On November 5th, I had arranged to meet up with Brad Hacker to go birding. We had decided to drive out on the Jalama Road to look for sparrow flocks as there are often large flocks of White-crowned Sparrows along the roadside. Traffic on the road is fairly light and it is easy to stop and check them out for something better. We would then head over to the Santa Ynez River mouth to look for waterbirds.
On the drive towards the turn to Jalama Road, Brad
complained about the total lack of sparrows coming to feeders in his year so
far this fall. Unfortunately, this proved to be prescient for our drive as it
soon became apparent there were fewer and smaller sparrow flocks along the
road compared to years past. At one spot, we were able to coax out a “Sooty” Fox Sparrow and three
Golden-crowned Sparrows, both species that tend to be commoner up in montane
chaparral in our area, especially the Fox Sparrow. We later found about 10 more
Golden-crowneds in a large but somewhat distant White-crowned flock. However,
sparrow diversity and quality was distinctly lacking and, rather deflated, we
headed back up the road and out to the Santa Ynez River mouth, making a quick
burrito stop en route.
As we approached the turn off into Ocean Park, the best
place to access the river mouth, I suggested we stop at a cattle feedlot opposite.
This is a good spot for blackbird flocks and in winter often has Tricolored and
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in addition to the commoner species. It was quickly
apparent that there were a decent number of “Trikes” and we got out the scopes
to examine the flocks, which were 150-200m away, more thoroughly. We were
unable to find any Yellow-headed Blackbirds and I turned my attention to
looking for a Rusty Blackbird, possibly the most frequent Pacific Coast
vagrant I have never found myself.
After a few minutes, I came across a bird feeding but facing
away from me that appeared to have a shiny, brown-tinged body contrasting with
a blueish head – a combination unique to a Common Grackle, a species quite a
bit rarer than a Rusty Blackbird, at least in California. Given the distance and
somewhat backlit lighting, I kept the bird in the “potential” bucket for a few
minutes until it perched up on some metal bars and gave a good side-on look. I
was now able to see the large, deep-based bill and confirm the two-tone blueish
head/bronzy-brown body appearance, as well as appreciate the larger size better. Subsequent
flight views also showed the longer tail with a graduated tip.
Although Brad is prolific photographer with very good camera
gear, he had left his camera at home since he was already lugging a scope along to use at the
river mouth. Fortunately, Wes lived only a 35-minute drive away and the Common
Grackle was a county bird for him as well. I got on the phone and he was
immediately on his way. I then put the news out on a couple of on-line RBAs we
have for the county.
There was something of tense wait when Wes arrived as some
folks drove in to feed the cows, which resulted in them and the associated
blackbird flock moving to an even more difficult to observe area. However, I
eventually picked the bird out sat on a high transmission pole and Wes was able
to see it. It then flew back to the original grass lot and after a few minutes
we found it drinking at the water trough where we could see it pretty well and
get some passable photos.
Brad and I then headed off to check the river mouth where
there were plenty of birds but nothing especially interesting, with a Brant and
16 Bonaparte’s Gull being the best. Wes hung on to try to get more photos and
help the various birders arriving to “chase” (twitch in UK birding parlance) the
grackle. After the excitement of finding the grackle, I felt too unmotivated to
count some of the waterbirds, especially as rising water levels had dispersed
the flocks into more difficult to view areas. We headed back to Goleta very satisfied
with how things had turned out.
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