Tropical sound

  

The lighting was tough, but here's a quick shot of a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) photographed near the Bodega Marine Laboratory today (13 October 2023).

This kingbird was calling, so I recorded a short audio clip, too.  (If you are reading this in an e-mail and can't see the audio player below, click here to go directly to the NHBH website to listen to the audio clip.]

nhbh · Tropical Kingbird 2023.10.13

Fun!

Cinnamon belly

 

 
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) and lichens, 21 December 2022

Wasp-catcher

  

Lots of wind on Bodega Head today (22 October 2022), but I caught up with a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) in the lee of some shrubs.

 

  

I spent a little time trying to figure out what the kingbird was feeding on.  Most of the time I couldn't quite tell, but in one photo it looked like it had caught a wasp:

 

 

Tropical Kingbirds are rare but regular fall vagrants to California, with 1-4 records/year in Sonoma County.

P.S.  For more photos from October 2021, see the post called "Tropical view".

A surprising flash

  

While eating lunch outside today, a bird flew by flashing a bright white tail band.  I immediately recognized it as an Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), but didn't have a camera with me.

I retrieved my camera and then caught up with the kingbird again.  It was somewhat distant, but I zoomed in and ended up with some photos for documentation:

 

Eastern Kingbirds are vagrants to this area — I think there are fewer than 20 records total for Sonoma County.  Not sure if this bird will still be around over the weekend, but it might be visible from other areas on Bodega Head, e.g., the Campbell Cove area or the Overlook Trail from the State Parks parking lot.

 

 

P.S.  Have to say thanks to Serena Williams for all of the inspiration over the years! 

 

Tropical view

  

A beautiful Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) on the wires along Westshore Road near Spud Point Marina this morning (15 October 2021).

Here's a close-up:

 

And one more, this time in flight.  The kingbird had just caught an insect and was coming in to land.  Unfortunately, there was a different wire in front of its tail, but it's still an opportunity to appreciate the view from below:

 

 

 

As their name suggests, Tropical Kingbirds are more common in Mexico, Central America, and South America.  They are rare but regular fall vagrants to Sonoma County.

P.S.  Although the pictures aren't as good, I wrote more about this species back in 2012 — see the post called "Tropical" on 3 October 2012.

Wide-eyed

  

Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis), 4 September 2021

December light

 

Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) in December light on Salmon Creek Beach, 8 December 2013

With flare

Driving in to work around mid-day today, at about the same time Eric and I both said, "What was that?" as a bird flew in front of the car and landed on a nearby shrub.  Eric noticed yellow underneath and I observed white on the outer tail feathers.  We stopped the car and got out to see if we could locate the mystery bird.  We found two of them!  

I snapped a quick, distant photo, but then the birds flew off towards Owl Canyon.  I decided to take a short walk to see if I could find them again for a better look.  

At first I didn't think I was going to relocate them, but then I saw them flying back towards the entrance to the marine lab.  And then Mike and David drove by.  They stopped, I told them about the birds, and we drove back to look for them.  Luckily, they were easy to find and this time I managed a couple of photos for the record.  A team effort paid off!

 

 

Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) are rare migrants on Bodega Head.  They're more common at inland sites in Sonoma County, but are uncommon along the coast.  Western Kingbirds are neotropical migrants — after nesting in southern Canada and the U.S., they'll spend the winter primarily in southern Mexico and Central America.

Later in the day I encountered one of the kingbirds in a different location exhibiting an interesting behavior (see below).

 

This is a wonderful position because it shows off an important field mark for Western Kingbirds.  Take a look at the outermost tail feathers.  Note that the outer edge (or web) is white.  The Birds of North America account provides a good description of the behavior in this photo: "suns with body spread flat, neck extended, wings spread out, and tail flared."

You might want to compare these Western Kingbird images to the Tropical Kingbird pictures that I posted last year.  For example, compare the length and thickness of the bill, the color of the upper breast, and the color of the back.  (I don't have a great photo of a Tropical Kingbird tail, but note that they lack the white edges to the outer tail feathers.) Sightings of both species are possible at this time of year.

It's all relative

I heard this species calling as I was walking across the parking lot at work today, knew it was interesting (an uncommon fall migrant on Bodega Head), wanted to document it, but just could not get a decent photo.  The bird was very active and every time I tried to position myself for a photo, it would move further away or to the other side of a shrub.

I'm including these images because they're the first photos I've taken of this species on Bodega Head.

 

This is a Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii).  Note the indistinct eye-ring and the relatively distinct wing bars.  If this was a video, you'd see the bird flicking its tail regularly.  

The bill is relatively long and the throat is relatively white against the gray breast and belly (see below).

