US birding update in the California desert

[marg]

Out on the golf course over the last month or so....

   Gambel's Quail with families seem to be everywhere.  

   Great Blue Heron in a tree

   Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in a tree

[marg]

And seen from our yard birds seeking water...

   Great Egret juveniles

   Osprey, not a common sight

[marg]

And, in our yard.  I did put out a bird bath, so to speak....

   Albert's Towhee

[marg]

In our yard...

   Greater Roadrunner

[marg]

And, in our yard...

   Copper's Hawk

   Gambel's Quail minus one

[Kitsafari]

very productive backyard! trust you are keeping well. 

 

 

[marg]

@Kitsafari   thanks!  I will be in touch soon.

[marg]

standing in the kitchen watching a bird flitting around across the way....a Loggerhead Shrike.

[marg]

We take our own golf carts out on the course.  So, rather than have a person next to me I sometimes bring a camera.  Two days ago I stopped to take a photo of a squirrel.  Then spotted some little birds.  I am sure they have been around but I have not noticed or identified them.  So, it is a first...I guess.  Western Meadowlark.

[Kitsafari]

such a pretty and bright bird, @marg

[marg]

thanks Kit!  Now I am chasing Mallards out of the pool several times a day.

[marg]

Maybe I would be a better golfer if I was not always looking for birds!  In this case I heard it and had to look hard before it was my turn to hit again.  I hear one often but cannot always find it.  It is Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

[Soukous]

12 hours ago, marg said:

Maybe I would be a better golfer if I was not always looking for birds!

 

just leave the clubs at home and concentrate on the birds 

[marg]

@Soukousif the golf game does not get better, I may be taking your advise!

[marg]

Well, I am still playing golf!  This week early one morning out on the golf course a Red-tailed Hawk.  I sometimes find a hawk perched in this tree early in the day.  Then, the next day sitting at the dinner table something flew by.  A Cooper's Hawk landed on the house.

[Kitsafari]

Wow! Nice to have hawks watching you play golf!

[marg]

Do you think that this is why they fly away when they see me swing the golf club?!

[marg]

time for a spring time update.....Mid March the Great-tailed Grackles returned.  We could hear them before we saw them.  The Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets fly by often landing on the roof.

Several mornings late March there were two birds on a palm tree across the way.  They stayed around for a week and I have not seen them since.  Gilded Flickers, another first.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by marg
gilded misspelled

[marg]

more recently...the Palo Verde trees have been in bloom.  The ground below gets covered in yellow flowers.  And, a Verdin blends in so well.

[marg]

and this week another first sighting....  The first sighting was not good as the bird flew into a window and did not survive.  This morning one was sitting on the patio and then flew away.  The Swainson's Thrush are migrating north.  A nice stop over for us!

[marg]

still birding while golfing...  several weeks ago had the first sighting of the season of White-winged Doves.  Each time early morning when I get to the second hole I look up to the "hawk tree".  There is usually a Red-tailed Hawk perched in it.  Then I look again when I return on eight.  Lately there have been small birds not happy with the hawk as their occupied nests must be nearby.

[shouldbewriting]

Marg, lovely to discover this thread! For the past nine years we’ve spent the winter in Borrego Springs. Not on a golf course, so slimmer pickings than you find, but still a fascinating array of birds. Every year American Kestrils return to the canopy of the big palm tree beside our pool. But this is the first year they’ve lost out to ravens, which are an increasing, and to me, unwelcome presence.
 

I’ve seen many of your birds, though not of course the water fowl. Aren’t we lucky to live in such a beautiful and interesting place?

Edited June 6, 2021 by shouldbewriting

[marg]

@shouldbewritingYou are nearby!  The ravens!  I have a huge issue with them as they are into the nests of the smaller birds and into the garbage dumpsters.  I also have an issue with our golf club.  In the past not all of the palm trees were trimmed.  Then four years ago they were and it seems that the ravens really increased in numbers.  My mission now is the palm trees and not to have all of them trimmed.  I do not know yet if anyone is listening to me.  But, I am doing my best to be heard.  The smaller birds need the protection.

 

Thanks!  Yes, we LOVE living here.  There is so much to see.  Have you had any predator sightings?

[shouldbewriting]

We were raven free in our area till a couple of years ago, when we were “discovered” and a pair has been nesting in a couple of -untrimmed - palm trees on the street below us. Two palo verde trees on the property are automatically watered twice a week and the ravens have taken to hanging out next to the largesse. Of course there are also nests of smaller birds in those and other trees, as well as the nest of the kestrels. In a very unapproved fashion, I have taken to running out of the house, screaming and waving my arms when I see pirating going on.

 

But I don’t think I’ll be doing that anymore as it only led to a prolonged demise for two unfortunate kestrel nestlings. The ravens had evidently dislodged them and later in the day I found them, as yet unable to fly, staggering round the pool deck. One of them disappeared under the fence and into the larger desert, while the other one tried to hide in an aloe vera plant. It was dead the next morning and gone by end of day. 
 

A couple of New Years Days ago I happened to see a bobcat pass through the property while , just a few days ago, neighbors woke to very large paw prints outside the front door which are thought to be those of a mountain lion. Lions are known to be in the area. I don’t go out at night!

 

Coyotes of course are ubiquitous, and much loved in the family.

Edited June 9, 2021 by shouldbewriting

[marg]

Now I have been on a goose chase, so to speak, looking for Gambel's Quail.  There is a family with young ones in the area.  I can hear them then when they are approaching, but they move so fast that it is difficult to get photos before they go under a bush.  This was taken a couple of days ago and the interesting sight is in the back ground.  I did not see it until I looked at the photos.  A turtle!  Another uncommon sighting.