WEWA at Palo

Worm-eating Warbler, PRBO Palomarin Field Station, Bolinas, CA 6/10/12 [Photo by Mike Krzywicki]

On June 10, the banding interns at the Palomarin field station caught this awesome Worm-eating Warbler!  Just thought I should share it.  There has also been a Black-and-white Warbler hanging around.  Wish I was still there to experience this rare vagrant.  The last time this species was captured at Palo was in 1979.  Thanks, Mike and Laura for banding and sharing this cool bird!

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.

Birds in Hand: A Couple of Recent Favorites

I want to share with you all my two favorite birds caught in the last week! 

First is the Black Phoebe. This is a species that we see at Palomarin every single day, but this is the first time I have seen one in the hand.  So, when I heard over the radio that French was bringing a Black Phoebe to the banding station, I was pretty excited and here is what I got to see.

Black Phoebe, a good photo to compare against the Eastern Phoebe in previous posts [Photo by Cory Ritter]

The other highlight was this second year, male Sharp-shinned Hawk.  I saw a lot of these at Hawk Ridge this fall, but it is a nice treat for Palomarin.  Also, a majority of sharpies caught are hatch year males, so it was nice to have a second year bird in the hand!

Luke attempting to make this SSHA look at the camera [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Here is a good look at the orange/red iris of a male second year Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Note the dark cap and nape, and the rufous (horizontal) barring on this second year SSHA, as well as the orange/red iris as seen before [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Here you can see the blue back and upperwing coverts on this second year Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Another look at the orange/red iris, rufous barring on the chest, and overall 'buggy-eyed,' or large eye-size to head-size ratio, appearance of the Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

That's all for now, but check back soon for more updates!

By Cory Ritter

Gull Watching: Lesser Black-backed Gull

Our next gull is a cool one, Lesser Black-backed Gull.  This dark-backed can be superficially similar to other dark-mantled gulls and even Herring Gull.  Let's look at some photos, including one interesting bird in Spain.

Four Gull Species.  Clockwise from left (ignore right-most cut-off gull): adult Herring Gull, adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (LBBG), adult Herring Gull, 2 Adult Herring Gull, first cycle Great Black-backed Gull, first cycle Glaucous Gull, Adult Herring Gull, second Cycle (?) Herring Gull.  For LBBG, note darker upperparts than adult Herring Gulls, lone white spot on P10 (outermost primary) only, long slender wings, white tail.  February 2011. Pelagic out of Lewes, DE. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (right) with first cycle Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG, left).  For LBBG, note relatively short yellow bill with red gonydeal spot, rounded head, slender neck (although this character is amplified by the fact that its neck is outstretched), yellow legs, heavy streaking on head and neck, especially around the eye, primaries and secondaries appear dark gray from underneath.  Compare heavy-set, stocky appearance to GBBG February 2011. Pelagic off of Lewes, DE. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Molting adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  Note, obvious molt occurring in primaries, primary coverts, rectrices, and greater coverts.  Shortened greater coverts expose white bases to secondaries giving the appearance of white patches where there usually are none.  Primary coverts are white, although this is unusual in American birds as far as I know (Steve Howell says it's common in Europe).  Also note many of the same features as above. September 2010.  Cadiz, Spain. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Adult/third cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull (center), first cycle Great Black-backed Gull (left center), and Herring Gulls (most other gulls).  For LBBG note, mostly same features as above except for black splotch on bill.  February 2011. Pelagic off of Lewes, DE. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Herring Gulls, adult Great Black-backed Gull (bottom left), and second cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull (indicated by arrow).  For LBBG note fairly clean white uppertail coverts contrasting with black tail, brown wings with dark gray back, same structural characters as above (e.g. slender, round headed, etc.). February 2011.  Pelagic off of Lewes, DE. [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Feel free to post with questions, comments or concerns.

By Luke Musher

Another Color-banded WESJ Re-sighting

While sitting outside after banding today, Cory noticed a Western Scrub-Jay in a douglas fir behind our living quarters.  We got the color combination.  This bird was first caught in May of 2010 and found with a brood patch (bare patch on the belly for incubating eggs) indicating that this individual is a female.  It was caught twice more in October of 2010.  It has been re-sighted once each in December 2010, March 2011, and May 2011, but hasn't been seen since!  Good thing I had my camera handy.

Western Scrub-Jay with color combination [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Left leg = white over blue, right leg = orange over silver (WB/OS). [Photo by Lukas Musher]

By Luke Musher