Bird Photos by Club Members

Eurasian Wigeon
Anas penelope

Cooper's Hawk (juvenile)
Accipiter cooperii

Northern Flicker (intergrade)
Colaptes auratus

Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus

Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus

Ash-throated Flycatcher
Myiarchus cinerascens

Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus

Blue Grosbeak
Passerina caerulea

Western Tanager
Piranga ludoviciana

Pine Siskin
Carduelis pinus

NEW!

Lawrence’s Goldfinch (female)
Carduelis lawrencei

NEW!

Nest of the Year

Being able to observe nesting birds at close range from kitchen windows and patios is always a thrill, educational and memorable events. This nesting season, however, there was a champion nesting that all Bear Valley Springs residents and guests must have observed. It also gave students and teachers of Cummings Valley School an outdoor classroom for many weeks. Therefore we here-by nominate the Red-tail Hawk nest on pole # 4 as the “Nesting of the Year.”

Having nested within a two-mile radius for years, this red-tail pair is well experience. The female is a “pale-female”, while the male’s morph tends to be on the dark side. His favorite foraging perches are the last poles just before the turn leading into BVS. This pair built a nest which was larger and sturdier than at first glance – and for good reason.

During the eighty to ninety day event there was a great deal of conjecture as to how many chicks were in the nest. Red-tails may lay just one egg, or, as many as five, with the usual being two or three. Two chicks were often seen. A few sightings of three were reported. Could there be four? On June 3rd photographs by Marilyn McCune confirmed four!

After five days of jumping up and down, walking about the nest and exploiting the wind gusts to take “Kitty Hawk length” flights from cross bar to cross bar, the birds finally had all fledged by June 7th. Normally Hawks fledge one or two, seldom three. Four is very, very rare!

Seven poles north a pair of Common Ravens built a nest the circumference of which was not much bigger than that of the transformer supporting the structure. As with the hawks, these nestlings were walking, jumping, and flapping up and down. Un-like the serious red-tails, these comics played the part of the clowns that they are. This gang fledged on May 31st.

All very exciting. All these brand new birds stuck around for a while before they dispersed, although in one’s and two’s from time to time they are seen – in particular the “pale female”.