 

Note that the wings are relatively short.

 

Because vocalizations are helpful when identifying species within this group of flycatchers, I'm also including two sound clips.  Listen closely for the short "whit" call note.  [If you're receiving this post via e-mail, click on the title of the post above to access the sound clips.]


Here's sound clip 1:

wifl1 by nhbh


And sound clip 2:

wifl2 by nhbh

Flooded and flushed

One of the highest tides of the year led me to the Gaffney Point salt marsh in Bodega Harbor this morning.  The tide reached +6.98 feet at 9:56 a.m.  [The highest (and lowest) tides of the year occur around both the winter and summer solstices.]

Here's a view looking across Bodega Harbor with some known landmarks in the background: Lucas Wharf (right side) and The Tides (left side).

 

Most days you would see dense salt marsh vegetation in the foreground here, but it was almost completely flooded at this time.  

American White Pelicans and Snowy Egrets found one of the only sites remaining above water.

 

While photographing the high tide, one of my favorite sightings involved this species:

 

A Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) was taking advantage of the tide's flushing action.  As the water flooded the marsh, insects flew up and out of the vegetation, and this flycatcher was waiting!

The phoebe perched on various objects surrounded by water, flew out to capture an insect (such as a fly or moth), and then flew back to a perch to consume it.

 

Below, the phoebe has prey in its bill, but I couldn't quite make out what it was.

 

A Black Phoebe was also in the area, but several times the Say's Phoebe chased it away (vociferously!).  This high tide led to some interesting views and interactions.

P.S.  Tomorrow (14 December 2012), the high tide will be similar: +6.85 feet at 10:46 a.m.

"Lord of the Flies"

 

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) photographed on Bodega Head on 5 November 2012.

Although a common summer resident in eastern Sonoma County, most Ash-throated Flycatchers leave the United States by the end of August and winter from Mexico to Honduras.  They are only casual visitors to the Sonoma County coast in the fall and winter, including seven records: 2 in September, 2 in December, and 1 each in October, November, and February.

Above, note the medium size, medium-length bill, and short crest.  For a size comparison, the photo below shows the Ash-throated Flycatcher on the far right and Say's Phoebe on far left.

 

The throat is white or light gray and the belly and vent are pale yellow.

 

On the wings, note the two gray wing bars, and rusty edges on the primary feathers.

 

One of the most important characteristics is the pattern on the tail feathers.  Note that the tail is extensively rufous, true of juvenile birds.  And the central tail feathers (recently molted) have broad, dark brown tips extending across the entire feather.

 

The genus, Myiarchus, translates into "ruler of flies," which I've casually interpreted as "Lord of the Flies."  You may be able to get the sense that these birds perch at the tips of vegetation, actively scan, and make short flights to pursue their insect prey.

 

 

P.S.  This is the first Ash-throated Flycatcher I've seen on Bodega Head.  Because there are several other species that look similar, to confirm the identification I asked for and received help from local birders, for which I am very grateful!

Tropical

 

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) perched on a wire near Whaleship Road at the north end of Bodega Harbor on 30 September 2012.  (Thanks to John Kelly and Bryant Bainbridge for letting me know about this bird!)

This is a rare but regular fall vagrant to California, with 1-4 records/year in Sonoma County.  The Birds of North America account states that there are ~30 records for California/year (Stouffer and Chesser 1998), but I'm not sure if this has changed during the past decade?

Check out the entire bird from bill tip to tail tip.  Note the relatively large, thick bill, gray head with dark face mask, white throat, yellow breast (with olive wash at the top), gray-green back, and brown tail with shallow notch.

 

Tropical Kingbirds feed by aerial hawking — they look for prey from a perch, fly off to chase and capture it, and either consume it in the air or return with it to the perch.  They're primarily interested in large flying insects.

 

You might be wondering about the name.  "Tropical" refers to the distribution of this species.  They breed from southeastern Arizona and west Texas to central Argentina.  But every fall some individuals disperse northward along the Pacific Coast, as far north as British Columbia.  In Sonoma County, there are a few records in September and November, but most sightings occur during October.

 

Note: Although I'm calling this a Tropical Kingbird, this species is virtually identical to Couch's Kingbird.  They're best told apart by voice, and this bird wasn't calling.  For birds that show up along the Pacific Coast, The Birds of North America account says, "All positively identified birds have been Tropical Kingbird (Zimmer 1985), but most are probably never conclusively distinguished from Couch’s Kingbird by voice."  According to Rare Birds of California (Hamilton, Patten, and Erickson 2007) there is only one accepted record for Couch's Kingbird in California.