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US birding update in the California desert


marg

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Just an update on what we have been seeing here in the middle of nowhere. Several weeks ago a bobcat came through our yard with a Mourning Dove in it's mouth. The bird got away. Last week the Great-tailed Grackles returned for the season. A pair of Red-tailed Hawks have been soaring searching trees for a proper nest site. Then, yesterday morning we had a Snowy Egret on our roof. The hawks and the egrets are year-round residents.

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SafariChick

Cool! Where in California do you live? I wish I had all that in my backyard and roof!

Edited by SafariChick
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in the Palm Springs area....are you close?

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SafariChick

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, near Palo Alto where Stanford is. I visited Palm Springs for the first time last Fall, but was just with friends having a girls' weekend at a hotel and in town. Would be nice to see the area where it sounds like you live.

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You hardly need to go to Africa! :P

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Game Warden

San Francisco? We'll have to have a GTG at Haight Ashbury :)

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SafariChick

San Francisco? We'll have to have a GTG at Haight Ashbury :)

Sure, I'm up for that any time. There's a Ben & Jerry's ice cream at that corner now that charges exorbitant rates for a cone. But there's also a dive bar across the street that for some reason serves the most phenomenal homemade pizza!

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The bird watching here is good practice for Africa! SC let me know if you come this way again. Cherry Garcia sounds good as well.

 

We had a nice earthquake here this morning..4.7. Lots of shaking but nothing that I could find fell over.

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SafariChick

I heard about the earthquake @@marg - glad you did not have any ill effects.

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I started this and then tried to delete it...so here I go again. Three years ago we had a red tail hawk nest out on the golf course. I spent many an afternoon out there with my camera just sitting and watching. Here are a couple of photos....parent in the next, parent unhappy with me and two juveniles in the nest.

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Okay...a few more images: Green Heron, Vermilion Flycatcher and Greater Roadrunner

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Game Warden

Meep meep...

 

Love the roadrunner :)

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Yes, they are rather prehistoric in appearance and scavangers that like the bugs, lizards and other small critters. Once in a while they play peek a-boo/stalking with out cat with the window in between. We see them daily.

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yesterday afternoon....an American Kestrel. They are also called sparrow hawks but a member of the falcon family. The call is wee, wee, wee and you usually hear one before you see it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

the latest update: in our next door neighbors' palm is this Costa's Hummingbird nest. Two eggs hatched yesterday morning. The little black dots in the bottom of the nest are so small and I have been unable to get close enough to photo without upsetting the mother.

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Beautiful birds to have in your neigbourhood. I especially love the roadrunner, reminds me of the cartoon :) Though it looks much prettier. Does it really 'beep beep' as he runs?

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I think that the beep beeps or meep meeps are only in the cartoons. We hear more cluck-like sounds.

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Perhaps you only hear the meep meep when a Wiley Coyote is giving chase....

Edited by Pangolin
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We do have coyotes here. But, they hunt primarily cats, dogs, cottontails and jack rabbits. So, still no meep meeps...but I will jeep listening.

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one week later and two hungry mouths to feed.....

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Game Warden

Thanks for the update @@marg keep them coming. Love hummingbirds.

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will try...if only birds would stay still!

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now two weeks old....

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