The Birders Report

Burrowing Owl Installation Volunteers photos by Larry Jordan

Ten local birders and Burrowing Owl enthusiasts managed to construct eight artificial burrows in Chico, California on Saturday.  The weather held as we installed two groups of four burrows each in the heavy wet soil of a location where the habitat will be conserved in perpetuity.

There have been Burrowing Owls seen at this location for nearly twenty years according to the resident biologist that studies the vernal pools located on the property.  One owl was spotted when I visited the site a couple of weeks ago to mark out the locations for the hand dug burrows.

The burrows are constructed according to plans from Wild At Heart, an Arizona based conservation organization that has built over 4,000 artificial burrows, successfully relocating over 1500 Burrowing Owls.Burrowing Owls live in loose colonies using burrows dug by other ground dwelling creatures, notably the ground squirrel in California.  The artificial burrows use a five gallon bucket, turned upside down as the nest chamber and 4 inch tubing with a 90 degree bend, creating a tunnel to the surface that most closely resembles a natural burrow.  The burrows are installed in groups of at least four to facilitate digging and offer several options to the owls for breeding and predator evasion.

The previous installation I completed in Anderson, California on January 17th consisted of one eight chamber and two four chambered groups of burrows and were dug using a backhoe.  We will be installing another 16 burrows at the Chico location as soon as the ground is dry enough to get an excavator into the site to do the digging, however it was nice to get at least eight burrows in now to facilitate the beginning of Burrowing Owl breeding season.

It is advantageous for the owls to have a foyer at the tunnel opening to help protect the young as they emerge from the burrow.  We used two gallon pots donated from a local nursery, partially filled with soil up to the 4 inch tube to imitate a natural burrow opening.  These were secured with rebar bent over the top of the pots and then they were covered with soil.  A perch was placed above the openings as an advantage for predator detection.

The artificial burrow sites will be monitored using the protocol recommended by the Burrowing Owl Consortium and Jack Barclay.  Monthly in January and February, twice per month in March, April and May, weekly May through July and back to monthly August through December.

This project could not have materialized without a grant from Audubon California.  Thanks to Garry George, Chapter Network Director, for his insightful consideration of the Burrowing Owl problem in California, we may be able to turn the tide of the decline of this “Species of Special Concern.”  I would also like to thank Jordan Wellwood, Central Valley/Sierra Nevada Conservation Coordinator, for her constant advocacy for the Burrowing Owl and other conservation issues in California.

I have also received incredible support from Wintu Audubon of Redding and Altacal Audubon of Chico.  It is the strong commitment of their members to bird conservation in northern California that has led the volunteers you see in the photo above to help on this dig for the Burrowing Owl.

Bewick’s Wren photos by Larry Jordan

On the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I took a trip into town to run some errands and did two counts in two different areas.  I arrived at the first location at sunrise hoping to find the Great Horned Owl nest I photographed last spring but the owls did not chose to nest there this year.  I did however find 22 species in and around several acres of partially developed land behind the local junior high school.

The most notable birds of this early morning walk were twenty-five Wood Ducks that were enjoying a swim in a pond below Gray Pines and large Valley Oaks where I spotted fifty-four Mourning Doves perched like ornaments on the huge trees.  There was a covey of California Quail I heard as I traversed the grassy areas between the empty sidewalks.  Thirty-two quail sauntered across the road without a care in the world, not a motor vehicle in sight.

Around this junior high school I saw another scene I had never before observed.  I counted approximately 385 American Robins, scouring the lawn areas for tasty morsels.  They covered the ball fields and every other lawn area I could see.

As I made my way into town I saw many birds not counted on my journey.  I had errands to do but I made time to stop by Turtle Bay on the Sacramento River before heading back home where I found this cheerful singing Bewick’s Wren.

The female Bewick’s Wren will call but the male is the only singer in the family.  He sounds like this (courtesy of Xen0-Canto.org): [audio:https://thebirdersreport.com/audio/BewicksWren.mp3]

I had a nice hour long walk along the Sacramento River where I observed another 21 species.  With a few species counted in both locations, my total for the last day of the GBBC was 40 species.  Not bad for a couple of hour long walks in different habitats.

To see some great bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly!  Below are my species lists for the two locations I counted.

Palo Cedro, California:

• Greater White-fronted Goose – 16
• Wood Duck – 25
• California Quail – 32
• Mourning Dove – 54
• Lewis’s Woodpecker – 12
• Acorn Woodpecker – 3
• Nuttall’s Woodpecker – 1
• Downy Woodpecker – 1
• Western Scrub-Jay – 8
• American Crow – 6
• Oak Titmouse – 4
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
• American Robin – 385
• European Starling – 8
• Spotted Towhee – 3
• California Towhee – 2
• Song Sparrow – 2
• Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
• White-crowned Sparrow – 12
• Golden-crowned Sparrow – 3
• Brewer’s Blackbird – 15
• House Finch – 7

Turtle Bay, Redding, California:

• Bufflehead – 22
• Canada Goose – 2
• Common Goldeneye – 1
• Common Merganser – 3
• Great Egret – 1
• Snowy Egret – 1
• Turkey Vulture – 25 Confirmed
• Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
• American Coot – 12
• Killdeer – 1
• Ring-billed Gull – 1
• Herring Gull – 1
• Anna’s Hummingbird – 1
• Nuttall’s Woodpecker – 1
• Black Phoebe – 1
• Tree Swallow – 8
• Oak Titmouse – 2
• Bewick’s Wren – 2
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1
• American Robin – 2
• Yellow-rumped Warbler – 4

If you participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, don’t forget to submit your checklist. They are due by March 1st.  If you didn’t participate I hope you will next year.  It’s lots of fun and you help by becoming a citizen scientist and contributing to the sum of knowledge about birds.

Anna’s Hummingbird Female photo by Larry Jordan

I got in my first day of counting for the Great Backyard Bird Count today.  It began with an Anna’s Hummingbird outside my window.  I didn’t take a photo of the one outside my window but I’m posting theses photos that I took while at the Wildhorse Golf Club, photographing the Burrowing Owls there.

I spotted this little female Anna’s as I was leaving the area.  She was plucking down from a cattail next to a bridge which I thought quite odd until I discovered that Anna’s Hummingbirds begin their nesting when the winter rains begin.

This early breeding enables them to avoid competition from other hummingbirds and take advantage of the flowering shrubs from March through June as they raise their brood.  To see an Allen’s Hummingbird raising her two chicks in southern California check out this live web cam.

So, I began my first count of this 13th Annual GBBC with Anna’s Hummingbird and finished after a little over an hour with 20 species I observed on my property.  This is the list from today:

• California Quail – 2
• Turkey Vulture – 1
• Mourning Dove – 3
• Anna’s Hummingbird – 3
• Acorn Woodpecker – 1
• Nuttall’s Woodpecker – 1
• Northern Flicker – 1
• Western Scrub-Jay – 2
• Common Raven – 2
• Oak Titmouse – 2
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1
• Western Bluebird – 2
• American Robin – 1
• Spotted Towhee – 1
• Dark-eyed Junco – 21
• House Finch – 12
• Lesser Goldfinch – 32
• American Goldfinch – 2
• European Starling – 2

This is the first sighting of European Starlings in my yard and I am not happy to see them.  I will be keeping a close eye on this non-native species.

To see more great bird photos, get on over to Bird Photography Weekly!