Birders,
It was a good day to be birding, hot, but not too hot, no mud like last year, a bit hazy, good companionship and lots of help in spotting and IDing the birds, We never did find my Lesser Scaup or the purported Common Snipe, split off from Wilson’s Snipe a few years ago, but I think everyone was glad to spot the White-tailed Kites and the Vermillion Flycatcher.
On our way out of the wildlife area Diane Walkley spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk and another Cassin’s Kingbird. We drove very close to the lone pheasant but didn’t manage to get a photo. You may have noticed a big sign on Davis Road before the alfalfa fields announcing a hearing Dec. 5 regarding plans to put something like 2800 homes on the property which is roughly 3000 acres. 109 acres would be devoted to commercial. What do you think about that?
Sally Sanderson
San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Riverside, California, US
Nov 26, 2017 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling 7.0 mile(s)
Comments: This was a Palomar Audubon Society sponsored walk.
59 species (+1 other taxa)
Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera) 12
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 20
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 12
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 8
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 3
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 10
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 50
Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 1
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 6
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 6
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) 40
White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) 5
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 4
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 4
Sora (Porzana carolina) 6
American Coot (Fulica americana) 500
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) 40
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) 30
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 6
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 25
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) 2
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) 30
Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) 2
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 6
Larus sp. (Larus sp.) 2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii) 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 4
Merlin (Taiga) (Falco columbarius columbarius) 1
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) 10
Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya) 10
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) 1
Cassin’s Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans) 2
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) 5
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 2
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 10
Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) 2
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) 1
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) 1
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) 1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 1
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 20
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 6
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 4
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 6
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 8
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 8
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 4
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/