More birds in CA!

California Towhee

This area of California has turned out to be much "birdy-er" than I thought it would be. Just through general observation (as opposed to hard-core birding) I've managed to see close to 30 species in the last few days, many of them lifers.

Above is the view of the mountains from where I'm staying. On clear days you can see a lot more hills, but in the mornings it's usually pretty foggy as seen above.

Mystery hummer

One of my biggest personal challenges out here is to identify all the hummingbirds I've been seeing! This is only the second picture I've managed to get, and I still can't tell for sure what it is. My money is on Anna's Hummingbird right now, but I haven't been able to get a good look at the crown.

Black Phoebe

Black Phoebes are also common near the creek. This one was catching little things off the water for a long time while my brother and I watched, over the weekend.

What am I?

So, I know what these little birds are, above, but do you? They're dirt common out here once you know what you're looking at. ;-)

House finch

Another fairly common bird is the House Finch, almost nonexistent where I live in Florida, but a daily sighting out here. I was particularly proud of this shot I got!

Western Gull

Yesterday we went to San Francisco to visit some friends and tour around a bit. Got my lifer Western Gulls and a possible Heerman's Gull (although I don't know if I'm going to count it yet...). Also got a lifer Brandt's Cormorant at Pier 39, while musing at the infamous sea lions there!

Reservoir in the foothills

Today I met with another friend who took me around some of the area into the foothills of the mountains. We saw a surprising amount of wildlife, including several deer (young bucks with their velvet antlers and 3 doe's), a tiny little rabbit and my lifer California Quail! It was a lot of fun, and I must say, CA has some excellent hiking trails.

I'll have to tally up my CA list later, but it's growing fast. Looking forward to the next few weeks here for sure!

Until next time,

Happy birding!