Tree Swallows - Tachycineta bicolor
Every Spring I eagerly anticipate going over to Sierra Valley. Once the snow is off the road, and the temperatures warm up, I try to go over there as often as I can. It is one of my absolute favorite wildlife areas! This month I've gone over there four times already, and I'm going again next week! Every time I've gone, there have been newly arrived bird species in the wetlands, and the populations have increased. Over 230 bird species migrate to Sierra Valley to breed and raise their young. I think I've only seen about 50 species so far. Whether or not I see a new species, it is always a fascinating adventure!
Mt. Beckwourth from wetlands
I have written extensively about Sierra Valley and its wildlife in many of my past blogs. If you'd like to learn all about the different birds and mammals that inhabit the valley, just type in "Sierra Valley" in the "search this blog" bar on the top right of this page.
In this current blog there are lots of photos to look at, but I'm only going to write about the sightings that are new to me! Enjoy!
Cliff Swallows - Tachycineta bicolor
Yellow-headed Blackbird (male) - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Yellow-headed Blackbird (females) - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Horned Lark (male) - Eremophila alpestris
Horned Lark (male) - Eremophila alpestris
Black-necked Stilts (adults) - Himantopus mexicanus
Shorebirds
Black-necked Stilts (adult) - Himantopus mexicanus
I've never seen a Black-necked Stilt sitting down! This one might have been on a nest! I'll have to go back and see if it's still there next week!
American Avocet (adults) - Recurvirostra americana
Willets (young (?) & adult) - Tringa semipalpatus
Virginia Rail (juvenile) - Rallus limicola
Virginia Rails are uncommon and secretive and more commonly heard than seen. We saw an adult this week, but I wasn't able to get a photo. It had a bright orange bill and eyes! The photo above is of a juvenile, and was taken in August of 2020. It is the only other Virginia Rail I 've ever seen! Although usually solitary, they are monogamous during the breeding season and both male and female care for the young. The following information about Virginia Rails is from the Cornell website https://birdsoftheworld.org/.
"The Virginia Rail is a secretive freshwater marsh bird that is more often heard than seen. A brief glimpse of a reddish bill and legs, banded black-and-white flanks, and a short, upturned tail is often all that is afforded observers. A habitat generalist, this species probes mudflats and shallow water with its long, slightly decurved bill searching for invertebrates, small fish, and the occasional seed. Vagrancy and generalist habits allow it to exploit a highly ephemeral niche. A laterally compressed body, flexible vertebrae, and modified feather tips in anterior regions of the head (to prevent feather wear) are adaptations for passing through dense marsh vegetation. Virginia Rails are agile on their feet and most often escape danger by running, but they may also dive and swim, using their wings to propel themselves underwater. Rails live in shallow fresh water wetlands with emergent vegetation, such as cattails, and feed on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. They are usually solitary. They prefer to run rather than fly, and migrate at night!"
Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
For the first time ever I saw a small flock of Long-billed Dowitchers foraging in the muddy wetlands last week!!! Apparently they are late migrants, compared to other shorebirds, and are on their way to the northwest coast of Alaska to breed!
Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
Long-bille Dowitchers are a type of Sandpiper and forage in the mud for insects such as midge fly and larvae, aquatic or moist soil worms, and small burrowing crustacea. How cool to see this group of 15 of them! I hope their approximate 2,549 mile journey north to their breeding grounds goes well!
White-faced Ibis - Plegadis chihi
Wading Birds
So neat to see these large Ibis with their "white face", which is seen only in the breeding season!
Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis
I was lucky enough to come across a lone female Sandhill Crane on a nest in the middle of a pond, away from the wetlands. I have watched her for less than a month or so, but have never seen her mate. Perhaps something happened to him. I wish her the best for the incubating, hatching, and care of her young.
Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis
To my complete surprise I saw a Sandhill Crane carrying an apparently dead small mammal in its bill! I've never seen this before!
Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis
It carried the dead mammal around for a minute or so, put it down and pecked it a bunch, then picked it up and swallowed it whole! WOW!!! I have since read that Sandhill Cranes commonly eat small mammals, along with frogs, lizards, insects, nestling birds, fruits, berries, and roots!
Black-crowned Night Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
I have seen Black-crowned Night Herons before in Sierra Valley, but I never saw one acting like a duck and swimming around in a pond. To our complete surprise we watched one swim around in one section of a pond. We thought that maybe it was injured, but it flew off! WOW!!! I have since found the following information on the Cornell website https://birdsoftheworld.org/
"Swimming And Diving"
"When feeding, the night-heron dives (alights on water) feet-first, or plunges (dives headfirst from the air); can also swim or float on the surface of the water, resting or swimming actively." WOW!!!
Ruddy Duck (male) - Oxyura jamaicensis
Waterfowl
Ruddy Duck (male) performing a mating display called "Bubbling"!
I was watching this Ruddy Duck a short distance away and watched it repeatedly and rapidly beat its chest with its bill for a few seconds, while simultaneously raising its tail vertically!!! It looked around expectantly after every display, but I didn't see a female in the area! It was RIVETING to watch! I had never seen this before!
Ruddy Duck (male) - Oxyura jamaicensis
According to the Cornell website, this type of display is called "bubbling", as the feathers that are compressed by the bill-beating release their air into the water in front of the duck, creating a little berm of bubble-filled water! How fascinating! I would have named the display "bill bashing" not "bubbling"!
American Coot (female) - Fulica americana
A few weeks ago I saw this American Coot incubating its eggs in a nest. It made me smile, because baby coots, or cootlings, are one of my favorite baby birds!
American Coot (cootling and female) - Fulica americana
Sure enough, just this week there were lots of tiny cootlings in the wetlands! YAY! They are so cute with their little bald heads, red bills, and orange & yellow ruff of downy feathers!!! New this year I saw them doing the "Feed Me" maneuver with their tiny little wings! WOW!!! The following information is from the Cornell website https://birdsoftheworld.org/.
"These brilliant head colorations and facial down ornamentation apparently attract and stimulate parent birds to feed begging young, which display these parts conspicuously in same manner as colorful gapes are displayed by altricial young of other species. Experimental manipulations have confirmed importance of head coloration of young coots in attracting and securing parental feeding."
American Coot (cootlings) - Fulica americana
"All colored body plumes lost from ventral surface and many from back by 4 days of age; all plumes lost from body, and bill becomes bright red-orange by 15 d. At 25 d, 2 white lateral patches appear at water line of breast and, 2 d later, white has extended to throat and head, resulting in a striking contrast with darker appearance of younger birds; bill has become paler orange. Breast, throat, neck, cheek, and flanks all feathered by 4th week, and oil gland has developed and become tufted."
Cinnamon Teal (male) - Spatula cyanoptera
Redhead (male) - Aythya americana
Pied-billed Grebe (adult) - Podilymbus podiceps
Northern Pintail (male) - Anas acuta
View north from the Steel Bridge - 5/2/324
I can't wait till I'm back over in Sierra Valley again! You should go there if you can! It's so beautiful!
Sierra Buttes - 5/23/24
The Gold Lake Road is now OPEN! We drove up to see what the conditions were like this past Thursday, and there is still a foot or more of packed snow at most trailheads and campgrounds! So we're going to try hiking up there after the first of June! Can't wait!
What's happening in my neighborhood?
What's happening over in Sierra Valley?
After 8 years of posting my blog, I've decided that I'm only going to post my blog twice monthly from now on. My next post will be on the weekend of June 8th. See you then!
Your questions and comments are always appreciated. Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!
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