Daily Kos

Back to Point Reyes, the little slice of paradise to our north.  Two weekends in a row - very different trips, but the same overwhelming awesomeness of place.  Two weeks ago, I spent the weekend at the Marconi Conference Center in Marshall while hubby took part in a historic radio event; last week, I spent Saturday "Birding to a Fault" as part of the Point Reyes Birding Festival.

It's a great time of year to be in West Marin – even with our very dry winter, the hills are still green and the wildflower bloom was pretty good; the days were clear and sunny but not unspeakably hot.  Bliss, in other words.

The "I-swore-I-wrote-the-name-down-but-apparently-not Lily".  I see a lot of these.

Mid-April means taxes to many people and it makes them kinda grouchy.  Mid-April means Mines Road to me, and nothing could make me happier.

For nearly 20 years now, I've made the trip to this wonderful road in the southeast Bay Area - often more than once.  Yesterday was the day.  

This late-departing sparrow shows why he's called a Golden-crowned.  In a matter of days, they should be out of here and headed to points north.

I suppose I should be posting pictures of fuzzy chicks and maybe even a couple of eggs, since it's Easter and all.  At least it's not a bunch of hawks ripping apart prey...

[Update:  Title changed to reflect the fact that there are a bunch of great pictures of fuzzy chicks and bunnies and flowers in the comments.]

The diary scheduled for today has apparently gone to Easter Brunch somewhere, so this is a bit of an impromptu fill in with photos I've taken for the Daily Bucket backyard bird count.  More on that in the comments, if you're interested in taking part.

Cal Towhee perched on The Pole That Every Bird Loves

I usually like to work a little wordplay into my titles, in hopes of catching the eye of casual readers.  But when the topic is Ospreys, no cleverness is necessary.  They are just plain cool.  And damn good looking.

teacherken told us that his wife, Leaves on the Current, has been having health problems and has been hospitalized [update here]. Today is her birthday.  Let's send her some wishes for a good day, and a good outcome.  

(And if you want to send teacherken words of encouragement, I bet he'd like those, too.  He's got a brief update in the comments here.)

She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.

     - Mark Twain

Dawn Chorus is generally about wild birds and birding and getting out in their habitat.  I haven't talked much about domesticated birds, but living with birds has fueled my interest in wild birds - and vice versa.  I have shared my home with birds (finches initially, and then parrots) for almost 25 years now.  My understanding of wild birds and their behaviors has certainly been shaped from watching our birds go through the same actions and reactions.

One thing I want to be clear about up front - Birds, as pets, require a serious commitment and an understanding of very different needs than dogs or cats.  This is especially true of parrots, who form strong relationships and can have much longer life expectancies than cats or dogs.  Like most serious parrot lovers, I am more likely to steer people away from getting them as pets rather than encouraging it.  

You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!
         - Paul Simon

                                         UP FROM THE EGG:
                        The Confessions of a Nuthatch Avoider

Bird watchers top my honors list.
I aimed to be one, but I missed.

Since I'm both myopic and astigmatic,
My aim turned out to be erratic.

So what's it like to live on a remote, rocky island 30 miles from millions of people?

(This is Part 2 of the Farallones story - you can read Part 1 here.)

Most of the island's residents make themselves at home on the rocks or burrowed below them.  For the few humans who spend time there, two houses originally erected for Coast Guard lighthouse keepers provide shelter.  The door signs are a more recent addition, honoring some of the natives.

 
They are known as the PRBO House (Murre) and Coast Guard House (Sally); we stayed in the "Sally" house - named for the Farallon Island Salamander, an endemic species.  While it wasn't the Ahwahnee, I have to say that the view from our room was equally dramatic; no complaints!

Those specks mostly aren't birds, but they're from birds... (on the window)

UPDATE:  They were found - you can see her response at Walter's blog.  :-)

A short diary, but a happy moment.  Something much needed right now.

My friend Walter was taking photos at Sutro Baths in San Francisco a few days ago, and captured a marriage proposal.  It was a lovely moment, and he'd like to find a way to get the photos to the couple.  

Here's his post - share it if you can...
http://birdlightwind.com/...

I've excerpted one of the set below.  

Each of us has a place that looms large in our imagination.

For many a San Franciscan, this is probably such a place.  It has been for me in the thirty years since I moved here, and even more so over the past decade when this became our view.  Over the years, I'd circled the island on boats a number of times but had never had the opportunity to set foot on this faraway land not thirty miles from my window, as it is closed to the public.  And then...

Or:  Raptor ID Made Easy Easier.

Let's back up a step:  This is a redtail, aka Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).  It is one of the most common, widespread raptors in North America; its breeding range is pretty much all of the lower 48, and much of Canada and Alaska.  So if you want to learn to ID hawks, first learn the one you've got the best chance of seeing:

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk - note the not-red tail.  Also, note how far down the tail those wings come.

It's a big bird that's brown on the back and most have various mixes of brown and cream on the front (more on that in a bit).  Redtails are part of the Buteo family, soaring hawks that focus mostly on mammals, reptiles and birds on the ground - but they will take birds in flight or anything else they can sink their talons into.  Adults have bright rusty red tails, from which the species got its name.  Juveniles' tails have alternating bands of light and dark brown.  Sometimes it's hard to see the color when you're looking at the back of a perched redtail, because its wings may cover much of the tail (wingtips are roughly at the tail tip).

Adult tail above, juvenile tail below.  The adult's tail is more heavily marked than you'd normally see - the bird at the top of the

A few fine details which come in handy for separating other species:  Redtails have a dark mark that you can see at the leading edge of the wing when it's flying - a "patagial" mark (because that part of the wing is called the patagium).  No other North American hawk has that mark, so if you can see it, you have sealed your ID.  Also, juvenile redtails have yellow eyes; adults have brown eyes.

Once you know this common hawk, it's going to make it much easier to identify all the rest.

A pair of adult redtails.  This shows how color, size and shape can be affected by angles and lighting.  That's why it's important to watch the birds for as long as you can to make sure you're really seeing what you think you're seeing.  (Also, note the patagial mark nicely illuminated on the leading edge of the lower bird's wings.)