Painted Bunting in Shoshone VIllage

Patrick Donnelly first reported this bird in his yard in Shoshone last week, it was subsequently photographed by John Sterling. I still have not seen it and I'm hoping it may still be around. Painted Buntings have been reported in this area only a few times.

Shoshone Days Birdwalk

Shoshone Village was full of birds for Shoshone Days. There were 17 participants for the bird walk! We simply walked up to the Pupfish Creek and back to the Crowbar Cafe, and over two hours, saw an excellent selection of birds. Everybody got a great look at the male Vermilion Flycatcher, which was putting on an excellent flycatching demonstration at the Shoshone Pond, and campground. Hopefully he's still around this week after a big wind! Thank you to Martin Powell for not only photographing, but spotting most of the good birds that day.( I was probably lecturing too much instead of birding!) Martin has kindly shared the following photos.

Vermillion Flycatcher photo by Martin Powell

White-throated Sparrow photo by Martin Powell

This White-throated Sparrow,rare in the west, was in with a bunch of common White-crowned Sparrows eating fallen dates below the date palms. Yellow-rumped Warblers were doing the same and Elena Esparza was able to get this awesome shot, as well as the great shot of the group. Thank you Elena for all your help and photos.

     Martin Powell spotted and photographed this sneaky little Brown Creeper,

Brown Creeper photos by Martin Powell

next to the Shoshone Pond, normally a dark woods tree trunk bird, they are occasionally found along the Amargosa in the winter. Martin also spotted and photographed this Marsh Wren, another winter visitor that is extremely difficult to get a good look at!

Marsh Wren photo by Martin Powell

A great aerial battle by Common Ravens, and a flyover by an Osprey were also highlights.

NEXT FREE BIRD WALK IS SUNDAY NOV 8TH AT 8AM -CROWBAR CAFE

Raptors of Shoshone Tecopa and the Amargosa River

      Just about every type of  Vulture,Hawk, Eagle, and Falcon appear in our area at some time .

Here are a few of my favorites.

Northern Harrier (juvenile plumage)

Northern Harriers breed regularly in Shoshone, and Tecopa Marsh. On the first night that I arrived here from Maine  in 2009, I witnessed the “mid-air food toss” at sunset of the male Northern Harrier dropping a fresh prey item in flight to the female who swooped up, grabbed it easily and disappeared back down into the nest area. I have been hooked on Harries ever since. They are present year round in Tecopa Marsh but the birds are not necessarily the same individuals year round.  On Tecopa Marsh, Harriers often easily move Coyotes away from the nest area by landing near the Coyote, allowing it to approach, then moving to an enticing nearby spot, and repeating the process until the Coyote is out of the Harrier territory.  Northern Harrier is a “California Species of Special Concern” due to marsh-like habitat destruction throughout California. 

Adult female Northern Harrier
      In the spring, as early as February, the sky-dance of the male Northern Harrier begins. He can be heard over Shoshone Wetlands or Tecopa Marsh, calling rapidly while making rapid ascents and descents . Usually he is displaying to the female, but I have observed a male sky-dancing another male apparently as a territorial display, laying claim to the prime Harrier habitat, not to mention the female therein. Males are known to have more than one female, sometimes several, correlating to his ability to provide. Reverse sexual dimorphism is very apparent when the pair is seen together. The female looks almost twice as big as the male. 

Their plumages are completely different. Northern Harriers are easy to identify with a little practice, and can be found in marshes from Alaska to Central America.

                   There are 13 Species of Harriers in the world.  Our Northern Harrier is extremely closely related to the Hen Harrier which occupies similar habitat types throughout the Northeastern Hemisphere, from Portugal to Japan.

                                                American Kestrel

At 7.5”-8” this is the 2nd smallest of all the worlds’ 39 Falcon species, all in the genus Falco. Only the Seychelles Kestrel is smaller.American Kestrel has a huge range. It covers most of the Western Hemisphere from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.. They are beautiful, graceful, and take a variety of prey from grasshoppers, dragonflies, to lizards, and small birds.

