Today, I decided to go birding in a new location, completely unfamiliar to me. After having done much research, I found Arastradero Nature Preserve in the Palo Alto Foothills. This location is a very hot and arid place. Despite this hostile environment, the birding here is remarkable. Rolling pastures and fields are home to WHITE-TAILED KITES, RED-TAILED HAWKS, WESTERN BLUEBIRDS & LESSER GOLDFINCHES. On the edges of these fields are tall eucalyptus trees that are inhabited by several species such as ACORN and NUTTALL'S WOODPECKERS, BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, OAK TITMICE, BUSHTITS, HOUSE WRENS & LAZULI BUNTINGS. However, once you leave these fields and bordering tree lines, there is a forest with a creek streaming down. This area was by far my favorite area because this is where I found two lifers. My lifer WARBLING VIREO, and my lifer ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER.
 |
| Ash-Throated Flycatcher |
In this forest, I found several other birds such as WILD TURKEYS, BLACK PHOEBES, HUTTON'S VIREOS, STELLER'S and WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, and more LAZULI BUNTINGS.
 |
| Male Lazuli Bunting |
The highlights of my trip were of course my two lifers: ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and WARBLING VIREO. Other highlights were a family of HOUSE WRENS (1 adult with 6 chicks), and COYOTE that I saw walking across the field with ground squirrel trapped in its jaws.
 |
| Coyote with its quarry |
No comments:
Post a Comment