Lake Tahoe Trip Report: Day 3

            

On day 2, I had gathered lots of valuable information. On day 3, I would use that information to have an even better day. One important thing was that I should not go out too early -- the birds begin to get active only at around 7:30. Going out earlier only results in getting completely frozen, and only hearing birds, but not seeing them.

       So, on the second day, I exited the house much later, and the trees were already filled with action. I kept on hearing more RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES. As I was trying to get a good look at the chickadees, a bird flitted across the road and landed in the Manzanita shrubs. It called, looked, and flew somewhat like a White-crowned Sparrow, but I realized that a pine forest would be a strange place for one. It foraged in the bushes, calling actively, and then jumped out right onto the edge of the road. I focused on it, but could hardly believe my eyes - it was a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW! I didn't remember its range exactly from my Western Sibley, but I knew that it was a rare bird in Santa Clara County, and resided mostly in the eastern states. I didn't know if it was common at Lake Tahoe, so I tried to snap photos to put on eBird for confirming if the sparrow was a rarity. My camera was running out of battery, and after at least ten failed attempts,  this was the best shot I got :p

Rare White-throated Sparrow

         As I was puzzling over whether the sparrow was a rarity or not, I heard a woodpecker knocking from across the road. I focused on the top of a snag and realized it was a WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER, my second lifer of the day for me! Here's a bad shot I took:

       That morning, I also got much better looks at Mountain Chickadees, and finally managed to see a Red-breasted Nuthatch. I also saw WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and more White-headed Woodpeckers, along with GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS. Well, that concludes it for Day 3. Here's the eBird checklist for that morning: ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15776042
It did turn out the sparrow was rare, in fact, even rarer than if I had found it in Santa Clara County!

        We went on a three-mile hike in the evening, on which my camera ran out of battery almost immediately, so I couldn't take any photos. 

       I'll post the rest of the days in one single report.

Lake Tahoe Trip Report: Day 2

    I woke up early (6:00) the next day. I was ready to go out and see some great birds, right in my neighborhood. Because this was a completely different habitat, I could hope to lifers in a suburban area. Our street wasn't called Cedarwood for nothing: it was surrounded by evergreen forest.

    The first bird I heard that day were the STELLER'S JAYS. Their raucous calls started soon after I woke up. Knowing that the action was about to start, I leaped out of bed, took my camera and binoculars, dressed up warmly, and stepped out onto the porch. The second bird I heard was a calling AMERICAN ROBIN. Next, as I paced on the porch, watching the sun rise through the trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air, I heard a nasal, honking sound echoing through the forest: yank, yank, yank! Because I had listened to its call on the Cornell Ornithology website, I knew immediately that this was a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH -- a yearbird, and a major target that I was pretty sure I would get. However, I wouldn't count the nuthatch until the next day, because I don't count heard only yearbirds or lifers.

      As I hurried onto the street to walk around the street, the forest was coming alive with bird calls that sounded like MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES' and NORTHERN FLICKERS'. I saw many of the small birds cavorting around in trees, and knew they were Mountain Chickadees, but wouldn't count them until I got a satisfactory look at their heads, with the white eyebrow, making it my first yearbird of the day. I soon saw many flickers in the pines, eating the seeds in the pinecones, as well as many more Steller's Jays, and hearing lots of chickadees and nuthatches. Birding in this pine forest was difficult, as it was around freezing temperature (cold for a Californian), and uncomfortable clutching my binoculars in gloves, standing with a craned, hurting neck, staring up at the treetops through many branches trying to get a closer look at tiny birds 200 feet up. There, I said it. Whew!

    I roamed around the neighborhood, watching the flickers eating on the pinecones -- the only easy-to-see birds here, along with DARK-EYED JUNCOS and Steller's Jays. As I focused my binoculars on a particularly big flicker, I noticed that it seemed much larger, longer beaked, not spotted on the breast, and with black wings. CLARK'S NUTCRACKER! This was another target bird, but one I wasn't so sure I would get, and my first lifer of the day. As I headed back home, I decided to take a shortcut through some brush, and heard a thin, high bird song. I had a hunch about what it was, but followed the song, which led me to my lifer GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET! I was feeling pretty good about my day so far as I walked into the house: two lifers and a FOY. Here's the eBird checklist for that morning: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15767713#share-checklist

      We then decided to go on a hike to Mt. Judah, very near Donner Lake, which we visited yesterday evening. Most of us would go fishing at the lake, but I, my mom, and several of our friends would try to climb about 1000 feet up to a peak 8000 feet above sea level in cold weather on a snowed-over, but marked (with footprints), trail. Crazy, right?

