Heavy snowfall on Friday evening made for an interesting bird walk on Saturday morning at Sandstone Ranch. The weather was sunny, clear and still, although very chilly, and the birds were active and busy. Starting down the hill from the parking lot, we were graced with the spectacle of hundreds if not thousands of Canada geese flying overhead in the warm morning glow. Their collective honking was so loud we were shouting over them!
As we made our way past the sandstone cliffs, white-crowned sparrows and dark-eyed juncos flitted between the low shrubs. The first bird we stopped for was a female hairy woodpecker, busily foraging up the side of a snag, completely oblivious to our group watching her. Everyone was able to get good views through the spotting scope, and it led to an excellent conversation about the differences between hairy and downy woodpeckers, and bird identification in general.
Female American Kestrel. Photo by Jamie Simo.
When we got to the bottom of the hill, a solitary northern flicker flew overhead, calling, and as we watched it fly by we also spotted a pair of American kestrels, and got excellent views that helped demonstrate the differences between the male and female. There were no shortage of red-tailed hawks or bald eagles, and we got excellent views of several different color morphs of red-tails, and of eagles in every stage of life, including 2 adults next to their nest. A northern harrier whooshed past us and made several passes over the wetland, scattering mallards and causing a ruckus. We stopped to watch the harrier cruising around and also put the scope on a majestic great blue heron hanging out on a floating log.
Male American Kestrel. Photo by Jamie Simo.
This stop was very well timed, because 2 hooded mergansers that had been submerged and unnoticed suddenly popped up. We spent most of the rest of the walk watching the mergansers, heron, and harrier, and even had a common merganser flyover briefly. The last birds of the walk were a small group of house finches, which presented us with an excellent opportunity to simply enjoy the more common species and their subtle beauty. Overall, this was a very pleasant walk with great company and great conversation. Looking forward to the next one!
BIRD LIST:
Canada Goose 2000, Am Kestrel 3, hairy woodpecker 1, northern flicker 1, RT hawk- 6, bald eagle 9, canvasback 2, mallard 30, dark eyed junco 10, white crowned sparrow 4, northern harrier 1, great blue heron 2, hooded merganser 2, common merganser 1, house finch 4
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| Bird Count | |
|---|---|
| Canada Goose | 2000 |
| Am Kestrel | 3 |
| hairy woodpecker 1, | 1 |
| northern flicker 1, | 1 |
| RT hawk- 6, | 6 |
| bald eagle 9, | 9 |
| canvasback 2, | 2 |
| mallard 30, | 30 |
| dark eyed junco | 10 |
| white crowned sparrow | 4 |
| northern harrier | 1 |
| great blue heron | 2 |
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