Natural History Wanderings

We did a second Backyard Bird Count today. This one was shorter and  limited to only what could be seen from our house and yard. There were less total birds and species than when we walked around the neighborhood two days ago. See My Backyard Bird Count Results 2/13/2015. However, there were several a couple of new highlights including several new 2015 Backyard Bird Count birds.

• An explosion of Robins that came in with Cedar Waxwings and attached our Juniper Tree and our neighbor’s Strawberry tree/Arbutus unedo for the berries.
• An Orange-crowned Warbler that was feeding on a Ceanothus shrub in our backyard. This is the third year in a row an Orange-crowned Warbler has made a brief appearance on this shrub.
• A couple of crows were mobbing a distant raptor that just before it disappeared it became clear the raptor was a Northern Harrier
• A Red-breasted Nuthatch made an appearance; a bird that hasn’t been seen in the yard for a several weeks.

A total of eighteen species were seen. See list at Great Backyard Bird Count 2/15/15.

The Great Backyard Bird Count continues through tomorrow so if you want to participate go to Great Backyard Bird Count