Evening Grosbeak

We try to make it into the high Sierras in early June. Many of the migrants have made their way to breeding grounds there or are passing through. Most are in bright breeding plumage and are singing which makes them easier to find. The Evening Grosbeak, however, is not a migrant in Sierra County, it is there all year long.

Of the four years we have trekked into the area between Sierra City and Yuba Pass, California, we have seen a few of this species at a time. This year (2020) there were many at road sides and in in the woods eating the young buds of conifers. The bird in the photo was in the process of eating young buds. The roadside birds were apparently consuming a coarse volcanic ash that occurs in the area and I suspect this is to provide abrasives for their digestive systems.

Bullock's Oriole

Today we decided to brave the crowds and drove to Joseph D. Grant County Park, aka “Grant Ranch”. This has always been a special place for us because of the birds and the beauty of the area, at least in the spring and fall when it is not too hot. While walking on one of the dirt roads in the park we came across a group of oak trees that were alive with Bullock’s Orioles. This species has a distinct chatter-like call so it’s easy to find them when the are vocalizing. The contrast between the oak leaves and the yellows and oranges of the bird is striking.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

This blackbird is common in the western half of the United States and occurs from Mexico into Southern Canada. Its song starts with a flute-like whistle and becomes a metallic buzz like metal scrapping on metal. They inhabit marsh areas and sometimes occur in very large flocks. When in flight, large flocks show flashes of yellow as the heads of the male reflect sunlight.

Blackpoll Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Talk about an athlete, this warbler, which weighs less than half of an ounce, makes an 1800 mile non-stop flight over the Atlantic Ocean to get to its breeding grounds which are in far northern Canada and west to Alaska.

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat

This cute warbler usually inhabits marshy areas, often in and around reeds or other vegetative tangles. This is a photo of a male. The female’s colors are subdued. They skulk around in dense vegetation making them hard to see, but every once in awhile one will appear for a photo. In the spring they can more easily be found by their song which sounds like whichety-whichety-whichety and is quite a racket for a tiny bird. In the northern summer, this species can be found across the entire United States and the southern half of Canada.

Western Tanager

Western Tanager. Photo taken near Truckee, California

Floy pretty much described this bird in her post below. We see it show up in the spring in the San Francisco Bay Area, usually, but not always in riparian areas. It is a common summer bird in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Silver-throated Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager. Photo Taken at Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica (David Zittin 2018)

We ran into our first Silver-throated Tanager by accident when we saw something yellow flitting around in a nearby tree. We were amazed at its beauty. It’s namesake isn’t always apparent, the bright yellow head and the greenish wings with black lines catches the eye long before the silver throat.

Yellow-billed Magpie

Yellow-bill Magpie (David Zittin, Santa Clara County 2019)

You don’t think much about the birds occurring where you live. This species only occurs in a small area of California. Whenever I run into someone who has come a long distance and is excited about seeing the Yellow-billed Magpie, it amazes me because they are just another local bird for me. The same occurs when I go bananas over encountering a Dickcissel in Texas or a Fish Crow in Florida. One man’s rarity is another’s common bird.

Its cousin, the Black-billed Magpie has a much wider distribution over several lower states in the west, Canada, and up into Alaska.