Sonoma County Birding: Gualala Point
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
3M ago
Back in October, we camped a night at Gualala Point Regional Park, and enjoyed sharing the great outdoors with a host of birds, bugs, butterflies, and critters.   After setting up at the campground, we walked a connector path towards the park, and quickly ran into the vibrant Townsend’s Warbler. Learn more about this attractive wintertime species at this older post of ours: Townsend’s Warbler, Winter Gem of the Conifers Every time we’re scanning our surroundings for feathered friends, our attention naturally picks up lots of other colorful life as well! As we strolled across a grassy expa ..read more
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A Day at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve (Los Angeles County)
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
5M ago
Last month, we found ourselves in Los Angeles County with a day to spare for birding. Why were we in LA County, you might ask? The day after the frenzied excitement of attending a taping of The Price is Right we were ready to slow things down, so we visited the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. This “revegetation experiment” hosts a lake and a variety of native trees/plants, and has become a wonderful haven for birds amid an otherwise urban landscape.   Upon stepping out of the car, we heard an unfamiliar flycatcher sound and looked up to immediately discover a bird we’d hoped to see — th ..read more
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Youngsters on the Deck
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
9M ago
Each summer around our house, we enjoy watching youngsters take a first crack at learning how to bird — how to be a bird, that is! There’s typically a phase where a juvenile bird pecks and pokes at everything in its reach — “Is this food? No… OK, is this food? No… What about this, is this food? No…”   This year, two young Black-headed Grosbeaks delighted us by spending time on our deck. At times, one or both sat on the deck railing, looking around and incessantly emitting begging calls. At other times, the youngsters rooted around the deck foraging on their own for fallen peanuts from the ..read more
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A Four-Wren Day in Morro Bay
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
9M ago
We recently stopped in Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County) for a day and enjoyed the birds and critters. Let’s set the scene… As we strolled the Embarcadero, barking California sea lions and squawking Western Gulls competed for “Most Enthusiastic Welcoming Committee,” while sea otters lounged lazily in the distance. Underneath the pier, we discovered the first of many Black-crowned Night-Herons in the area. Also puttering around under the pier was a Rock Pigeon, probing for and collecting nesting material. As we walked along the metal-grated walkway overlooking the water, amid the loud coos of ..read more
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Big Island Birding Part 2 – Familiar Favorites
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
1y ago
In this Part 2 post, we’ll explore some Big Island birds we recognized from the mainland.   The House Sparrow is the most widely distributed bird in the world, so it’s no surprise they’re abundant in Hawaiʻi. Observing them in palm trees against a backdrop of dramatic ocean is a nice treat, though. We saw Cattle Egrets aplenty around the island — on lawns, near ponds, perched on rooftops, and most often flying gracefully above the scenery. While exploring the quiet forest of Kīpukapuaulu Trail in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, a bright flash of red darted across the trail — a Northern C ..read more
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Big Island Birding Part 1 – Town & Abundant Birds
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
1y ago
Over the holidays, we visited the island of Hawaiʻi (the Big Island) and enjoyed some wonderful birds. In this post, we’ll explore some of the birds we observed in abundance around populated town areas. Many of these species were introduced some time ago, and have now become naturalized.   Upon waking on our first morning, this incredible view greeted us and we met several common species. A Hawaiian lanai wouldn’t be complete without a visiting Common Myna. The Common Myna is native to southern Asia and was introduced to Hawaiʻi in the 1860s. This boisterous and vocal bird is part of the ..read more
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A Few Feathered Friends of Fall
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
1y ago
Hello! Hope everyone is having a nice beginning to autumn!   We’re so lucky to live in an area with great birding year-round. Fall is an especially fun time for birding in the county — an exciting mix of spring-breeder stragglers on their way out, migrants passing through, and wintering birds just arriving! Here are a few birds we’ve had the pleasure of encountering recently.   One evening as we relaxed on the riverbank at Steelhead Beach Regional Park, these Wood Ducks lazily swam past us. Wood Ducks are often a bit shy, so it was a real treat getting to see their beautiful feathers ..read more
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Sonoma County Birding: Crane Creek Regional Park
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
2y ago
First off, some news — we’ve obtained a permit to give group walks at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail. There are 2 spots left on our inaugural walk on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. For details, visit this Facebook Event page. To register, email us at ImBirdingRightNow@gmail.com.   Now, onto the birds! Earlier this week, we had a hankering to walk among some large oaks. Where did we end up? Crane Creek Regional Park! The rolling green hills, blue sky, puffy white clouds, and massive gnarled oaks made for an idyllic afternoon. Lesser Goldfinch males are incredible mimics — we love listening to th ..read more
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It’s Spring!
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
2y ago
Recently, we took a leisurely stroll along the Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail. Spring was blooming and buzzing at every turn, and the birds were busying themselves too.   Singing Red-winged Blackbirds surrounded the parking lot, claiming any available elevated perch — like this one. Listen to a few bars of this individual’s song below. Violet-green Swallows are cavity-nesters, and it’s fun watching them zip around the oaks searching for suitable holes. This male returned numerous times to investigate this crevice in a massive oak tree. Meanwhile, his presumed mate perched on a nearby branch ..read more
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Sonoma County Birding: Riverfront Regional Park
I'm Birding Right Now
by Miles & Teresa Tuffli
2y ago
We love Sonoma County’s Regional Parks! A fantastic one is Riverfront Regional Park, which features an easy 2-mile loop trail against a backdrop of idyllic lake scenery. We visited earlier this week, and with the spring-like weather the park was abuzz with birds.   This wonderful soundscape of bird vocalizations greeted us in the parking lot — including Steller’s Jay (rattle call), Dark-eyed Junco, Brown Creeper, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), Spotted Towhee, Oak Titmouse, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  The two main lakes housed a handful of species — Mallard, Bufflehead, Common Merganser ..read more
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