The kids and I went for a wander by Freshwater Creek, them to play, me to count birds. We had some debate about whether the black-and-white bird whose mud nest Felix found was a peewee or a magpie-lark. We were both right.
We also saw (or heard) tawny frogmouths, pied currawongs, rainbow lorikeets, grey shrike-thrushes, spangled drongos, noisy miners, rock pigeons, brush-turkeys, crows, wood ducks and purple swamp hens.
Crested pigeons and noisy miners are both abundant in Queensland. This miner apparently thought that the flock of pigeons should move on, and let them know it in no uncertain terms.
Musch Trail is one of the prettiest in Topanga State Park, but I don’t know how to pronounce it. Rhymes with bush? Or tusk? Or douche? Or crush? Was Musch a person? What’s his/her story? Can a local help me out?
According to Birdnet, it was a little flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows I was hearing. I didn’t see them, so I can’t be sure.
Photo refs: Vivek Khanzodé
At least eight different gull species hang out at Malibu Lagoon, and telling them apart isn’t always easy. For starters, they change their colouration every year for the first three or four years, and their summer outfits might differ from their winter ones. But setting aside the juvenile years, I’m going to try to learn how to identify the adults, even if they look very similar to a casual glance. These two, the Western and California gulls, look pretty much the same year round, so I’m starting with them. I’m honing in on the subtle differences between the two, which admittedly can only be seen close up. More pairs to come as I get around to it.
It’s Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, and I’ve been reading up on him (and re-reading his most famous poem). Any excuse to paint a raven!
Things I didn’t know about Mr. Poe until today:
The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. They usually hunt by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush – that’s what I saw this one doing –though they also hunt from the air. Diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). American kestrels occupy habitats ranging from deserts and grasslands to alpine meadows.
Happy to have spotted my first one today!
I have a new favourite local bird (sorry, Spotted Towhee, you’ve been toppled). Look at that polka-dotted breast!
I saw a Northern Flicker in Topanga yesterday; it was only my second sighting of this gorgeous woodpecker. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. According to Wikipedia, over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird.
Sketched from a photo by Ashok Khosla
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