Get your Yellah'...bellied no good Sapsucker off my property...

Luke and I had heard about two different Yellow-bellied Sapsucker reports in Marin County during the past few months or so.  Being so far out of their range, we spent a good amount of time trying to find these birds to add to our California, and Marin County, lists. 

One was reported in Stinson Beach, CA (about 20 minutes from the field station).  We checked out this, supposedly more reliable, location a couple times without any luck.  The bird was reportedly seen in a California Peppertree next to the Sandpiper Motel, but we were unable to locate it in the Peppertree or in the surrounding neighborhood.

The other location was on Overlook Drive in Bolinas, CA (just 5 minutes down the road from Palomarin).  This spot couldn't have been any more convenient for us, as it was on the way to any destination to which we needed to drive.  We visited this spot so many times that I'm sure most of the Overlook Drive residents would recognize us in a line-up, but this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker just wouldn't turn up.

Then, a little over a week ago, French and I were making some birding stops after banding at an offsite.  It was near dark when we passed Overlook Drive on our way home, and I turned down at the last possible second.  I told French that we wouldn't even get out of the car; we'd just roll the windows down and listen.  And sure enough, I spotted some movement in a tree across the street from the address where the YBSA had been reported, and with the near-dark conditions I captured these gems.

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Overlook Drive, Bolinas, CA [photo by Cory Ritter]

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Overlook Drive, Bolinas, CA [photo by Cory Ritter]

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Overlook Drive, Bolinas, CA [photo by Cory Ritter]

Some of you may have missed the bad reference to "Home Alone" in the title here, but I found it fitting since this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was sitting in a tree right next to a "No Trespassing" sign.

A couple of days later, Luke, Dan and I stopped back so I could show them the spot where I had seen the YBSA.  Dan had just picked up some recording equipment recently, which he had with him when we went looking.  He was unable to record any actual bird calls, but he was able to capture this other form of documentation.

On a more serious note, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, along with other sapsuckers, play an important role in their community.  They create and maintain sap wells in trees, from which they feed on sap.  Other species, such as the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, use these wells to supplement their diet (Walters et al. 2002).  Also, they excavate nesting cavities, which can be used by other birds (Walters et al. 2002).



By Cory Ritter


References:

Walters, E. L., E. H. Miller, and P. E. Lowther. 2002. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). In The Birds of North America, No. 662 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds). The Birds of North America, Inc, Philadelphia, PA.

Early (in the year) Birding and "Red" Fox Sparrow

It's early in the year, and that means there are still lots of birds to add to one's year list.  This makes for an exciting time for birding.  A time when a bird that might otherwise be common can now be exciting!  Anyways, beginning of the year aside, we heard about a really exciting bird, through the grape vine, that was seen right down the road from PRBO in Bolinas, CA.  We heard that Keith Hansen, a local artist/birder, had seen a Summer Tanager somewhere around the tennis court on Brighton Avenue in Bolinas.  We searched the area fairly well, but, much to our chagrin, we could not locate it.  We continued birding Bolinas, though.

Anna's Hummingbird, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Starting around the tennis courts, we walked up the road leading uphill.  No Summer Tanager or eastern warblers, but lots of the common birds.  Anna's Hummingbirds were busy as ever displaying and feeding in the gardens along the road.  We then headed to the Bolinas cemetery to look for Pygmy Nuthatch (a bird both of us need for life).  We stopped to look at the wigeon flock across from the school and found two (maybe more?) female and male Eurasian Wigeon.

Eurasian Wigeon, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

At the cemetery we came across a very large flock of warblers that were, as far as we could tell, entirely Yellow-rumped (both Myrtle and Audubon's) and Townsend's Warblers.  We spent a lot of time sorting through them, but couldn't come up with anything else.

Townsend's Warbler, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

The biggest surprise of the day, though was what we believe to be a "Red" Fox Sparrow, which was feeding with a large flock of sparrows including both California and Spotted Towhees, as well as Golden-crowned, White-throated (no less than three), and Song Sparrows.  As far as we know, this race is quite rare in California, so we are hesitant to accept that it is a pure "Red."  We welcome your comments on this.

"Red" Fox Sparrow, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

"Red" Fox Sparrow, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

"Red" Fox Sparrow, Bolinas, CA. 01/03/12. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

We finished up the day birding some of the side roads off of Mesa Rd, looking again for Pygmy Nuthatch, but no luck again.  Birds around here included, Western Bluebird, White-crowned Sparrow, Townsend's Warbler, and a lone Cackling Goose in with the Canada Goose flock across Mesa Road from Overlook Drive.  On Mesa Road about one mile from PRBO we had one Say's Phoebe and a bobcat hunting in the coast guard field.

By Cory Ritter and Luke Musher