2 February 08
Mishka's on a Rainy Saturday
We DID head out into the rain looking for the Cassin’s finch at Slide Hill Park (no luck), the prairie falcon at 102/Rd 28 (no luck), the mew gull at the impromptu lake west of the landfill (no luck). We saw some great birds, though: the rough-legged hawk we’d seen earlier in January was perched in a field off 102, very close to the road. And it was fantastic to see so many gulls, close, and to have the chance to practice identifying them. (The great thing about that was that nobody was around to correct us. I’m feeling pretty happy about herring gull vs. California gull, though. And glaucous-winged. Less sure about Thayer’s in any plumage other than first cycle, but I’m working on it.)
We flushed a burrowing owl at the gull spot and I drew a quick sketch. It looks much more like a harpy than an owl. I’m saving it for when I need a sketch of a harpy.
Wet and cold again, we stopped at Mishka’s cafe in Davis for a mocha (me) and a cardamom-cinnamon tea (Numenius) and a regroup before heading south into the wind and home. Three Davis conversations going on around us: Proposition 98 from a while back (school budgeting); skydiving and Bali; and a gal typing emails from her laptop with a Ron Paul sticker.
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Hi you two,
In the spirit of new-birds-without extra gas consumption:
I have a birdy friend who has to travel from the Bay Area to Auburn tomorrow & she wondered if there might be somewhere that she could see a… mountain(?) plover down in the valley. Some kind of plover that’s in the valley right now. Do you know what I’m talking about? Do you know where she might see one somewhere’s sort of along the route from BA to Auburn?
I’m pretty sure there’s a website for this kind of stuff, and I’m surprised she doesn’t know it — she’s pretty bird-addicted. (look at her trying to squeeze in this plover.)
Hey- we got a second kitty for you see. They’ve been fast friends.
Sorry to use the “comments” for what should rightfully be a regular email! But I stopped in at the blog AND wanted to communicate…
best!
Andrea
Hi again,
I talked to my plover-seeking friend again & now I have a better understanding: it is mountain plovers she’s looking for & she explained that they congregate in fields & that she’s just hate to drive near such a field & miss them. Apparently she & her partner have spent 2 days looking for them before (unsuccessfully).
Also she did check that bird-sitings website & there was not talk of them… so she’s just casting about for anyone who might have a tip…
Andrea