linzyl's Favorites

Photo 1:
Well Dang!
I'd been eagerly watching my owl box since an owl visited it for one day in mid October. Only squirrels had occupied it since. At dusk yesterday I got excited when I saw a face with white on it which would rule out a squirrel. Grabbed my camera, turned on the flash since it was so dark. Dang it, that is not an owl either. Has to be a pretty small possum to get in that opening.
Photo 2:
Taking The Slow Elevator Down
When the interloper saw me, it sank out of sight in slow motion, was hilarious to watch. I made all kinds of interesting and coaxing sounds but it refused to look out again. This morning no sign of it. Back to hoping that someday a screech owl couple will move in & raise babies.

Screenshot from a really poor video (incidental, only had ipod touch with me) but at 11 seconds you can see a plain gray bird with a black cap that fades to a point at the neck. Known bird found in late Nov of '13

https://www.flickr.com/gp/54308511@N00/n2UGb8
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Tough one. Not our local breeding bicolor. Narrow bill and pale color on epulet suggest Trike, but the red-orange, versus the more maroon of a Trike, suggests Red-winged. Either way, neither should be here.
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Looks like an SY male, need to try for flight photos
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Found this small feather in my backyard. Candidates would include Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, California Towhee, Mourning Dove, and Oak TItmouse, among the most common birds who use the feeder system

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Was pointing out a WAVI to some visiting birders and this little punk flew in. Watched it for some time. Seem to center around an Aesculus that spilt over the trail
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81123855
that grew over the path. It was next to a Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) and that next to a California Wax Myrtle (Morella californica) ... a troika of bird magnets.
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Most easily detected by its constant tswee call ... would also fly across the trail to the SW side but not very far. In the mix with WAVI and HUVI

Continuing bird reported here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S88702341
and
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/79724691
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Seems to have the same green band on the left leg as this individual
https://ebird.org/checklist/S86186424
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And this one from 2015
https://ebird.org/checklist/S24853424
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Gotta be the same bird as
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77488018
I've never seen them foraging in the park lakes (maybe Spreckels) ... and this one flew towards Stow Lake at the end of its elegant foraging session
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