                Locally, Kestrels are often seen in  winter hunting from power poles and wires around Shoshone, and a pair is often found around Tecopa Marsh, and or the Amargosa Canyon during breeding. Kestrels will use a nest box of the following dimensions.

                             

                                 Prairie Falcon

             Prairie Falcons are our year round resident falcon. They do breed in this area, I have found their nests more than once. They breed up on high cliffs. Prairie Falcons average only slightly smaller than Peregrine Falcons. Reverse sexual dimorphism is apparent in the size differences between males and females. According to “Falcons of the World” by Tom J. Cade, males weigh as low as 17.5 ounces and at the most 22.5 ounces, females as much as 34.5 ounces.  Imagine a 17.5 ounce male and a 34.5 ounce female! When seen as a pair they seem almost a different species. Prairie Falcons can take a great variety of prey items from large insects and small birds to Chuckwallas Desert Iguanas, Desert Cottontails, Black-tailed Jackrabbits, and any type of rodents.

See the powerful legs of Prairie Falcon

Prairie Falcon putting on the brakes


Peregrine Falcon

Peregrines are occasionally seen in Shoshone and Tecopa in the non-breeding seasons. Over the last few years, a pair has been seen during June, which indicates possible breeding somewhere in this area. The closest known breeding pair is Mt Charleston in nearby Spring Mountains.

        Peregrines, are mainly bird catching machines. They use many different hunting strategies.

 Peregrines the fastest known birds, when diving, called the stoop, from amazing heights at even more amazing speeds! Although average prey sizes are not quite so dramatic, even the 6 foot wing-spanned Great Blue Heron is not safe from a Peregrine. Imagine a 47 inch tall Great Blue Heron a formidable predator, being hit by the talons of a 53 ounce Peregrine Falcon from behind in the neck at 275 miles per hour!

Peregrines reverse sexual dimorphism is exaggerated with males weighing in from 24.5 to 30 ounces and females up to 53 ounces.

 Weight References: Falcons of the World ,by Thomas Cade

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks are also year round resident species.  Locally they are known to breed on the high walls of the Amargosa Canyon, and occasionally in rare, tall isolated trees or groves of trees. The Amargosa Canyon sometimes has two pairs of Red-tails nesting in the cliff faces. Dark plumage varieties of Red-tails as well as typical “western” plumage forms are found in the Amargosa Canyon. 

Chocolate plumage Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks take a variety of snakes, big lizards, rodents, rabbits, road kill, and road injured animals and birds of any type. Many Red-tailed Hawks are injured or killed in collisions with vehicles.

In 2012 as Staff Naturalist for Shoshone Village, I helped kids at Death Valley Academy in Shoshone, make wildlife videos as a joint project with Partners for Fish and Wildlife. Check this one out” Red-tailed Hawk eating Coot brains, a Death Valley Delicacy” by one of the kids in 10^th grade at the time.

Red-shouldered Hawk

   Red-shouldered Hawk

   Juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawks often winter in Shoshone. They do breed locally as close by as Pahrump, NV. 27 miles away. It is not known whether the Red-shouldered hawks that often arrive in Shoshone are dispersing from Pahrump or whether they are from far away. 

This Juvenile Red-shoulderd Hawk has been hanging around the new Shoshone bird pond for a few weeks.

More raptors soon!

                                       The rain came.

PHOTO. The last good rainfall in Shoshone Village that amounted to anything was in late December of 2010. This was nowhere near that volume. In 2010 the dry lakebed between Tecopa and the highway to Baker, was filled with water, the Amargosa River breached the road below Tecopa post office, and the road from Shoshone to Pahrump was briefly impassable. Last weekend felt substantial, but like half of all that.

