Western Bluebird Male Claims New Home photos by Larry Jordan

As I began my monitoring of the Bluebird Trail at Lema Ranch I saw a Tree Swallow attached to the front of the house, peering into the entrance hole.  He looked something like this.

I thought to myself, well, it looks like the first Tree Swallows are here and taking the first nest box on the trail.  That’s when the pair of Western Bluebirds swooped down to make sure the Tree Swallows knew “this house is taken.”

I clicked off a shot of the action as quickly as I could but it doesn’t do the event justice.  You can see in this photo the female bluebird’s head is sticking out of the nest box as the male bluebird (upper left) is chasing away the two swallows (middle top and center).

And the happy couple sitting atop their newly claimed home, wondering what I’m doing here

I will be monitoring three Bluebird Trails again this year.  One at Lema Ranch, one at Palo Cedro Community Park and one in Oak Run.  I will keep you updated on these nest sites, as well as other nests I happen to find.

You can be a nest watcher too.  If you want to learn how you can be part of this citizen science project go to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch site for all the information.  You might be able to watch bluebirds grow up from eggs like these I have in my first occupied bluebird nest box of 2010 in Oak Run.

This is what’s happening in my world.  To find out what’s happening in other places around the world, visit My World!

Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California photos by Larry Jordan

The Sundial Bridge and Turtle Bay Exploration Park, located in Redding, has become a well known landmark in Northern California offering a myriad of activities and learning opportunities for people of all ages.  The Sundial Bridge spans 700 feet across the Sacramento River and soars 217 feet into the air (click here for the facts and figures pdf file).

This vast playground includes a museum, botanical gardens and Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp which includes a butterfly house, an amphitheater where outdoor wildlife shows are performed and a playground for kids too (see the map here).

Hermit Thrush

This area is also a haven for birds.  There is oak savannah habitat offering many passerine species  as well as many shorebirds and waterfowl that can be observed along the river and adjacent ponds.  There is now a paved path (part of the Sacramento River Trail) from the park entrance meandering around the south side of the park, through the trees, past secluded ponds to the Sacramento River.  The path continues along the river, returning you back to the Sundial Bridge.

Common Merganser

On the north side of the bridge there are several trails that traverse hundreds of acres, the most famous being the Sacramento River Trail.  Walking through these giant oak trees near the river is where I found this nesting Ash-throated Flycatcher last summer.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

And right near the museum the other day, on the river trail, I was treated to a close-up look at one of the two Bald Eagles nesting on the south end of the river trail, next to highway 44.  Either Patriot or Liberty flew directly over my head and perched in a cottonwood tree just above the trail.

You can see a live webcam of Patriot and Liberty here.  They are incubating 3 eggs now which are estimated to hatch between March 25 and the 28th.  You can get the latest news on the Redding Eagles here.  And see more great photos from around the world at That’s My World!

Burrowing Owl photo by Larry Jordan

If you are concerned about the conservation of bird species in the world and more specifically Burrowing Owls in California please download the Guidance for Burrowing Owl Conservation and read this document.  It has been sitting on a desk at the California Department of Fish and Game for at least two years.

This document, dated April 14, 2008, opens with the following statement, “Additional immediate protection is needed for the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), a vulnerable California Bird Species of Special Concern (Gervais et al. 2008) and federal Bird of Conservation Concern (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2002), that was the subject of a listing petition to the State of California Fish and Game Commission in 2003. Most Burrowing Owl populations in California still face the same primary threats they did three decades ago (Gervais et al. 2008). Burrowing Owl population declines continue, primarily caused by habitat loss and control of California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) and other host burrowers.”

The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) has been promoting this decline by giving the go ahead to developers who discover Burrowing Owls on the property where they want to build their homes.  The developer hires a wildlife biologist to create an “eviction plan” which goes to the CDFG for approval.  What does the plan contain?  A method to evict the owls, demolish their burrows, and kill all the remaining ground squirrels to make sure the owls (which have a very high degree of nest site fidelity) have no place to return to (download the eviction plan for the recent Antioch burrowing owls at Blue Ridge (1.4 MB) to see what I’m talking about).

This is just one example of Burrowing Owl evictions that are going on all over the state.  If it wasn’t for the diligence and persistence of Scott Artis over at JournOwl, we may never have know about this plan to evict a colony of eleven owls at his location (Scott has several posts on the Antioch owls that you can access from the right hand column on his blog).

