Birding
Where I've been/What I've seen
This past weekend, I drove out to Anza-Borrego for the first time, up and down the curvy roads of the mountains until I arrived. To not let a nearly two hour drive go to waste, I decided to check out some of the local birding spots around there, just to catch up on some of the desert birds that I had not quite seen yet this year. The first spot I visited was just a quick trip to the Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center, a nice, quick, reliable spot to see many of the more common birds that reside in the deserts of San Diego County. There I encountered a personal favorite, a Black-throated Sparrow, as well as Verdin, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers, and numerous Costa’s Hummingbirds. This was a fairly quick stop for me, as I had seen practically all the birds that I wanted to almost immediately, and on the way out I saw a Cactus Wren flying from one cholla to the next. . I then drove for around ten minutes to get to Mesquite Bosque, a place I had never birded before. Mesquite Bosque was...interesting to say the least. At the end of the road where I parked there was an abandoned little one-story house, with an old limousine parked in the side yard along with boats and cars in the very visible back yard. I continued to walk out into the bosque itself, with dead mesquite trees lining an old sand road that I used to get where I needed to go. A burnt down house was among one of the other things I noticed while walking along here, along with many trashed electronics, not limited to but including refrigerators, old, boxy TVs, and many other things that had been so scrapped, their original state was almost impossible to determine. I approached a clearing in the bosque, where the dirt flattened out and became firm, and the vegetation thinned out. I decided to look in the bushes for birds, and was not disappointed. A MacGillivray’s Warbler, a new bird for San Diego county for me decided to show itself, however hopping deep into the center before I could snap a photo of it. A few Western Tanagers flew over, their bright orange faces contrasting with their neon-yellow bodies and black wings. I went east from this point, trying to find the coordinates that a friend had sent me of where to possibly find a Crissal Thrasher. I continued to bird and head in that general direction and encountered a lone Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, not very cooperative, but some of the better looks that I have had of the species. I had just about given up on the Crissal Thrashers when I heard one far in the distance. Because Crissal Thrashers are incredibly loud, I decided not to try to find it, for it could be quite a ways away, and I accepted just hearing it for this trip out. I began the long walk back to the car, and along the way decided I wanted to make my last stop of the day Tamarisk Grove, a campground where I have had much luck in the past year.
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With no images to show for it, this will be a mainly text-based post (with one audio). The canyon next to my yard has been growing increasingly birdy ever since construction has died down. I sometimes like to go outside just to see what I can see, and have had more-and-more success. A two nights ago, I decided to head out, as it is starting to become the season where nightjars will sing. I had also heard a Barn Owl recently and wanted to see if that bird had stuck around. Right as I stepped outside, I heard the distinctive “tinkling” noise they give, followed by a very loud screech. I look directly up, and in the dim light that seeps out of the house, the bird was circling, my second time ever seeing the species, and first time this year. It continued to circle until it flew out of range, but before long I heard it calling with another Barn Owl. Two in my yard at once! About then I heard the first of several Common Poorwills. I immediately tried to see it’s glowing eyes in my flashlight, and succeeded after numerous attempts. The poorwill kept coming closer and closer, and I eventually lost sight of it as it flew into a bush. I turned my light off, and just then the bird flew about two feet in front of me causing me to almost fall into a succulent/cacti like thing (with spikes). Although my leg was scraped from the incident, it was really cool. A few more started to call and I ended with a total of four on the night. Overall a pretty good night for nocturnal birds in my area. Today I got up a bit too late to go birding, so I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood and check out my neighborhood birds. I decided to check the canyon behind my backyard. I saw a Bewick's Wren, heard Wrentits and Bushtits, and a couple of Yellow-rumped(Audubon's) Warblers. I was about to leave when I heard something peculiar. It turned out to be my yardbird Western Bluebird! Also on the same fence was a Say's Phoebe. I then heard a Hermit Thrush in the canyon, and decided to stick around for a couple more minutes. After hearing nothing new, besides the usual California and Spotted Towhees, White-Crowned Sparrows, and House Finches, I decided to head around the neighborhood.
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