Locke and I set out early-ish this morning to avoid the heat on French Bar Road in Jackson. The road is a 1.3 mile barely maintained road that starts out in oak savannah and dips down into a dale along a small stream. Usually several species of sparrows and flycatchers are common here but today we only saw a few birds, only a few not on my year list.
One bird I haven't seen much of despite past experiences is also one of my favorites of the region, the phainopepla, a unique bird that frequents mesquite scrub. This bird has a a solid black body with a small, raggedy crest and a vivid red eye. When the phainopepla takes off its bright-white wing patches are a dead give away as is it's quiet questioning call. Luckily I was able to strike this bird off my list as I saw possibly the last one of the season this morning lilting across the sky.
The Western Wood Pewee, a bird I'm just getting to know, greeted us on our walk and the Western Meadowlark, presented itself at the top of the hill before we made our descent into the dale.
One particular bird that I was surprised to mark so late on my list, the Scrub Jay showed its face early on in the walk.
Another species that I expected to spot today was the Lazuli Bunting that Achille and I had spotted in the past, but it was nowhere to be seen today.
Later on in the day we all went down to Howard Park for our daily play-time and on the drive down I was able to snag a peek at a Wild Turkey off the 88 near Blue Sky Drive. Unfortunately that marked the end of the new birds to my list for the day.
Tomorrow we are exploring the suburban areas of Jackson in the hopes of spotting some sparrows (finally) and perhaps a Cedar Waxwing up in Argonaut Heights.
One bird I haven't seen much of despite past experiences is also one of my favorites of the region, the phainopepla, a unique bird that frequents mesquite scrub. This bird has a a solid black body with a small, raggedy crest and a vivid red eye. When the phainopepla takes off its bright-white wing patches are a dead give away as is it's quiet questioning call. Luckily I was able to strike this bird off my list as I saw possibly the last one of the season this morning lilting across the sky.
The Western Wood Pewee, a bird I'm just getting to know, greeted us on our walk and the Western Meadowlark, presented itself at the top of the hill before we made our descent into the dale.
One particular bird that I was surprised to mark so late on my list, the Scrub Jay showed its face early on in the walk.
Another species that I expected to spot today was the Lazuli Bunting that Achille and I had spotted in the past, but it was nowhere to be seen today.
Later on in the day we all went down to Howard Park for our daily play-time and on the drive down I was able to snag a peek at a Wild Turkey off the 88 near Blue Sky Drive. Unfortunately that marked the end of the new birds to my list for the day.
Tomorrow we are exploring the suburban areas of Jackson in the hopes of spotting some sparrows (finally) and perhaps a Cedar Waxwing up in Argonaut Heights.
0 comments:
Post a Comment