Since I last posted an update I have done some traveling. But before I left, I picked up a couple more birds locally.
208 Willow Flycatcher
209 Brewer's Sparrow
So last week I headed off for the Oregon Coast and ultimately the redwoods of northern California. First stop, however, was the Oregon Zoo.
210 Anna's Hummingbird
The next day we headed for the coast, we stopped briefly to photograph an interesting rock formation out in Siletz Bay and were pleased to find a large group of Harbor Seals hauled out on the beach as well. A few new birds were seen as well.
19 Harbor Seal
211 Western Gull
212 Glaucous-winged Gull
213 Swainson's Thrush
Another stop to look out over the ocean brought the first alcids of the trip, the two species seen remained the only alcids seen on the trip, but we did end up seeing plenty more of both of these.
214 Common Murre
215 Pigeon Guillemot
We then made a visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which is a fabulous facility. The nature trail at the aquarium yielded a couple of new birds.
216 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
217 Purple Finch
The real highlight of the day for me came later. We stopped at an overlook of Shell Island, which is a commonly used haulout for pinnipeds. There were hundreds of them of three different species. Along with Harbor Seals which we saw earlier in the day there was also:
20 California Sea Lion
21 Steller's Sea Lion
The Steller's Sea Lions were positively enormous. What a thrill to see them in the wild. The rocks also held a number of seabirds, a couple of which were new for the day.
218 Pelagic Cormorant
219 Brown Pelican
One final stop found an enormous colony of Common Murre, but due to the setting sun, I was unable to pick out any Tufted Puffins which are often spotted here as well. I did come across one new mammal here as well.
22 Brush Rabbit
The next morning we explored Humboldt County, CA. In Humboldt Bay we added a couple of interesting waterfowl species.
220 Brant
221 Surf Scoter
One of the birds I really wanted to find was the White-tailed Kite. We had been told of a marshy area that was considered the best habitat for them in the area and it did not disappoint. A single White-tailed Kite was seen "kiting" and we watched it for a good amount of time.
222 White-tailed Kite
We went to the Arcata Marsh in hopes of turning up a Purple Martin or Allen's Hummingbird. It was the peak of the afternoon heat and bird life was a bit sparser than we hoped, but we did have an unexpected encounter with a nocturnal mammal that is not unfamiliar to most in the United States, but I happen to live in one of the few places to not have this species.
23 Virginia Opossum
Next was to finally head into the redwoods with a visit to the Ladybird Johnson Memorial Grove. Here we had a great encounter with a Barred Owl. While this was an exciting bird to see and we got great views of it, it came with mixed emotion. Human activity has allowed the Barred Owl to expand its range. Barred Owls weren't found in this region before and they are starting to out-compete the endangered Spotted Owls for nesting sites. A highly controversial culling program has been underway to reduce the Barred Owl population. This particular Barred Owl was being relentlessly harassed by a pair of Steller's Jays, which bring up another conservation issue in the redwoods. Marbled Murrelets, a small alcid species, nest in the canopy of the redwood forest. Human activity has lead to an increase of Steller's Jays in the area due to the abundant food found in leftover picnics, trash bins, and roadsides. The concentration of Steller's Jays are proving harmful for the murrelets as the jays frequently raid their nests. Even with all of these issues showing themselves to me so boldly, the forest was unlike anything I have ever experienced. There is not a single organism on the planet, animal, plant or otherwise that can match the sheer awesomeness of an old-growth redwood.
223 Barred Owl
224 Vaux's Swift
225 Pacific-Slope Flycatcher
226 Wrentit
A stop at a rocky cove just before sunset added us a pair of Black Oystercatchers as well as more views of many of the same amazing species we had seen over the last couple days.
227 Black Oystercatcher
When it was time to head home through the redwoods, we headed over the Trinity Mountains in the northern Sierra. The target was Mountain Quail, a bird that is hard to locate, and even harder to actually see. We lucked out and got good but fleeting looks at a pair of them. Also, while not widely considered a separate species from my local Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, I did record seeing a female Columbian Black-tailed Deer with two very tiny fawns in tow.
228 Mountain Quail
On our way back home, we stopped in Redding, CA where I had my first visit to a California Oak Savanna habitat. Had lots of great birds in this area as well.
229 Oak Titmouse
230 California Towhee
231 Phainopepla
232 Yellow-billed Magpie
The drive home through the sagebrush desert of southeastern Oregon added one more bird and one more mammal
233 Ferugginous Hawk
24 Belding's Ground Squirrel
After arriving home, and recovering a bit, I headed out to pick up some more local species.
234 Red-eyed Vireo
235 MacGillivray's Warbler