How many Burrowing Owl evictions are going on in other areas of the state?  We don’t know but we need to find out if we want to help reverse their declining numbers.  At the last Burrowing Owl Consortium meeting in Livermore last Saturday the estimates of their decline since the last survey in 1993 by the Institute for Bird Populations were 8% statewide and an astonishing 27% in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Delta Region.

It is time to monitor these destructive CDFG practices in California involving the Burrowing Owl.  It is time to put pressure on the CDFG to enact a new conservation plan for the Burrowing Owl in California, as stated in the Guidance for Burrowing Owl Conservation, to protect this Species of Special Concern and stop heading down this road we are on toward their endangered status.

YOU CAN HELP!  I have a letter you can print out and sign and mail to the Attorney General’s Office and the Director of CDFG asking the Attorney General to investigate this practice as to its legal status.  According to their own guidelines, this eviction practice results in take of this beautiful bird.  “Take” according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, means “pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect, or kill, or attempt to pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect, or kill.”

I believe we have taken enough Burrowing Owls and can’t afford to take even one more, for any reason.

Hermit Thrush photos by Larry Jordan

Enjoying the cold and rainy day off today, I decided it would be a great day to record some backyard birds for Project FeederWatch.  If you haven’t heard, Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America, operated by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Lab of Canada.

When I walked out onto my back porch, there were birds everywhere.  The Hermit Thrush shown above was actually one of the last species I found, rummaging around in my photinia bush.  It was being chased out every so often by an American Robin that apparently claimed ownership of said bush and its berries.

They were joined by several other species that enjoyed the cover of the almost tree sized bush.  The Spotted Towhees were foraging on the ground for the most part but they would fly up into the bush and adjacent Sapphire Dragon Tree where this one decided to sing for me.

Over at the “feed station” is where most of the action was taking place.  There were Western Scrub-Jays yac, yac, yackin as they flew in to disrupt the House Finches at the platform and tube feeders.

Aspects Large Antique Brass Tube Feeder

There were over forty Dark-eyed Juncos foraging under the sunflower seed feeders and making trips to the hanging platform feeder.  Occasionally they would sneak some suet from one of the easy to reach suet feeders, stopping to perch on the same branch the Oak Titmouse uses to access the suet block.

One of the male Anna’s Hummingbirds that has stayed here all winter was perched just above these suet eaters, diligently watching this way and that, making sure none of the other hummingbirds around drew nectar out if his feeder.

Right behind all this activity were the American Goldfinches and Lesser Goldfinches vying for the best spots on the thistle feeder.

Notice the difference in the markings of these two species that are just beginning to acquire their spring plumage.  The American Goldfinch in the middle of the photo is brownish on the back with a light breast, yellow throat and a solid conspicuous wing bar.  It also has a white rump and is larger than the dark rumped Lesser Goldfinches above it.

36 inch Yellow Metal Thistle Feeder

The White-breasted Nuthatches that I’m pretty sure will be breeding here this year, were visiting their two favorite feeders, the upside down suet feeder …

and the ultimate woodpecker feeder which was also being visited by this Nuttall’s Woodpecker.

It was a fun feederwatch day, spotting fourteen species that actually came to the yard in search of food.  The most exciting thing for me, and the last bird on my list was a new visitor to my yard.

Brigitte and I have been watching and hearing a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks nearby since last summer but I have yet to find their nest site.  This morning we had a visit from one of our local Red-shouldered Hawks and Brigitte got a picture of it through the living room window.  It was perched right above one of the sunflower seed feeders.  The first Red-shouldered Hawk to perch in our yard!  How cool is that?

Make sure to check out all the other great bird photos at Bird Photography Weekly!  And if you want to see other sights, all over the world, check out MyWorld!

Mount Lassen View From Oak Run photo by Larry Jordan

This is a photo I took from the hill behind our house at about 1800 foot elevation.  The darker green tree you see near the middle of the photo is a row of Leyland Cypress trees on the south side of our house which you can’t see because of all those yellow-orange California Black Oaks that surround it.

In the distance is Lassen Peak, the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range at an elevation of 10,457 feet (3,187 meters).  It is the home of Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is one of my favorite destinations for birding and hiking in northern California.

Oak Run is just about in the center of this map (click on map to go to google.maps) and is about twenty miles from Lassen Peak as the Eagle flies.  In upcoming MyWorld posts, I will try to bring you some of the best birding and recreational places to visit, in and around the Redding area.  For now, go visit some of the other places, all over the world, as folks bring you That’s My World Tuesday!