|
|
|
Bird Sightings
The Plumas Birds bird sightings e-mail list has been active since February 2007, which are archived below. Join other birders in Plumas County and report your sightings on the Plumas County bird sightings e-mail list. Email Field Trip Coordinator, Anthony Hall, to sign up for the list, send in sightings or learn more.
Recent Sightings
September 2, 2012
Hi Birders, yesterday we checked the shoreline area near the causeway at Lake Almanor and were very happy to find some good shorebirds. 2 BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS were on the south side of the causeway along with a group of 7 CASPIAN TERNS, we had great views in between the smoke clouds. While we were there all boats and jet skiers kept a good distance from the grebe nests. We then headed over to Indian Valley to escape the smoke and were surprised at the increase in raptors, mostly Red-tails and Harriers with a few Swainson’s as well. In a small puddle by Stampfli there were 2 AMERICAN BITTERN posing out in the open. At Ficardt Point there was a LEWIS’S WOODPECKER in the big tree across the creek and a GRAY FLYCATCHER right next to the road. Along Taylorsville Rd there was a flock of about 15 Dowitchers (maybe both kinds) in the field occasionally popping up out of the grass and circling around along with many more raptors. Our Plumas County Big Year stands at 242! Amber and Scott Edwards
August 22, 2012
Birders: We noticed a peculiar dark-eyed junco (Oregon junco type) that had unusually broad, white outer tail feathers with only a very thin strip of dark feather down the center of the tail. It looked like an all white tail until we got within less than twenty feet. It was with a normal looking Junco. 10:45 AM, Wednesday August 22 on Lee Way near Jackson St., Quincy. Harry Reeves and Linda Blum
August 19, 2012
Hi Birders, Today we birded a few spots that weren’t too smoky at Lake Almanor. From the causeway we could see about 200 grebe nests, a jet skier came a little too close but none of the grebes left their nests. There was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS working what little shore there was south of the Causeway. We walked out to the mouth of the river hoping for shorebirds and only found a few Killdeer. The trees at the old ranch house were very birdy, WILSON’S, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, ORANGE-CROWNED, and YELLOW WARBLERS, WARBLING and CASSIN’S VIREOS, plus Pewees and Robins. At one point the smoke cleared completely and we had a great view of Mt Lassen, Amber and Scott Edwards
July 21, 2012
Hi Birders, this afternoon we checked the Lake Almanor Causeway and found a COMMON TERN, it was in non-breeding plumage. There were at least 4 Forster’s Terns in the area as well. We then took a drive up to Humbug Valley where we found a WILLOW FLYCATCHER and 2 male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES that were spotted by Joe Grant.
Amber and Scott Edwards
July 15, 2012
There was a Broad-tailed hummingbird in my garden Friday and saturday - I was not home today to check. It appeared to be an immature female with cinnamon sides, broad all green tail, and broad inner primaries. The wing tips were well short of the tail. A new yard and county bird for me. Ill be in the office all day tomorrow and send an update if I see it again.
Ryan Burnett
July 14, 2012
Hi Birders, 33 species were counted on today’s walk along the Mill Creek Trail, see below for the full list, here are the highlights. There were 3 SWAINSON’S THRUSH singing from spots near the trailhead, a few of us were lucky enough to see one belting out his beautiful song. We found HERMIT WARBLERS feeding begging young at several points along the trail. A COMMON MERGANSER was trying to keep her young close but they were more interested in checking out a nearby boat. The OSPREY were still in the nest across the lake, although we could only see 1 bird in the nest. A male WESTERN TANAGER was quite cooperative and gave us all good views. MACGILLIVRAY’S WARBLERS were at several spots along the trail. The wildflower show was really nice, especially the Leopard Lilies which were just spectacular. Several flowers had us breaking out the books, a few of which we are still trying to ID. There was a group of 3 parasitic flowers that may have been the “Northern Coralroot” pictured on pg. 117 of the John Muir Laws - Sierra Nevada book. Butterflies were surprisingly scarce, only a few species were seen. Overall a very nice day filled with wildflowers and birdsong, Amber & Scott
The list:
Canada Goose 17
Common Merganser 7
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Western Wood-Pewee 5
Cassin's Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 10 Steller's Jay 2
Common Raven 2
Mountain Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 9
Swainson's Thrush 3
American Robin 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 4
Nashville Warbler (Western) 3
MacGillivray's Warbler 5
Yellow Warbler 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 4
Hermit Warbler 9
Wilson's Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 6
Western Tanager 3
Brewer's Blackbird 2
Cassin's Finch 5
Evening Grosbeak 3
This report was generated automatically by ebird
