Yesterday I spent 5:20 AM – 10:00 AM at Muir Woods National Monument to listen to the “Dawn Chorus” as part of the Master Birding Class. We started before sunrise. It was shady and cool in 40’s most of morning. We walked both in and near Muir Woods.
I mostly heard but also saw 33 species. Several group members observed a chipmunk raiding a Pacific Wren nest and take five young and the adult wrens’ response. We had a good look at a Pileated Woodpecker at the top of a Snag. We also heard a Spotted Owl when first started.
There were a fair number of plants in bloom with most prolific being Cow Parsnip, Blue Elderberry, Red Clintonia and Star Flower.
See complete bird and plant lists by clicking read more
Bird List Muir Woods 5/16/15
Wild Turkey 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Band-tailed Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Great Horned Owl 2
Spotted Owl 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Allen’s Hummingbird 2
Acorn Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher X
Hutton’s Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo X
Steller’s Jay X
Common Raven X
Chestnut-backed Chickadee X
Brown Creeper X
Pacific Wren X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Swainson’s Thrush X
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin X
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Wilson’s Warbler X
Spotted Towhee X
California Towhee 2
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Purple Finch 1
Leaders’ List also included: Black-headed Grosbeak, swallow sp., pygmy nuthatch.
Plant List Muir Woods 5/16/15
Cow Parsnip/ Heracleum maximum
California Buckeye/Aesculus californica
Blue Elderberry/Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea
California Blackberry/Rubus Ursinus
Thimbleberry/ Rubus parviflorus
Nightshade/ Solanum americanum
Redwood Sorrel/Oxalis oregana
Red Clintonia/Clintonia andrewsiana
Fringecups/ Tellima grandiflora
Fat False Solomon’s Seal/Mianthemum racemosum formerly Smilacina racemosa
Star flower/Trientalis latifolia
Wild Cucumber or Manroot/Marah oreganus
Redwood Violet/Viola sempervirens
Wild Ginger/Asarum caudatum
Milkmaids, Bitter cress or California Toothwort/Cardamine californica
Hedge Nettle/Stacys chamissonis
Common Whipplea/ Whipplea modesta
Fairy Bells/prosartes hookeri (formerly Disporum hookeri
Mammal List Muir Woods 5/16/15
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Sonoma Chipmunk
I first heard the term dawn chorus from a “bird language” teacher named Jon Young, but I see it goes way back, and that there is even an International Dawn Chorus Day on the first Sunday in May. One of the things I like about visiting Chicago in summer is hearing a “real” dawn chorus (compared to what we usually hear here).
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By: John Wall on May 18, 2015
at 10:16 AM