Trip report for the Wild Wings
King Gillette Ranch Bird Walk
Sunday, November 08, 2015
Number of participants: 65 + 2 leaders
Start time 8:00am
Finish time 10:00am
Distance covered: 1 mile
Weather: 58° at the start, warming to 73° with calm conditions.
Our inaugural Wild Wings King Gillett Ranch Bird Walk was very well attended - too well attended as far as the birds were concerned. With somewhere between 65 and 70 people in the group, our mass was just too large for the space. As we traveled around the park, wildlife seemed to push away from us with a force similar to a repelling magnetic field. Regrettably, at this venue, it seems we will need to set a limit on the attendees. With that said, it was still a fun morning and we had numerous good birds. Highlights included watching a family of Acorn Woodpeckers at one of their granaries, flocks of Cedar Waxwings, many Hermit Thrushes and what turned out to be a small flock of Pine Siskins. My initial identification on the siskins was waxwings, but something kept gnawing at me until I realized later what the birds really were. Don't be afraid to back off from an earlier ID. There is a tremendous amount of birds out there and it can be challenging sometimes - but that's part of what makes this all so fun!
41 species:
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk -
on the drive out, just after the walk ended
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Northern Flicker -
heard only
Nanday Parakeet -
in the parking lot just before the walk started
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Black-throated Gray Warbler -
in the parking lot after the walk ended
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
Mammals:
Mule Deer
California Ground Squirrel
Brush Rabbit
Butterflies:
Monarch
West Coast Lady
Common Buckeye
Anise Swallowtail
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