my life list in a matter of a few moments from the same bush out by Merced Falls on the Merced River in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The first was hard to miss, being a bright orange-yellow Bullock's Oriole. After it flew off, I noticed another bird had landed, a little less brightly colored, but unfamiliar. I saw a slight crest so I guessed it might be a Say's Phoebe, but the wing color was all wrong.

It was difficult to tell at first because the bird was being bashful. The pictures here are out of order, with the first picture being the last one I actually took. The first pictures I got were of a bird well-hidden among the branches, as you can see above and below.

It finally popped out into the open, and a little research quickly showed it to be an Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens). It's a common species of the southwestern United States, but you wouldn't know it from my observational powers. They winter far to the south, in southernmost California and Mexico. I noticed in the pictures that this individual is banded.

Lots of birds coming up! There were the nesting Ospreys near the river, and some Flickers competing for the ladies on campus yesterday.

Surprise! Two birds in the Bush are Worth More Than One in the Hand: Bullock's Oriole at Merced Falls

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

I'm new enough at birding that this kind of thing can still happen. Mrs. Geotripper and I were in the car at Merced Falls trying to get a better look at the Osprey nest on the south side of the Merced River. I happened to look next to me for some reason and to my intense surprise there was a flaming orange bird right next to me, just across the street. I was trying to get a photograph, but the camera kept focusing in the branches in front (yeah, I know, manual focus, but I was fumbling too much). I signaled quietly to Mrs. Geotripper, who was at a better angle, and she got the best set of photos.

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

It turned out to be a Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii), and it was only the second time I've ever seen one, and the first time we got any kind of decent pictures. The Bullock's Oriole is a close relative to the Baltimore Oriole, but the Baltimore is a pretty much eastern species, while the Bullock's is a denizen of the western states. In the summer anyway. In the winter, the Bullock's lives in Mexico while the Baltimore winters in Central America and the northernmost part of South America. The birds were once thought to be the same species (they sometimes interbreed where their ranges overlap a bit), but they are genetically distinct. 

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

The Orioles are said to be common, which shows how observant I am in the wild, having seen so few. But I'll be ready for the next one! But the funny thing about the moment was that the Oriole flew away after a few moments, so I watched the Ospreys again, and then I saw movement in the same bush, and it was another bird, and it was another species, and a first sighting for me. And thus the strange title for today's post. More on the other bird in the next post.

And here are my two fuzzy shots through the branches

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of one of the most intensely colored birds I've ever seen around here!

Small Dinosaurs in the Backyard: Northern Mockingbirds Guard Their Territory

There's a saying amongst field geologists, that when you finish a field project and review your samples, you'll find you've failed to collect the single most common rock in the entire field area. I, of course, have been the same way with my bird project. I've documented all manner of birds that I've seen in my travels around California and elsewhere, and I see that I have failed to include any of the most common birds that visit my backyard. 

And so here is one of those every-day species, the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). They make their presence known in our neighborhood day and night, with singing, of course, but also in their territorial defense. Our cat has been at war with them for a dozen years. They've fought to a draw; she's nailed one or two of the birds, but the birds keep the cat hiding in the planters during the height of the breeding season.

The Northern Mockingbird is an American species. It's northern limit coincides with the Canadian border for the most part. They also range into Mexico, but they are found in all of the lower 48 states. It was part of the title of one of our country's greatest novels (and movie), and Mockingbirds were once kept as pets in the eastern United States, almost to the point of removing them entirely from the wild.

I'm not entirely sure why, but Mockingbirds remind me of the dinosaur connection more than most birds. The birds descended from small theropod dinosaurs like the Velociraptors. As such, birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than dinosaurs are related to reptiles inhabiting our world today (the present-day snakes, lizards, turtles and alligators split from the dinosaur line in the Permian Period millions of years before the dinosaurs themselves evolved.

Red-tailed Hawk and Raptor Real Estate: Room With a View

The Great Valley is a great place for raptors. Despite the intense disruption of the natural landscape, they've benefited in some ways. For one, they have received the gift of thousands of potential nesting sites in the form of telephone/electricity transmission lines. I spotted a couple of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) on Claribel Road east of Modesto this week, but even more, I spotted lots of nests in the power transmission lines. As nest after nest passed by, I couldn't help but wonder about the sales pitch from a Raptor real estate agent...you can perhaps even imagine the kind of look they give one of their potential customers. Like that look in the picture above...

"Claribel Road is a fine neighborhood for raising a raptor family! We have housing available for every kind of need! And every one has a great view! We've got lots of single family dwellings like the one below..."

"Oh, not quite in your budget? Maybe we can save you a few bucks (or does) with a duplex. As an aside, though, can I suggest you go for the top one? It gets a little messy below sometimes..."

"Still not in your budget? Well...we do have a condominium complex at this tower. I've gotta warn you about those lower floors again. The bottom floor...yuck!"

"Not interested in sharing space with neighbors? May you should consider a do-it-yourselfer, like that family down there. You get to choose your own decor!"

"And there's also that fixer-upper down there. They sure let that place go. It's gonna take a lot of work..."

"Wait! You've been holding out on me! You can afford any place you want? Well, here we go, the mansion! The biggest place on the block! You might have some trouble convincing the current owners to leave, though..."

Next time, maybe we'll take a look at the Osprey nests that have popped up all around here.

A Violet-Green Swallow near Table Mountain in the Sierra Nevada

I took a hike to the top of Table Mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mother Lode today. It wasn't a birding trip, but there were a few of them about, including some swallows that were moving very fast over the grassy meadows. One of them finally sat still long enough for a couple of pictures, and I was able to see the green coloring of the Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina). I've seen them before in the Mono Lake area, but this was the first I've identified on this side of the mountain (due more to my lack of attention than any kind of rarity on their part). These birds, like their cousins the Tree Swallows, are residents of western North America, ranging from Central America and Mexico to northern Alaska, depending on the time of year. They prefer open woodlands, which is just where I found them.

Table Mountain is a unique geologic and biologic environment. You can read more about this strange place over at Geotripper (click here).

White-headed Woodpecker: A Western American Endemic

The White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus) is endemic to western North America, found in conifer forests from the Canadian border almost to the Mexican border. I read that it is not particularly common, which probably explains why I've only seen it three times (then again, I'm not that observant either). And each time the pictures turned out somewhat fuzzy. But they get a little bit better each time. My latest catch was in Yosemite Valley in Cooks Meadow by Sentinel Bridge.

It was late in the evening and I wasn't really on the lookout for birds because of the poor lighting conditions, but once I saw this female, it was unmistakeable.  I had to at least try for the photographs, and while not perfect, they are the best I've taken so far.

A beautiful bird!

Source: Audubon Society