It was a cool overcast day when 28 birders gathered on the shores of Whalen Lake for the semi-annual walkabout there. We were pleased to welcome to our group a couple of snowbirds from Vancouver and Alex, a junior birder from Oceanside. Generally one burns as they head towards the city’s settling ponds, but not so on this occasion. To some extent this may have kept our raptor count on the low side as they waited for the heat and a bit of a breeze. Nonetheless, it was a fruitful day with a total of 59 species spotted. This compares to a year ago when we had 69. One looks at these lists and tries to figure out why the differences, but no ready answers come to mind. It was especially rewarding to see four white-tailed kites and two loggerhead shrikes. Both these birds used to be regularly seen in greater numbers, so it is nice to have them back again.
| March 19, 2016 | March 21, 2015 | ||
| SWANS, GEESE & DUCKS | |||
| Wood Duck | Wood Duck | ||
| Gadwall | |||
| Mallard | Mallard | ||
| Cinnamon Teal | Cinnamon Teal | ||
| Northern Shoveler | Northern Shoveler | ||
| Green-winged Teal | |||
| Bufflehead | Bufflehead | ||
| Rudy Duck | Rudy Duck | ||
| GREBES | |||
| Pied-billed Grebe | Pied-billed Grebe | ||
| Horned Grebe | |||
| Eared Grebe | Eared Grebe | ||
| BITTERNS & EGRETS | |||
| Great Blue Heron | |||
| Great Egret | Great Egret | ||
| Snowy Egret | Snowy Egret | ||
| White-faced Ibis | |||
| AMERICAN VULTURES | |||
| Turkey Vulture | Turkey Vulture | ||
| White-tailed Kite (4) | |||
| HAWKS & FALCONS | |||
| Northern Harrier | Northern Harrier | ||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | |||
| Cooper’s Hawk | Cooper’s Hawk | ||
| Red-shouldered Hawk | |||
| Red-tailed Hawk | Red-tailed Hawk | ||
| American Kestrel | American Kestrel | ||
| RAILS, COOTS & STILTS | |||
| Virginia Rail (H) | Virginia Rail (H) | ||
| Sora (H) | |||
| Common Gallinule | Common Gallinule | ||
| American Coot | American Coot | ||
| PLOVERS & SANDPIPERS | |||
| Black-necked Stilt | Black-necked Stilt | ||
| Killdeer | Killdeer | ||
| Spotted Sandpiper | |||
| GULLS | |||
| Western Gull | |||
| TERNS | |||
| Forster’s Tern | |||
| PIGEONS & DOVES | |||
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | Eurasian Collared-Dove | ||
| Mourning Dove | Mourning Dove | ||
| TYPICAL OWLS | |||
| Great Horned Owl with chicks | |||
| Barn Owl | |||
| HUMMINGBIRDS | |||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Anna’s Hummingbird | ||
| Allen’s Hummingbird | Allen’s Hummingbird | ||
| WOODPECKERS | |||
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | Nuttall’s Woodpecker | ||
| Downy Woodpecker | |||
| Northern Flicker | Northern Flicker | ||
| FLYCATCHERS & SHRIKES | |||
| Black Phoebe | Black Phoebe | ||
| Say’s Phoebe | |||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | Cassin’s Kingbird | ||
| Loggerhead Shrike | |||
| VIREOS | |||
| Hutton’s Vireo | |||
| Bell’s Vireo | |||
| JAYS & CROWS | |||
| Western Scrub-jay | Western Scrub-jay | ||
| American Crow | American Crow | ||
| Common Raven | Common Raven | ||
| SWALLOWS | |||
| Tree Swallow | Tree Swallow | ||
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Northern Rough-winged Swallow | ||
| Barn Swallow | |||
| BUSHTITS | |||
| Bushtit (and a very active nest) | Bushtit | ||
| WRENS | |||
| Bewick’s Wren (H) | |||
| House Wren | House Wren | ||
| Marsh Wren | |||
| KINGLETS & GNATCATCHERS | |||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | ||
| BLUEBIRDS, THRUSHES & ALLIES | |||
| Robin | |||
| Wrentit (H) | |||
| MOCKINGBIRDS & THRASHERS | |||
| Northern Mockingbird | Northern Mockingbird | ||
| California Thrasher | |||
| STARLINGS & WAXWINGS | |||
| Cedar Waxwing | |||
| WARBLERS | |||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | |||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Yellow-rumped Warbler | ||
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | |||
| Common Yellowthroat | Common Yellowthroat | ||
| Wilson’s Warbler | Wilson’s Warbler | ||
| TOWHEES & SPARROWS | |||
| Spotted Towhee | Spotted Towhee | ||
| California Towhee | California Towhee | ||
| Song Sparrow | Song Sparrow | ||
| White-crowned Sparrow | White-crowned Sparrow | ||
| ORIOLES & BLACKBIRDS | |||
| Red-winged Blackbird | Red-winged Blackbird | ||
| Great-tailed Grackle | Great-tailed Grackle | ||
| Brown-headed Cowbird | |||
| Hooded Oriole | |||
| FINCHES & ALLIES | |||
| House Finch | House Finch | ||
| Lesser Goldfinch | Lesser Goldfinch | ||
| OLD WORLD SPARROWS | |||
| House Sparrow | |||
| 59 Species in Total | 69 Species in Total | ||
Until next time,
Flyin’ high,
Doig Walkley