     As soon as we parked, I leaped out of the car and rushed toward the trailhead. While I was walking, I heard a high, thin birdcall, and turned to see a BROWN CREEPER land on a tree not more than five feet from me! This was by far the closest I had ever seen one, and was thrilled by having one of my favorite birds be so close to me. When we set off, the trail wasn't snowed over completely yet, but after a mile or so, our only guides became the footsteps of other people. Here are some shots below:

View from the Mt. Judah Trail

Castle Peak and surroundings

Mary's Lake and Mt. Lincoln

      At one point on the trail, my mom heard a knocking sound and alerted me to it. We all stood still for some five minutes, and managed to find the woodpecker up about 50 feet in a tree. I knew it must either be a Hairy Woodpecker or a rarer Williamson's Sapsucker judging by the size, but I had forgotten their facial patterns, and not taken my Western Sibley, thinking all the IDs would be easy. My mom and I snapped several shots of the bird, and upon examination at home with a field guide, it was clearly a HAIRY WOODPECKER. Here is the "clincher" shot:

Hairy Woodpecker

      The going was not easy, and we eventually came to a point on the trail where all the footsteps disappeared, leaving just a snowy forest floor. We decided to climb the nearby Donner Peak instead, named for the unfortunate Donner Party that got snowed in near this area in 1864, while traveling to California. The peak was accessible by a scramble from the trail to Mt. Judah, and we climbed to the top of the 8004 mountain. Here are some views from along the way:

On the way up Donner Peak

Castle Peak and dead snag

Donner Lake

Mt. Judah (where we intended to go)

Mt. Judah Trail and Mt. Lincoln

      Near the end of the hike, I heard a loud grating sound that I knew was a CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, mainly because of the beginning of the movie The Big Year. I managed to reel of some bad (amazing for me) shots of the birds. An interesting fact about them is that they can hide almost 100, 000 pine seeds for the winter, remembering where some are to to later eat them.

Clark's Nutcracker

Clark's Nutcracker

    
  More views, and a photogenic AMERICAN ROBIN:

Mt. Judah Trail view

Castle Peak (9001 ft)

American Robin

American Robin

         Here's the eBird checklist for the Mt. Judah Trail: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15772164. That's all for the first day. Overall, I got one FOY (Mountain Chickadee) and two lifers (Clark's Nutcracker, Golden-crowned Kinglet). I learned that the birds are most active in our neighborhood from about 7:00 to 9:30, and that at earlier times it's too cold to go out, and all the birds have not woken up yet, and was ready to go see some more good birds tomorrow morning.

Good birding,

Sergey

   

Lake Tahoe Trip Report: Day 1

    I haven't posted for a long time, so I now need an update on how my year is going. My ABA yearlist is currently at 171. I will post a Lake Tahoe trip report, describing my days there.

So, here goes:

    On Monday, the 25th of November, we set off to pick up friends from the a hotel near the airport they had landed at, and set off towards Lake Tahoe. The trip took about six hours, made more fun by the scenery and the younger children in our car.

    Lake Tahoe is a fault-formed mountain lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, on the eastern side of the California border, near Nevada. Though not recognized as a prime birding destination of California, it nevertheless has some great hiking and scenery, as well as the potential for several lifers and yearbirds because of the very different habitat (pine and fir forests) from Santa Clara County (mostly oak woodland/grassland). Look in the last post for a list of target birds.

   Upon arriving near Lake Tahoe at around 5:00 in the evening, we headed for Donner Lake, about 20 miles from Lake Tahoe and much smaller. My younger brother and dad (fishermen) were there for the trout fishing, but I decided to squeeze in some evening birding. I was sadly disappointed... the only birds I saw were CALIFORNIA GULLS gliding in the impending darkness over the lake.

    I did manage to take some shots with the camera, which I was learning to use better by perusing the manual in the car. Here's one of Donner Lake:

Donner Lake at twilight

 Also, I snapped one of pine trees in the setting sun:

Pine trees in the setting sun near Donner Lake

     We then drove the remaining 20 miles to our rented house in the darkness, and settled in. It wasn't the best first day I could have hoped for, but I was ready to go birding around our neighborhood early (very early) tomorrow morning.