Another windy day for twenty birders out at Big Morongo, but our choice of a later date bode well and produced for us a total of 55 species, compared to just 40 the previous year. Of the 55 species found, 44 were found at Big Morongo and an additional 11 species were found at Yucca Valley by the ten birders who stayed over Saturday night.
A highlight on Saturday was spotting Mother and Baby Great Horned Owl sitting side by side at Covington Park. The owlet had moved out of the nest and stood upright a couple hundred feet away. We will never know whether the owlet flew, hopped or crawled there, but was successful. You can imagine the awwwwwwwwws that were emitted upon this discovery. Likewise we enjoyed watching mother Bullock’s oriole feeding her young in a nest tightly woven on the underside of a palm frond high in the sky (another long series of awwwwwwwws).
During our travels through the Yucca Valley neighborhood above our hotel we came to an unposted crossing and watched mother quail bring her very young brood of 14 across the street.
The brilliant Western & Summer Tanagers were lifers for some, as was the glimpse of the Brown-crested Flycatcher. All in all, a nice trip, with some nice birds.
Flyin’ high, as usaual
Doug Walkley
| 4/29/17 | 4/16/16 | |||||
| BigMorongo | Yucca Valley | BigMorongo | YuccaValley | |||
| QUAILS & ALLIES | ||||||
| Gambel’s Quail | 27 | 25 | ||||
| AMERICAN VULTURES | ||||||
| Turkey Vultures | 4 | 1 | ||||
| HAWKS & FALCONS | ||||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | |||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 2 | ||||
| American Kestrel | 2 | |||||
| PIGEONS & DOVES | ||||||
| Rock Pigeon | 11 | 13 | ||||
| White-winged Dove | 2 | |||||
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 3 | 10 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Mourning Dove | 6 | 12 | 1 | 14 | ||
| CUCKOOS | ||||||
| Greater Roadrunner | 1 | |||||
| TYPICAL OWLS | ||||||
| Great Horned Owl | 2 | 1 | ||||
| HUMMINGBIRDS | ||||||
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Costa’s Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| WOODPECKERS | ||||||
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 1 | |||||
| Ladderback Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| TYRANT FLYCATHERS | ||||||
| Black Phoebe | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Say’s Phoebe | 1 | |||||
| Vermillion Flycatchers | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | 1 | |||||
| Brown-crested Flycatcher | 1 | |||||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Western Wood Pewee | 1 | |||||
| VIREOS | ||||||
| Bell’s Vireo | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Hutton’s Vireo | 1 | |||||
| Warbling Vireo | 3 | |||||
| JAYS & CROWS | ||||||
| California Scrub-jay | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| American Crow | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Common Raven | 1 | 16 | 15 | |||
| MARTINS & SWALLOWS | ||||||
| Tree Swallow | 1 | |||||
| LONG-TAILED TITS & TITMICE | ||||||
| Bushtit | 16 | 10 | ||||
| Verdin | 2 | |||||
| WRENS | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 5 | 6 | ||||
| House Wren | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Cactus Wren | 25 | 12 | ||||
| BLUEBIRDS, THRUSHES & ALLIES | ||||||
| Western Bluebird | 6 | 1 | 2 | |||
| MOCKINGBIRDS & THRASHERS | ||||||
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 | 5 | 8 | |||
| California Thrasher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| STARLINGS | ||||||
| European Starling | 3 | |||||
| PHAINOPEPLA | ||||||
| Phainopepla | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | ||
| WARBLERS | ||||||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Yellow Warbler | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Common Yellowthroat | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Yellowrump Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 3 | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | |||||
| TOWHEES & SPARROWS | ||||||
| California Towhee | 1 | |||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | |||||
| Song Sparrow | 3 | |||||
| TANANGERS & GROSBEAKS | ||||||
| Summer Tananger | 6 | |||||
| Western Tanager | 3 | |||||
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 2 | 1 | ||||
| ORIOLES & BLACKBIRDS | ||||||
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Brewer’s Blackbird | 4 | |||||
| Hooded Oriole | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Bullock’s Oriole | 4 | |||||
| Scott’s Oriole | 2 | |||||
| FINCHES & ALLIES | ||||||
| House Finch | 15 | 22 | 8 | 15 | ||
| Lesser Goldfinch | 6 | 1 | 11 | |||
| Lawrence’s Goldfinch | 3 | 3 | ||||
| OLD WORLD SPARROWS | ||||||
| House Sparrow | 20 | 10 | 6 | 15 | ||
| TOTAL | 44 | 28 | 32 | 17 | ||
| Additional Species | 11 | 8 |