     It was beautiful to see waterfalls cascading down the normally dry rock mountains while driving through Chicago Valley.PHOTO

   In Shoshone, the dried sections  Amargosa River filled with fast moving muddy water. At the confluence of Shoshone Spring and the Amargosa River, the elevation drop made for high adventure in this normally tranquil spot. CLICK VIDEO.

Great birding has followed the rain.

As the land warms and dries, insects are hatching everywhere.  The birds have been lining up along the new Pupfish Creek Trail

to feed on them. This short lovely trail not  only  has excellent birding, but butterflies, damselflies, and dragonflies abound. If you park in the parking area next to the campground, then walk up the road between the school and the swimming pool, you’ll see the new pupfish pools, trail, and the creek which connects them.

The only time I've ever seen a Verdin flycatching!(repeatedly catching insects in mid-air and then returning to the starting perch to feed)

 There are Coyote Willows, Goodings Willows, Honey Mesquite, and Screwbean Mesquite. The bulrushes, and other creekside plants give insect eating birds and excellent habitat to eat, drink, bathe, and preen.

Come and see Shoshones' Pupfish Creek for yourself!

Len Warren

Staff Naturalist

Shoshone Village, CA 92384

760-852-4284

Yellow-rumped Warblers are the most common species of warbler in North America. Locally, they breed at higher elevations such as the nearby Spring Mountains. In September, they arrive in Shoshone and all along the Amargosa River and will be present for the entire winter. 

It is not known whether the same individuals are present all winter or if there is a “flow” of them constantly going through. Most likely some combination of the two. There are two species of Yellow-rumped Warbler in North America.

Here in the west, the Audubon’s Warbler can be identified first by the yellow throat. Its Eastern counterpart, the Myrtle Warbler, has a white throat. They will eat insects anywhere that they can find them and will also come to the feeder for suet or dried fruit in winter. Sometimes there are so many Yellow-rumps

   

around that it’s difficult to keep track of them. Make sure to check as many warblers as you can, even if it means "sifting through alot of Yellow-rumps",because around here, anything can happen and you never know when a rarity will pop up. 

 My opinion is that there are rare and unusual birds going through Shoshone and the entire Amargosa River Valley all the time, but go undetected due to lack of observers.

RARITES

    I recent years, rarities around here have included Wood Thrush,

Prothonotary Warbler,

Black and White Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler ( China Ranch)

and many more.
            
. In nearby Pahrump, NV, a Hooded Warbler wintered at the Cantino’s place a couple years ago. Warbler watching is really challenging.Your best bet is to try to get a look directly at the face of the bird. Like sparrows, Warbler faces are usually definitive.    

I’m writing this blog as Staff Naturalist for Shoshone Village, California 92384. Shoshone is a very small town.

 I'm from Maine. My father, who still lives in Maine, thinks that it’s the funniest to send me mail this way!

WOODPECKERS OF THE AMARGOSA

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY VIDEO OF LADDER BACKED WOODPECKER

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is the only breeding woodpecker along the Amargosa River. Their local range appears to be restricted. I have never seen one in Shoshone, but they are regulars all year round at nearby  China Ranch, and in the Amargosa Canyon south of the Tecopa post office. They have very large territories, at least the ones that I have observed. I have observed territories that were almost a kilometer long. They need dead trees. Their nests are excavated in old Gooding’s Willows, Cottonwood, and sometimes phone poles. They are permanent year round residents of the southern Amargosa. The Nuttal’s Woodpecker, a very close look-alike of Ladder-backed that breeds in cooler habitats has a range that’ Where the two species meet their ranges fit together like pieces of a puzzle” (Backhouse 2005) In nearby areas, the Eastern Sierras, Owens River, Kern and San Bernardino. There has been hybridization recorded.

LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER RANGE MAP
Source:(http://sdakotabirds.com/species/ladder_backed_woodpecker_info.htm)

Nuttal's Woodpecker Owens River

NORTHERN FLICKER

Northern Flickers seem to arrive first  in the fall, and their “keer” call can be heard throughout the day. They will be present all winter into early spring. Often seen on the ground, and a major predator of ants, they’re known as Red-shafted Flickers for the display of red feathers from the underside when the wings opened. They must be more commonly preyed upon by hawks during the winter than other birds, because each spring, in my travels I’ll find the orange-red feathers in shady places. I’ve found many almost full sets of red  flight feathers in such “kill spots”.

The Northern Flicker has a huge range in North America. From  Newfoundland to Alaska, in the north and from Cuba to  the Pacific Coast  and as for south as CostasRica, , Flickers are common and prolific.

 In the east they are Yellow-shafted Flickers. In the midwest the flight and tail feathers begin to be more orange, then more red in the west. They are all of the same species. Occasionally, a Northern Flicker yellow-shafted is reported in this area.  I was really jealous last winter when, while working at Shoshone’s Crowbar Restaurant, my friend Terri showed me in a plastic bag, a set of yellows that she had found! Finally in spring of 2015, I finally  found a set of yellows!! 

         Notice how the shafts of the feathers have been clipped by the beak of a hawk. Also here you can see the special shape of the “designed for strength” tail feather. (Black tipped)

          

Red-naped Sapsuckers and 

Red-breasted Sapsuckers are both found around Shoshone in fall and winter. The trees around Shoshone Village, Shoshone Campground, the Death Valley Academy, and Shoshone Birding Trails and China Ranch, are all good spots for wintering woodpeckers. 

RED_NAPED SAPSUCKER

RED_BREASTED SAPSUCKER

  These two-species were formerly assumed to be western sub-species of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and have subsequently been designated as separate species by those who decide such things. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is common in the Eastern North America, but occasionally is reported in this area. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker are very difficult to tell apart from Red-naped as juveniles in fall migration. They breed at higher elevations, such as the Spring Mountains, locally to the east of Shoshone. Although I don't have a photo of a Williamson's Sapsucker, it's been seen here before and is always a possibility.


                                   LEWIS'S WOODPECKER

It’s always special to see a Lewis’s Woodpecker. A pink-breasted iridescent black-bodied woodpecker whose behavior and flight patterns seem different than the others.

 The only woodpecker known  to do “flycatching” , a mid air grab of an insect , then returning to the original perch, they are also the only woodpecker known to perch on a wire! They are occasionally found in surprising numbers. Although I have only ever seen individual Lewis’s Woodpeckers, I have heard a credible first hand report of 35-40 of them in one tree during migration in Furnace Creek in nearby Death Valley National Park. 

LEWIS'S WOOODPECKER

           I recently got these great shots of Lewis’s Woodpecker at nearby (90 miles is nearby for around here!) Spicer Ranch in Beatty, NV.

Thanks to Dave Spicer for showing me the great birds there. 

 More on Woodpeckers later.

References:    Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Nevada 2007 University of Nevada Press , Reno

                          Frances Backhouse,   Woodpeckers of North America,Firefly Publishing, 2005

Flycatchers in Shoshone and along the Amargosa River.

                                            SAY’S PHOEBE video click here

There are an amazing amount of Flycatcher species that use Shoshone and the Amargosa River. Some are migratory and breed elsewhere. Some are migratory and breed here. Say’s Phoebe (pronounced feebee) is our only year round Flycatcher.



Say’s Phoebe is a classic Phoebe in that it is the one who makes a nest up in the eaves of an old building or garage. Their subtle coloration is like an American Robin yet washed out. If one watches Say’s Phoebe for a while, spectacular courtships flights and flycatching aerobatics will be the reward. Their nest sites in towns and villages throughout the Desert Southwest are well known, but their nest sites in the wild are often spectacular. Caves in high, hard to reach cliffs, almost any protected nook with a small shelf.

I’m often surprised by a Say’s Phoebe that I’ve accidentally flushed from such a place after a challenging trek.

More Amargosa Flycatchers coming soon.