Date: 11/22/24 11:50 am From: Alex Castelein via groups.io <alex.castelein...> Subject: [sbcobirding] This week - Owls, Gulls, Blackbirds, etc
Hi all,
On Tuesday (11/19) Nick and I hit a few spots along the north coast. First,
we had an impressive blackbird flock at the Casmalia dairy dominated by
800+ Tricoloreds, which also included 2-3 *Yellow-headed Blackbirds*. In
this area were also 2 White-tailed Kites, one a juvenile. A quick check of
Jack O’Connell Park from the road yielded 13 Wilson’s Snipe feeding on the
lawn. At the Santa Maria River mouth, the most notable birds were 6
American White Pelicans, 29 Canvasback, and a flyover flock of 15
Greater-white fronted/Cackling Geese that we couldn’t quite pin down. The
relatively sizable gull flock here included 3 Short-billed, 12 Ring-billed,
32 American Herring, 1 Glaucous-winged, and 1 Thayer’s. The Santa Ynez
River mouth had 3 Snow Geese and lots of ducks and gulls. The majority of
the gull flock unfortunately took off as we were arriving, but the ones
that remained included a Thayer’s and a handful of Herring.
Wednesday (11/21) the male *Greater Scaup* continued at the UCSB lagoon,
and a female was there too. I popped over to More Mesa after class just in
time to get the last light, and got a good, although brief, look at a
*Short-eared
Owl*. This species regularly winters here, and I imagine this bird is doing
just that. Then, while trying to get more looks at the Short-eared, I
noticed a suspiciously *Burrowing Owl* shaped silhouette on a short perch,
and as I got closer it became obvious that's what it was. As I was watching
it, the owl flew upwards, kited for a few seconds, and dove down in an
attempt to catch prey.
Important note- Burrowing Owls were just awarded protections under the
California Endangered Species Act, which means it’s illegal to harass them.
This is all the more reason to keep your distance and avoid flushing them
to try for that 5-star eBird photo. These birds become easy snacks for
other raptors when people repetitively flush them, and no one wants to
cause that.
A seawatch this morning from COPR wasn't very productive, but I had a
Pomarine Jaeger, Bonaparte's Gulls, Forster's Terns, Black-vented
Shearwaters, and a bit of loon/scoter movement. I was hoping for Ancient
Murrelet, as it seems like it could be another decent year for them. The
folks at Point Pinos have had them almost daily, with the counts on a
couple days well into double digit numbers, and there have been a few found
south of us already. Alas, it didn't happen today but it's definitely worth
keeping our eyes out for these in the coming weeks.