Hi Birders, yesterday we checked the shoreline area near the causeway at Lake Almanor and were very happy to find some good shorebirds. 2 BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS were on the south side of the causeway along with a group of 7 CASPIAN TERNS, we had great views in between the smoke clouds. While we were there all boats and jet skiers kept a good distance from the grebe nests. We then headed over to Indian Valley to escape the smoke and were surprised at the increase in raptors, mostly Red-tails and Harriers with a few Swainson’s as well. In a small puddle by Stampfli there were 2 AMERICAN BITTERN posing out in the open. At Ficardt Point there was a LEWIS’S WOODPECKER in the big tree across the creek and a GRAY FLYCATCHER right next to the road. Along Taylorsville Rd there was a flock of about 15 Dowitchers (maybe both kinds) in the field occasionally popping up out of the grass and circling around along with many more raptors. Our Plumas County Big Year stands at 242! Amber and Scott Edwards
August 22, 2012
Birders: We noticed a peculiar dark-eyed junco (Oregon junco type) that had unusually broad, white outer tail feathers with only a very thin strip of dark feather down the center of the tail. It looked like an all white tail until we got within less than twenty feet. It was with a normal looking Junco. 10:45 AM, Wednesday August 22 on Lee Way near Jackson St., Quincy. Harry Reeves and Linda Blum
August 19, 2012
Hi Birders, Today we birded a few spots that weren’t too smoky at Lake Almanor. From the causeway we could see about 200 grebe nests, a jet skier came a little too close but none of the grebes left their nests. There was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS working what little shore there was south of the Causeway. We walked out to the mouth of the river hoping for shorebirds and only found a few Killdeer. The trees at the old ranch house were very birdy, WILSON’S, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, ORANGE-CROWNED, and YELLOW WARBLERS, WARBLING and CASSIN’S VIREOS, plus Pewees and Robins. At one point the smoke cleared completely and we had a great view of Mt Lassen, Amber and Scott Edwards
July 21, 2012
Hi Birders, this afternoon we checked the Lake Almanor Causeway and found a COMMON TERN, it was in non-breeding plumage. There were at least 4 Forster’s Terns in the area as well. We then took a drive up to Humbug Valley where we found a WILLOW FLYCATCHER and 2 male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES that were spotted by Joe Grant.
Amber and Scott Edwards
July 15, 2012
There was a Broad-tailed hummingbird in my garden Friday and saturday - I was not home today to check. It appeared to be an immature female with cinnamon sides, broad all green tail, and broad inner primaries. The wing tips were well short of the tail. A new yard and county bird for me. Ill be in the office all day tomorrow and send an update if I see it again.
Ryan Burnett
July 14, 2012
Hi Birders, 33 species were counted on today’s walk along the Mill Creek Trail, see below for the full list, here are the highlights. There were 3 SWAINSON’S THRUSH singing from spots near the trailhead, a few of us were lucky enough to see one belting out his beautiful song. We found HERMIT WARBLERS feeding begging young at several points along the trail. A COMMON MERGANSER was trying to keep her young close but they were more interested in checking out a nearby boat. The OSPREY were still in the nest across the lake, although we could only see 1 bird in the nest. A male WESTERN TANAGER was quite cooperative and gave us all good views. MACGILLIVRAY’S WARBLERS were at several spots along the trail. The wildflower show was really nice, especially the Leopard Lilies which were just spectacular. Several flowers had us breaking out the books, a few of which we are still trying to ID. There was a group of 3 parasitic flowers that may have been the “Northern Coralroot” pictured on pg. 117 of the John Muir Laws - Sierra Nevada book. Butterflies were surprisingly scarce, only a few species were seen. Overall a very nice day filled with wildflowers and birdsong, Amber & Scott
The list:
Canada Goose 17
Common Merganser 7
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Western Wood-Pewee 5
Cassin's Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 10 Steller's Jay 2
Common Raven 2
Mountain Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 9
Swainson's Thrush 3
American Robin 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 4
Nashville Warbler (Western) 3
MacGillivray's Warbler 5
Yellow Warbler 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 4
Hermit Warbler 9
Wilson's Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 6
Western Tanager 3
Brewer's Blackbird 2
Cassin's Finch 5
Evening Grosbeak 3
This report was generated automatically by ebird
Archives
The Plumas Audubon Society contributes to bird sighting documentation, such as the Plumas Birds e-mail list described above, as well as bird monitoring projects including Christmas Bird Counts. Summaries from 2 of the 3 Christmas Bird Counts that are conducted in Plumas County (Sierra Valley, American Valley, and Lake Almanor) are provided below for 2011.
Sierra Valley CBC 2011
American Valley CBC 2011
|
