Limpkin October 2004

Young Birder's Conference Notes

By Andy Bankert

After saying goodbye to my friends who I had birded with for 10 days in Florida I went home for a few hours to pack for the third Youth Birders Conference. I was being forced to take the longest line to check in. I checked my luggage and received my boarding pass to Bakersfield, CA. Following the five and a half hour trip to Los Angeles; I met two other youth birders on my flight from LA to Bakersfield. It took less than an hour to meet our leaders for the next week at the airport. Everyone that was on an early flight got in one van and went birding on the way up to our hotel in Kernsville.

The road followed the Kern River, which had lots of good habitat for American Dippers. These are one of the Passerines that do not show much relationship to anything else in North America. At our first stop I was shown a Black Pheobe, my first life bird of the trip. We could not find a Dipper, so we moved on to another spot. This is where a pair of dippers nested earlier in the year. We watched the state bird, California quail, run around the campground, Northern Rough-winged Swallows fly over our heads, and Western Scrub-Jays fly across the river and hop around on the rocks. While I was looking at the jays in the scope Mark, a young birder from San Diego, yelled out DIPPER! Everyone in the group looked up to see a rather nondescript dipper flying down the middle of the river. The views were quick, but I was really pleased to see a bird I had never seen before. As we were going back to the van we crossed paths with a flock of Bushtits. Steve Howell, one of the leaders, imitated a Pygmy Owl, the equivalent in the east to imitating a screech owl, and the flock jumped to life. The group was able to pick out an Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nut-hatch, and several Lark Sparrows. I was really impressed.

We arrived at the Hi Ho Lodge, where we would spend the next few days. There were Brewer’s Blackbirds and Acorn Woodpeckers in the parking lot, birds not common in the east. We met some of the other youth birders that were in different groups on the way up. As the last of the birders arrived at the lodge orientation commenced. We were in-formed about the area, and all introduced ourselves. Then for dinner Pizza was served. Like usual, I found the smallest slice of plain cheese and washed it down with soda. The talk for the night was going to be by Steve Howell on hummingbirds.

I have found hummingbirds to be one of the hardest identifications in North America. Being from Florida, I already had some experience with the Black-chinned/ Ruby-throated identification, but I learned a lot of tips in Steve’s presentation that I will use for the next several winters in Florida. Another major focus of the speech was differentiating Archilochus and Calypte by primaries. There was not much time spent on the hummingbirds that we would not likely encounter on this trip, but I tried to absorb as much information as I could. After the talk was over they announced that the group would be split in half for some of the field trips. We were also assigned rooms. I was in a room with Mark Billings, who was also on my flight from LA. As we were entering our room another young birder, Dan Ladder from Virginia, who had missed his flight and was going to room with us greeted us. There was enough room for everyone to sleep comfortably in our hotel room.

We left our room to meet the rest of the group to go owling. Our first stop was full of Barn Owls, a lifer for many. For the ones who had already seen Barn Owls many times, we stood back a little and chatted. Our next stop was the one that interested me the most. It had Western-screech Owls. After we walked back the trail and played a tape we heard a response from a Western-screech Owl and some Barn Owls. For my list, if I can identify it by sight or sound I will count it. The group of young birders and their leaders went back to the lodge for the next day of birding.

In our room, two alarms were set an hour early to make sure we were up and ready when the group was leaving. We all heard our alarms, woke up, and left to grab some breakfast. Some people had cold pizza, some had cereal, but I had my usual Hershey Bar. The groups split into their two halves and went birding in the same areas, but at different times. My group was welcomed by a calling Brown-crested Flycatcher. We did get satisfactory looks, but I was not able to capture it on video. Since I had seen several in Florida, I was more impressed by the Ash-throated Flycatchers, Lazuli Buntings, and Lark Sparrows. As we walked further down the trail we observed Western Meadowlarks, Lesser Goldfinches, and a Summer Tanager. One of the coolest birds of the trip was an Indigo x Lazuli Bunting Hybrid. The dazzling blue bird sat up on a fence post and allowed the group to shoot some great pictures. A failed attempt for Grasshopper Sparrow did yield Say’s Pheobe and multiple Western Bluebirds.

