The Bra Collector, A Touch of Turd, The H-Word

When you see a bra strung up on a fence, that can only mean one thing...

...a Loggerhead Shrike has been very busy. Clearly mice and sparrows are not enough for this insatiable fiend.

This fearless, woman-eating shrike (which is pooping out woman in this very photo) was in the Robinson Road area near Rio Vista in Solano County, which is a fantastic area for grassland birds. I dipped on the reliable Mountain Plovers, but it was a very successful day otherwise.

Sometimes a combo just needs to be shown, despite the rubbish photo. This Ferruginous-Swainson's Hawk combo was unexpected, and very much appreciated. Swainson's overwinter in the state in low numbers, primarily in the Delta region. I would go on to see double-digit numbers of Ferruginous Hawks here that morning, as well as several Rough-legged Hawks, one of 2016's big dips. I don't think I've had all three [lovable/amazing/inspiring/thirst-quenching] of these Buteo species in one place before, stoked.

A few Burrowing Owls were holding it down as well. Note the turd in the bottom right...much like myself, the Burrowing Owl loves decorating the entrance of its home with turds.

After giving up on the plovers, I went north for a staked out Glaucous Gull on the side of Yolo Bypass. It was pretty amazing to see the bypass being fully utilized...to the west of the dike I was on it was dry, to the east it was an inland sea out to the horizon! Yolo Bypass exists to keep Sacramento and other cities from flooding; when there is a lot of precipitation in the northern half of the state, a series of weirs upstream divert water from the Sacramento River into the bypass, which is mostly farmland. The farmland floods, the cities don't. Anyways...I was able to haynor the Glaucous Gull from an excruciating distance, and eventually it flew in a bit closer to feed on a dead coot. Not only did this end my stupid stupid 5-year drought of not seeing Glaucous Gulls, this was my lifer adult. Siiiiiiiiick.

Other highlights that day were Surf and White-winged Scoters (the latter was another bird I somehow missed in 2016) from Sherman Island, and a huge Tricolored/Yellow-headed Blackbird flock in a feedlot on the way home. Good times in The Great Valley.

In between winter storms I went out to Richmond Marina to see if anything needed crushing. This Forster's Tern did.

As did this one. That's quite the glaucous upperwing.

This female Common Goldeneye threw its feet out to help brake for landing, which made for a quick tasty crush.

I think it is time to come clean...Aechmophorus make me uncomfortable sometimes, I will admit it. You know, they are totally entitled to do what they do, but when certain individuals are around me I just want to get the hell out of there...not that I'm a Aechmorphobe.

Take this bird for example. Bright yellow-orange bill, pale flanks...solid Clark's field marks. But the black cap is sitting right on top of the bird's eye, and the dark nape stripe has a lot of girth to it. I'm inclined to call this a Clark's x Western Grebe hybrid, and you know how I feel about dropping h-bombs. Both Aechmorphorus may look different in the winter than in summer, but I don't think Clark's broaden that nape stripe when temperatures drop.

Here is a typical winter Western, with paler lores and dusky cheeks.

Aesthetically this photo has nothing to offer, but it does give you a good comparison of the broad nape stripe of a Western Grebe (left) with the narrower stripe of a Clark's (right).

When I still lived in Albany, I tried a number of times to see the Burrowing Owl that lived next to the parking area for Albany Bulb. Who does not want to see a Burrowing Owl just down the road from their house? However, I failed repeatedly, and all I got was judgement from this Say's Phoebe.

Luckily, Say's Phoebe did not go home with the "bird of the day" award. Small numbers of crecca Green-winged Teal, presumably from Siberia, make their way to California every winter; they are easier to find than Tufted Ducks, but rarer than Eurasian Wigeon. This is no crecca though...this is crecca x carolinensis. Not something you see every day. Don't let your kids look at this image, as few photos have been taken of something so impure.

A nice, clear-cut intergrade. The white lines on the face are pretty weak (carolinensis), but the bird possesses both a strong white vertical breast bar (carolinensis) and horizontal scapular bar (crecca). Cool bird. Albany Mudflats, Albany, CA.

Bring Out Your Dead

Western Gull. Weird to think of this bird as sort of a California specialty, but I guess a lot of the country would see it that way. They're not bad-looking birds at least. King Salmon, CA.

My camera, at least for now, seems to have risen from the dead. It rests in a watery grave no longer. I now am blessed with a Zombie Nikon...I've never used an undead Nikon before. I'll take it out to Lake Merritt later to take it for a spin to see if it works as well as I think it does. As for my point and shoot, I'm leaving it to dry still, the DSLR is whats important to me.

How did I do it? How did I raise the dead? How did I grab hold of something that had ostensibly crossed over to The Other Side? Here is how I pulled my camera from Davey Jones' Locker...

Step 1) Remove battery and memory card immediately and let water drain. Leave both wells open. Even after wells appear dry, do not attempt turning the camera on.

Step 2) Obtain large plastic container or ziplock bag.

Step 3) Fill container with rice and obtain a large packet of silica from a random food package for soaking up moisture.

Step 4) Insert camera into the crud, battery well down. Put on camera body cap to keep rice dust from getting into your camera's mirrors and other guts, then seal the top.

Step 5) Wait. Resist the urge to turn the camera on and see how its doing.

Step 6) If the camera eventually works, feel free to use it but continue storing it next to a drying agent (i.e. silica packet). You want to prevent any mold from grabbing a hold of your cameras innards.

