Weather: 46° at the start, warming to 57° with calm conditions.
Our annual woodpecker chase at Veteran's Park in Sylmar was a success; 6 species of Picidae found, 21 individuals in total. This is a walk where everyone can contribute and everyone did. Woodpeckers (particularly sapsuckers) can be notoriously difficult to find. But with so many eyes searching, the odds shifted a bit in our favor. Definitely the bird, or should I say "birds" of the day were two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. One of the sapsuckers, an adult female, appears to be the same bird that has been seen here the previous two winters. Our second yellow-bellied was a juvenile male. The possibility exists that this young male is the female's offspring from the 2015 breeding season. It would explain why 2(!) Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a species that normally winters in the Eastern U.S., Mexico and Central America (see range map), are here in Southern California at the same time in the same park in the same grove of trees.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - from left: juvenile male, adult female and range map.
Photos: Greg Boreham
38 species (+3 other taxa*):
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Red-shafted Flicker.
Photo: Paula Maxwell
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
Northern Flicker (intergrade) *
American Kestrel
Merlin
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird
Hutton's Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Mountain Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Wrentit
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) *
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) *
White-crowned Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel. Photos: Paula Maxwell
4337 Woodman Ave. Sherman Oaks CA 91423 818-995-0022