A few quick stops gave us our first views at species like Cactus Wren, Greater Roadrunner, and Nuttall’s Woodpecker. We also scoped a Vermilion Flycatcher, but the distance did not please everyone. On the drive to our next location, a Great-tailed Grackle flew over. “Where?” I asked. I never did get on the bird.
One of our first birds at the next stop was a Great-tailed Grackle, which was a lifer for some other people, even though people in Texas complain about how common they are. More Bushtits jumped around in the bushes giving a little call. While trying to relocate a Least Bittern heard by the other group a cuckoo flew by. Everyone got all excited as the really long thin brown bird flashed its rufous wings at us. Further down the trail we encountered our first stinging nettle. The group was told how much this plant could hurt and nobody decided to find out for him or herself.

The whole group satisfied, we went to lunch where there were feeders throughout the premises. In the parking lot there was a feeder with at least four Lesser Goldfinches. As we approached the hummingbird feeders we could see the bright pink in the head of the male Anna’s, and the dark throats of the Black-chinned. We took a little sidetrack to a Willow Flycatcher territory. The bird was singing its Fitz-Bew song. The whole group met up at the feeders for lunch and a presentation on feathers by John Schmitt. While eating lunch you would hear, “Costa’s on the right feeder,” and everyone would look at the feeder that was being described. After the feather presentation, everyone headed to a little park that had Tricolored Blackbirds. I think I was more impressed by the ravens at the park, but the blackbirds were also interesting to study.

Our next stop was on a large reservoir that had Western and Clark’s Grebes breeding. The Clark’s were easy to find with their white faces, and bright yellow bills. The Westerns were further out and not as attractive with their gray faces and unattractive olive bills. We were lucky enough to see a Clark’s Grebe carrying babies on its back. Some of the group was also impressed by the roadrunner in the area.

After the good part of the day was done we went back to the lodge for a break. Once the time was right we all gathered into a room where Louisa Zemaitis was going to give a presentation on field sketching. Oh no, I thought to myself. This was one of the last things I wanted to do. Drawing was especially hard for me. As the presentation moved on, I learned how to take notes and make sketches that others could understand. At the end we were given four birds to sketch/take notes on to show others who had not seen the pictures. Surprisingly people knew three of the four birds that I took notes on. The group was dismissed to do whatever they wanted to do until dinner.

Hamburgers and chicken was served for dinner. This was one of the few times I would eat a complete meal the whole trip. After dinner the whole group went out to do some owling, but soon learned that John Schmitt, a local artist, knew of a feeder where Rufous-crowned Sparrows frequented. On the drive up to the feeders a few sparrows flushed off the road. The vans were parked a good distance away from the feeders, and the group walked down the hill to get in view of the feeder. When we opened the doors of the van, we could hear the song of the Rufous-crowned Sparrows. At first only Lark Sparrows and a California Towhee were seen at the feeder, but as we waited a Rufous-crown showed itself. Since the light was fading, pictures were not that great. After everyone was content we loaded up the vans and headed further up the mountains to listen for owls.

Everyone got quiet and a tape of a Flammulated Owl was played. After a while we heard the bird, and decided to follow it. As we went up the mountain, we lost the bird, and a car alarm in the distance made it extremely hard to hear. Some of the group heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl, but it sounded like it was a mile out. After several attempts to draw the bird in closer, we decided that it was not going to cooperate. Our final chance of an owl was Spotted Owl. John gave an impeccable imitation, but the owls did not want to respond. The vans were loaded, and most slept on the way back to the lodge because of the early start the next morning.

The group I was in was lucky enough to be allowed to sleep in a little bit, but it was not that much. We watched the first group leave twenty minutes later than expected, but our group grabbed breakfast, loaded up, and got out on time to visit birding areas on the west side of the Sierra Nevadas. Our first stop had a singing Wrentit that would not give us much of a look. California Towhees were also among the avian life in the area. As we were driving out someone shouted “Band-tailed Pigeon.” It was passed to the other vans via radios and we all stopped and set up scopes. The people who had them in their yard came out to greet us, and they were informed that we were looking at the pigeons.

Be sure to tune in to next month’s Limpkin for the exciting conclusion of Young Birder’s Conference Notes!