The Birders Report

White-breasted Nuthatch (male) photos by Larry Jordan Three weeks ago, while checking my bluebird trail at Lema Ranch, I heard a White-breasted Nuthatch calling and followed that call to find a pair building their nest in an old oak tree. They started bringing in small pieces of bark and lichen, then … Working at a [...]

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Northern Rough-winged Swallow photos by Larry Jordan I saw these Northern Rough-winged Swallows checking out drainage pipes on a wall overlooking the Sacramento River near Turtle Bay.  They will typically nest in burrows or cavities near water and these pipes probably suit them just fine.  They were hawking insects in the air and right off [...]

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Cliff Swallows Building Nests photos by Larry Jordan These Cliff Swallows have just returned to northern California and are beginning to build their nests.  They nest in colonies, in grass lined covered nests made of mud pellets, usually under bridges or eaves of buildings or on cliffs.  This photo shows a Cliff Swallow leaving the [...]

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Lewis’s Woodpecker photos by Larry Jordan The Lewis’s Woodpecker is on the National Audubon Society’s watchlist mostly due to habitat loss.  They breed in open forests of Ponderosa Pine or Cottonwood which are declining across their range.  They are, however, year round residents of northern California and may be spotted flying from the tops of [...]

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Turkey Vulture photos by Larry Jordan I went to the, as yet unoccupied, local community park here in Palo Cedro yesterday to check on my latest bluebird trail and found several Turkey Vultures just hanging around in the trees.  So I thought I’d get some photographs. Notice the dihedral wing position and the distinctive under-wing [...]

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