![]() With breeding season approaching, we’re excited for the coming “Chickadee Explosion!!!” – the multi-week period when large groups of Chickadees with fledglings in tow move noisily about our patch. Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-backed Chickadee Listen closely for the quiet, bill-snapping noise between knocking sounds.ġ2. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America, this call is only given by females. However, our favorite sound is this less common, “knocking” vocalization. Our friend Jen likened a Scrubber’s “A YE-AYE!” call to the intro to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” and now we can never hear it otherwise!Ī walk in our redwoods wouldn’t be complete without a standard “ BRONK-BRONK-BRONK” from above. Last fall, a California Scrub-Jay moved to our house and is now a daily fixture on the telephone wire. California Scrub-Jay California Scrub-Jay Contrast this with the real Red-shouldered Hawk call from #6 above, which we recorded the very same day… not too shabby!ġ0. Also in their bag of tricks is a Red-shouldered Hawk impression. Steller’s Jay Steller’s JayĪhhh, the Steller’s Jay – the ubiquitous noise-maker of the redwood forest – we can’t go ten feet without hearing a “ WEK-WEK-WEK!” These jays have a remarkable repertoire of sounds, including some quiet warbles, gurgles, buzzes, and mumbles. They stopped when the rain returned, but we’re looking forward to them singing again soon for actual spring. ![]() During a warm, sunny stretch of days in January, the Hutton’s in our ‘hood began singing. We see these Ruby-crowned Kinglet doppelgängers throughout our patch, and just love hearing their funny, wheezy call. Luckily, they didn’t move far and they’re still a staple of our patch. Unfortunately, a storm felled the tree a couple years ago, and we lost our daily living-room-looks at these silly clowns. We used to have a dead tree in our backyard where a family of Acorn Woodpeckers congregated. One lucky day, we noticed it perched in the giant Doug-fir right outside our living room window! Though, more often we just hear their distinct, ringing call from above the canopy while walking in the woods. Red-shouldered Hawk Red-shouldered HawkĪt least one of these gorgeous hawks lives near our house, and we occasionally catch a glimpse of it circling above our place. We often wonder if they’d be revered for their majesty, if only they had feathers on their heads. There seem to be several Turkey Vultures in the sky at any given moment around our heavily wooded neighborhood, sniffing out their next carrion meal. Their fierce defense of our flowering maples only intensifies during the last months of winter when Rufous and Allen’s Hummingbirds start to appear. Anna’s Hummingbird Anna’s HummingbirdĪ couple Anna’s Hummingbirds live in our yard, and one often sits on the clothesline that hangs directly in front of our living room window. In case we didn’t notice their wing-flicking and constant branch acrobatics, they often reveal themselves by their furious, typewriter-sounding “ chit-chit-chit-chit-chit” scold.Īnd now for the rest… The following birds make the redwood forest their permanent home – just like us! 4. In winter, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flits at every turn along our walk. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Standing stationary one day, we counted no less than 14 individuals in a single spot. We feel “Wood Robin” fits perfectly, as we regularly find flocks of them buried deep in the dark woods during winter. Redwood Region Ornithological Society’s founding member Mike Parmeter recently recounted to us that he knew Varied Thrushes as “Wood Robins” while growing up near the Russian River. We noticed this lovely female in a redwood next to our balcony while drinking coffee one morning. ![]() This beautiful warbler adds a much-appreciated pop of color during the gray winter months. We’ll start with three birds we only see during winter before they head north to their breeding grounds. Our neighborhood walk includes this lovely overlook of the Russian River Winter scene from our road With winter soon drawing to a close, we wanted to share some of the species we’re fortunate to encounter on a normal day. We bird our home patch daily, walking through our neighborhood to a fire road that winds through dense conifer forest. We live in a beautiful forested area dominated by Coast Redwoods and Douglas-firs near the Russian River in Northern California. Interested in which birds are around during Spring and Summer? Check out the Spring Edition of 25 Birds of Our Patch – The Redwood Forest & Russian River here!
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