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Dawn Chorus. Last trip to the sewer pond for the season. But, there's these other ponds I know. [1]
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Date: 2023-05-14
Coyote; still image extracted from video. American Valley, Quincy, CA, 29 April 2023
April 29, 2023
In a diary with the word “chorus” in the title, one would not be amiss to expect sounds, yes? In what may be a, ahem, record, for me I shot three videos in one outing. The third, below, has the most sounds, but we’ll start with the Coyote because it’s the first video I shot during the morning and it’s a first for me to have captured her calls. I say “her” because if you watch closely (and look in the stills) you can make out what I do believe are her udders.
My apologies for my wheezing being picked up by the camera mic. I’ll try to prevent that in any future videos now I’m aware of it.
*****
Next is a Kildeer, not much in the way of Kildeer sound (that’s down in the third video, lots of it), but the ambient sounds of American Valley on an early Sunday morning are abundant.
*****
Three minutes, now, at the wastewater treatment plant pond; generous sounds.
Regrettably, but that’s the season, there was little besides Bufflehead and Canada Goose on the pond.
This large wastewater settling pond is one of my favorite “go to” spots here during the late fall and winter and early spring months, but during summer there’s nothing happening on the pond so I don’t bother going over. This very last trip, though, I did find there’s a potentially shorter and easier way to get there, but it will wait until late this fall for me to verify. Shucks, maybe by then the renovation will be done (they’ve been about three years in the construction so far) and I can go back in by the front gate. Only time will tell.
In the meantime I am still walking a long way around, about 1.3 miles to get there. That’s no big deal because it does give me a chance for shots along the way, like the Coyote and the Kildeer, that I would have probably missed otherwise. Also seen this morning:
Sandhill Crane.
Black-billed Magpie. At about 100 yards. They’re pretty skittish; that’s about as close as I can get before they fly off and disappear. Notice also how their backside is their best presentation? Heh heh.
Red-tailed Hawk. They’re getting very scarce now that summer is happening; they migrate out of American Valley and tend to stay gone until mid to late Fall.
Another look, all slowed down, at that Coyote. Stills extracted from video:
May 2, 2023
There’s another pond, a very small pond about a half-mile hike up a logging road that’s kept gated off, so it’s a nice walk. I’ve been there several times, and used to poke around up there a bit as a kid, riding my little mountain trail motorcycle up and back just for something to do. This trip, I spotted the old, and I do mean old, bridge that, oh my gosh, I used to speed across on my Honda 50. It’s not even safe to walk across anymore, and the old road section (adjacent to my hiking road) it’s on is now totally abandoned.
This abandoned old bridge crosses Gansner Creek, the creek that has the pond I’m heading for, and the pond used to be the headwater for the old Quincy Electric Light and Power Plant, which functioned in the early 1900’s here.
On the way up to the pond, I spotted this bird but getting my camera to focus was frustrating. However, I managed just sufficient for i.d. : Nashville Warbler (I’m pretty sure):
At the pond; notice the man-made structure extending into the pond at far left center. It’s the old penstock inlet.
It’s a beautiful little spot. I’ll be back again as the summer months progress.
Here’s that structure; this photo is from a trip I made to the pond in June 2022.
I’d love to say there was all kinds of bird action at Ganser Creek Pond but that wouldn’t be true. I saw a Mountain Chickadee and some Canada Geese and Dark-eyed Junco, but the treats were found on the way back down the mountain.
Best of the day:
Anna’s Hummingbird, female
Red-breasted Sapsucker
There is, of course, my near-daily go-to, Dellinger’s Pond. It’s been very quiescent lately, light activity, but one must accept what one can get.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s); May 3
Mourning Dove; May 4
Black-headed Grosbeak, first-spring male; May 4
Dellinger’s Pond, May 9, 2023
May 8, 2023
Heh. I just remembered, I live right next to a very old pond:
The upper photo is from the late 1940’s — early 1950’s. The very extensive sawmill complex burned around 1954 and the mill was relocated about a mile east, where it is busily in operation to this day as Sierra Pacific Industries. Lower photo is a Google Earth view.
Speaking (listening?) of that old sawmill log pond, here’s some of that “good birding area”, videoed just as I was heading off from the casa to go to Dellinger’s Pond. I’m learning that maybe, for right now at least, about the best spot is just outside my front door.
May 9, 2023
In fact, I think I’ll just take my field chair and camera and go sit over there for a while. See what pops out, eh? Eh, there’s another Spotted Towhee, and that’s a start.
This photo is from the “good birding area inside of old sawmill log pond”. Doesn’t look much like a pond was ever here, right? Well, there’s a good reason for that.
What you’re looking at is about twelve feet of artificial fill, banked up to make a construction area several feet above street (and therefore above flooding) level. This was going to have a senior’s nursing facility built here about twenty years ago; never happened. The area has remained vacant and “unimproved” ever since. My advantage!
I spied and snapped a series of a Downy Woodpecker busy prepping a house, Spring Cleaning?
Look right, look left, all is well and in we go!
Let the chips fly, and out for a breath of fresh air.
After sitting in this spot for about an hour I headed on over to Dellinger’s Pond, because there’s always the potential for something completely unexpected. Yes, in a way, that’s what I got.
Young buck (California Mule Deer) showing first sprouts of adulthood.
I am presuming the doe is a sibling, not a mate, given the relatively small size of the animals and their maturity.
Oh, before I went to the pond, I stopped for a little while in another birding spot. Hey, hey, Spring chicks!
Awwww…..
And what I’m calling a Willow Flycatcher. It’s got all the right marks this time; so... new species #6 for 2023. My list, so far:
Bewick’s Wren, 13Apr23 Blue-winged Teal, 18Apr23 Townsend’s Solitaire, 19Apr23 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 29Apr23 Mourning Dove, 04May23 Willow Flycatcher, 09May23
one last pond to go.
May 12, 2023. Williams Loop, Spring Garden, CA.
I made it out here just once last year, about this same time of year, and the birding results were less than optimal. Today’s trip was more bountiful.
The deep snows are beginning their melt and runoff; Williams Loop is at the confluence of three robust mountain streams.
The birds as follows are presented in the order in which I observed them.
Yellow Warbler
Purple Finch
Black-headed Grosbeak
Spotted Sandpiper. Look closely in that first photo; it’s there, just hard to see.
Black Phoebe
I spent about two hours walking around the meadow/marsh/pond areas, just enjoying the morning and observing. I’ll close this diary with a few odd shots.
California Scrub-Jay, seen on my bicycle ride back home.
Odd fungi on the ground at Williams Loop. Looks like a squirrel has been having a go at the bottom one.
Sasquatch? Oh, don’t make me laugh. Bigfoot is just a myth. Right?
Well, there may be more than just a shadow to my imagination, ya know?
That’s it for now. What’s been up lately in your birding and natural world?
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