HI Friends,

Yesterday, Saturday, February 22, fifteen birders walked the trails at Santa Rosa Plateau and we found a sparse 32 bird species. The weather was almost perfect which helped to make our long hike out to the Adobe Houses and back, a lot of fun. Beautiful scenery! The Reserve Ranger confirmed my suggestion that the current drought is contributing to lower populations of wildlife being seen this year. We had great looks at a California Thrasher and the White-tailed Kite. Here’s our list:

Turkey Vulture

White-tailed Kite

Northern Harrier

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Mourning Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Acorn Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Mountain Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

Bushtit

White-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush

Wrentit

California Thrasher

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Spotted Towhee

California Towhee

Savannah Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Western Meadowlark

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

JIM BECKMAN