Since I am a senior, I have started applying to universities. Because of my passion for birds and nature, I want to pursue an environmental or wildlife major. I discovered a school in northern California that is nationally recognized for its tremendous wildlife program: Humboldt State University. Over time, it has become my first choice as a university. However, because I had read so much about it and done so much research on it, I felt that it was essential for me to visit the campus, so that I may make my own opinion. So my parents scheduled a tour of the campus, and I even got to sit in a wildlife class. Although, my campus visit only lasted about two hours, but we stayed for four days. So what is a birder to do in one of the best birding areas of California? The answer may seem surprising, but we (my parents, my sister, and I) went birding a lot.
We left Pacifica at around 8:30 AM, and arrived in Eureka at around 3:00 PM. We checked into the hotel and settled in. After ten minutes of arriving though, I kept on nagging my parents about leaving the hotel and going to a local marsh. Finally we left, and my norcal birding began.
Our first stop was at this local marsh called Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary. This surprisingly large preserve is composed of various ponds, fields, and salt marshes. In these different habitats, myriad bird species thrive. Once we arrived, the first birds we easily noticed were Yellow-rumped Warblers. These birds were ubiquitous no matter where we went, and especially here. The trail brought us into a riparian habitat with Pine Siskins, Song Sparrows, and Fox Sparrows. We finally reached the first pond, where we found several duck species including the universal Mallard, many American Wigeons, and a single Eurasian Wigeon, a real treat! This duck species is native to the Old World, where it is very common. However, this species yearly migrates to the states and winters here, but in low numbers, and especially in California. This individual was an adult male in breeding plumage. Suddenly, I began hearing loud honking, getting louder and louder. I looked up to find a flock of geese. At first I hesitated with my identification, but after getting a good look at their necks and bills, I confirmed my identification. These birds were Cackling Geese. This species was once just a subspecies of the Canada Goose, but recently became a separate species. These two species look almost identical, but they're nonetheless easy to identify. Cackling Geese have extremely short necks and stout bills, unlike the Canada Geese, that have longer necks and bigger bills. When this flock flew over, I got really happy, because it was my first lifer of the trip.
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| Flock of Cackling Geese |
We continued our walk and came across a much larger pond, with many more ducks. I decided to scope the area, to verify every species closely. The most common species was the Green-winged Teal, with easily over 200 individuals. The other ducks were obviously Mallards, American Wigeons, and a couple Cinnamon Teals. Although, there was also another Eurasian Wigeon! This is a bird that I've only previously seen once in my life, and now I had seen two within the same hour. This one however was an immature male, due to its more faded coloring.
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| Eurasian Wigeon (notice the rufous head, the orangish flanks, and the dark around the eye.) |
Suddenly, a Northern Harrier flew very low over the pond, and sent many ducks to the air. This predator frightened many of the birds in the pond, but not the non-native wigeon. We left this pond and arrived at another, encircled by tall reeds, almost like a medieval fortress. There were several openings, where we could see the birds that hid behind the reeds. The most common birds were American Coots, but there were also Pied-billed Grebes, Northern Shovelers, and a single female Greater Scaup.
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| American Coots (notice the white beak, the entire black body, and the small and red knob on their fronts.) |
When then reached the extremity of the wildlife sanctuary that gave a view of the vast Humboldt Bay. It was low tide, so there were several shorebirds foraging in the wet sand. There were mostly Willets and Marbled Godwits, but there were also some American Avocets.
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| Willets on top, and Marbled Godwits on bottom |
As we kept on walking, we passed by some conifers that had some more Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and some Black-capped Chickadees. Black-capped Chickadees are typically eastern birds, but their range extends westward in the north, and their range on the west descends down to Humboldt county, so this is their southernmost range.
This basically concluded our first day in Humboldt. I visited this wildlife sanctuary last summer, so it was nice to return to this area. After getting my first lifer of the trip, I was anxious to find out what else Humboldt county kept in store for me.
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