Reflections of April

    April yielded pretty much the same number of species as March to my year list, with a mere 15 birds. Still, it was a month filled with many small adventures and interesting sights to see. Here are a bunch of pictures not featured earlier.

Awesome mushroom beside Ocean Beach on 4/1. If anyone can comment on what type of mushroom, that would be greatly appreciated.

Ed Levin skies

Golden eagle on Calaveras Road

Nuttall's woodpecker by Sandy Wool Lake

Female Anna's hummingbird

Mourning dove at Ed Levin

Chestnut-backed Chickadee nest

In it goes

Afternoon Duck Pond - 4/3

Jackrabbit

At one end of the bridge at CSU Stanislaus was this writhing mass of mosquitofish in the shallows

More fish than water here (excluding water within the fish of course)

Shining in the light

On the other side of the bridge, the water was filled with these tadpoles (hard to see but only slightly less dense than the mosquitofish)

Visiting Lesser Goldfinch

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

Chickadee exploring hanging structure

Forgot the exact date but the female Anna's hummingbird nesting by my back door has started her second brood!

Kids, this is why you do not hang your jacket underneath a coast live oak that's kind of covered in caterpillars ready to pupate.

Oak titmouse nesting site at my lab in Stanford

House finch nest also at my lab

Don't know what this great blue heron is doing standing in the middle of Stanford Arboretum. Revel in my wonderful binocular + phone combo.

Epipactis helleborine - A European orchid tough enough to be invasive in many areas of California

The underpass is finally open again!!! Now my bike trips to Shoreline can be much shorter.

Self-explanatory. How adorable those little fuzzballs are.

4/28 as I biked home from the Baylands, I saw this family of geese crossing the road. Thankfully, people had hearts and were courteous enough to stop their cars to let the fowl waddle past.

Oh that cute fluffy lump. If only I had more than my phone that day to get pics.

Western tussock moth - the final product of the hairy caterpillars that descended from the trees. Honestly, what a beauty.

While out watering my plants on 4/26 I heard a raucous call above me and found this beautiful male hooded oriole visiting. Unfortunately being backlit the coloration appears very drab.

With the ISO set higher, the colors are much better to the expense of pretty much everything else. He's probably nesting in one of the fan palms in the neighborhood.

Mama bird.

Within a few weeks the mother only visits the young one or two times per hour, just to feed them, before flying off. I was doing homework nearby so I waited until I heard buzzing through the screen door.

Mama feeding the babies

California towhee in backyard

Bathing with Pegasus

Then going to eat all the food in the feeder before sitting down and resting in it. What a great life.

Bewick's wren singing its heart out right outside my window.

Lesser goldfinch - The yellow rather than white rump separates it from the similar looking American. I'm sure there are plenty of other field marks but this one in my experience is the easiest. Also I believe American does not have the black tips to the tail. In my area, lesser is far more common than American so usually the default small, yellow bird that isn't a warbler is lesser goldfinch.

    On 4/27 as I biked back home after a morning of AP Stats review at school, I noticed practically every single cedar waxwing in the neighborhood flying toward my house. They landed in a glossy privet shared between my house and the adjacent one. Over the several minutes I observed them, more were flying in.

Such lovely birds with their elegant form, glossy plumage, and splashes of bright coloration. However, their droppings from these berries will be messy and from them will grow seedlings of the invasive privets. By June, the vast majority of the birds will have migrated back to breeding grounds in the north.

As I was watching the waxwings, a pair of brown-headed cowbirds popped up, a new yardbird. This one is the male. These birds are brood parasites, laying eggs in the nests of others.

Mallard and ducklings with a crow neighbor in Matadero Creek.

    So anyways I am pretty behind on posts. I'll try to catch up as soon as possible. Oh yeah and 5/7/14 marks the day where the number of ebird checklists I submitted match my number of birds on my life list so that's something new. Additionally, my bird "hall of fame" of birds that I have submitted over 100 checklists on ebird containing them has increased! The first bird to reach it was the black phoebe on 3/29. Now, Anna's hummingbird 4/18, American crow 4/27, Mallard 5/6, and California gull 5/9 have joined the ranks. I may or may not continue this but it's fun to always see what birds I'm seeing often. Anyways, until next time, love nature and enjoy life!

Pretentious reflection thingie with questionable composition.

More reflection thing

So my good friend Ivy from Scioly decided to paint this beautiful watercolor piece inspired by none other than the lovely grackles that graced our presence at the state competition. It's such a sweet thing to do and thank you so much for it!!! And just for you: #nofilter #gracklemore.