Big Morongo & Yucca Valley Birding: April 29 & 30, 2017

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
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