The Magpie Nest

Jackrabbit · Monday February 8, 2010

jackrabbit, prismacolor Not a bird. Forgive me. I couldn’t resist…

* * *

White-tailed Kite · Wednesday February 3, 2010

White-tailed Kite, pen and ink Lots of calling, hovering, fluttering these days with a pair of white-tailed kites in the pine by the office…

Comment

* * *

White-breasted Nuthatch · Tuesday February 2, 2010

White-breasted Nuthatch: watersoluble graphite

Comment

* * *

Barn Owl · Monday February 1, 2010

We biked out to the Yolo Grasslands Park on Saturday to look for a long-eared owl that’s been reported out there. We didn’t find it, but this barn owl was sleeping in the eucalyptus the long-eared had been using. Since I mostly see barn owls around Davis in nest boxes (or flying low over the field looking for rodents), seeing one perching in a tree was a treat.

Comment [4]

* * *

Friday Walk · Friday January 29, 2010

green heron, pen and ink I met the Friday lunchtime birding gang and we went to the eastern side of the Arboretum this time, hoping to find the white-throated sparrow. No luck, but we did see at least four orange-crowned warblers and a green heron that flew up and down and perched in a eucalyptus…

Orange-crowned warbler, pen and ink

Comment

* * *

Great Blue Heron · Thursday January 28, 2010

I got back last night from my dentist appointment and saw a great blue heron land in the field, stalk around, and then stab something with its pointy beak. Gobble.

Comment

* * *

Northern Flicker · Tuesday January 26, 2010

Northern Flicker, Pen and Ink The wind has veered, and we’re going to be getting a few days at least with no rain. The barometer is rising. The birds come in clusters. This flicker is back to examining the phone pole…

Comment

* * *

Sharp-shinned Hawk · Sunday January 24, 2010

Sharp-shinned Hawk, pen and ink Rain crept in during our campus bird count today, and this female sharpie was sheltering from it in a conifer.

Bird list from South Campus, East of Old Davis Road::
Greater White-fronted Goose
Mallard
Bufflehead (1, in the wastewater treatment pond)
Double-crested Cormorant
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
California Gull
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Great-horned Owl
Anna’s Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Western Scrub-jay
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Amercan Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbirfd
Purple Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Comment

* * *

Snowy Egret in the Mud · Friday January 22, 2010

Snowy Egret, pen and ink

Comment [1]

* * *

Great Egrets, Rodenting · Wednesday January 20, 2010

More rain, rain, rain and wind. Five great egrets were stalking the flooded field just beyond the kitchen window, eating things. It’s a bad day to be a pocket gopher….

Comment

* * *