Well, that's the way I should have done it anyway. Like an idiot I kept turning the camera on and off after the initial soaking...now I know better. After sealing up the camera in its drying container (thank you Mountain High Yogurt), I waited 4 days, and that appears to have done the trick.

If you are really thorough, you will send it in to a shop anyways just to be on the safe side. However, I am lazy, impatient, lacking a backup camera and not willing to drop a large amount of money on preventative care, so we'll see how it goes.

Right. That's all for now. Expect some big news soon...it's getting time for the BB&B camp to migrate.

UPDATE: Everything's fine! Western Grebes from yesterday afternoon at Lake Merritt.

A Weird Time Of Year

Golden-crowned Sparrows are often found in blooming willows and fruit trees this time of year, bucolically devouring flower petals. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Late February. It's a weird time of year. Some people hate February. Winter has been around for a while now, and people in colder climates are starting to get sick of it. The sharp and jagged pains from a million Valentine's Day disasters are felt from coast to coast. Birders have been staring at the same birds for months, and desperately look forward to spring migration. A kind of catatonic depression begins to sink in...long, loving relationships fracture and explode into flames...The Fear sets in, fingernails are chewed off...who are these bastards watching me from the shadows anyway?...and we ask ourselves how much more we can really take...

Well, I'm sure that's the case for some people anyways. Personally, February has always been a month of transition for me, as every year I typically cease my Perpetual Weekend and go back to being a field biologist. At this time last year I was taking up residence west of Veracruz, Mexico, standing on a roof all day looking for raptors and being force-fed caguamas at night (in this case caguamas are 40 oz beers, not tortoises)...but at this point, I've managed to completely fail at lining anything up. Life is pain, as they say, but my luck is bound to change.

Yup...February. Today's blog is a quick snapshot of birding around the bay area this time of year. And before I dive in too deep in to the philosophical bowels of the month, I must assist The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive in finishing his next 10,000 Birds post, before it is too late. See you soon, bird geeks.

Next month most Western Grebes that intend on breeding this year will begin retreating from the coast to inland lakes. Once there, they will commence spectacular courtship dances and making grotesquely adorable babies. Lake Merritt, Oakland.

Clark's Grebes will do pretty much the same thing as Westerns...they used to be the same species, ya know. Lake Merritt, Oakland.

Hooded Mergansers will be departing in a few weeks. It is a great shame. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Black Phoebes and other "resident" passerines often begin nesting earlier than the migrants. By the way, this is my best Black Phoebe shot to date...Californians may feel insulted to have to look at another phoebe, but maybe the rest of you will appreciate it. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Varied Thrushes are uncommon winter visitors to much of the bay area. They won't be around much longer, as the urge to retreat to the redwoods grows stronger every day. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Raptors, like Peregrine Falcons, often get started breeding during the winter months. This one won't be bumping cloacas quite yet though, it's too young. Point Reyes.

Seawatching birders will be detecting northbound migrants soon, if they haven't started already. Pacific Loons are one of the commonest spring migrants along the California coastline. Half Moon Bay.

A few miles offshore, Cassin's Auklets occupy California waters year round. Much like me, they are probably growing tired of just hanging around for the past several months and doing nothing but socializing and eating...it's time to breed! Well, I don't actually intend on doing that, but you know what I mean. Half Moon Bay.

February is a great time of year to look for weird gulls....herring runs can trigger thousands of gulls to accumulate along stretches of coast for days at a time. I thought this beefy beast was well-proportioned for a darker Herring X Glaucous Gull (aka Nelson's Gull), although it could be a Glaucous-winged X Herring. Fort Baker, Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

We'd Drink Until We Couldn't Talk

Western Grebe. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

This is officially it. The last blog from North Dakota. I am weeping with joy. I will miss living on the Lostwood Refuge though, some of the people here, the intense mellowness and having nature right outside. Thank you, various deer, squirrels, rabbits, robins, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warblers, Least Flycatchers, etc etc. for being good listeners. As is usually the case when I am living someplace bizarre, I involuntarily end up talking to the wildlife a lot after a while. This disturbing habit is something I developed at Midway Atoll (documented here, to be exact), and I suppose it suits me.

Broad-winged Hawk being assailed by a Purple Martin. Lake Metigoshe, ND.

As I mentioned probably too many times before, I'm leaving tomorrow for points West...Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and then onto Las Vegas. A week full of bourbon, bastards and birds, hehe. The blogging is going to be slim for a bit, but you can at least rest assure that I am having more fun than you.

Fare thee well, gentle souls of the internets. I will be back soon!

Piping Plover nest...I think this one hatched, but the chicks did not make it. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Willet. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Franklin's Gull. I'm pretty stoked on this picture. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Baird's Sparrow, one of my new favorite birds. Never thought I'd be able to get a picture like this though. Redmond Lakes, ND.

Brown-eyed Susans? Turtle Mountains, ND.

Tennessee Warbler. Lostwood NWR, ND.

American Avocet. White Lake, ND.

Swainson's Hawk. Sex with talons. Near Camas NWR, ID.

Vesper Sparrow. Redmond Lakes, ND.

Last Chance For A Slow Dance

I forgot! How could I? The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive has his first post up at 10,000 Birds right here! In it he explains how he came to be....his rise to dominance is truly inspirational...that should put the kibosh on any rumors of his (admittedly sordid) past. He is already hard at work on his next post, which will rattle the Birdosphere to its very core...

To hold you over before BB&B is awash with more shorebirds, here is my best attempt at a National Geographicesque shot of "dancing" Western Grebes....the one and only time I've seen them do it this year. Lazy grebes! Photographed at Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, ND.