Listing Through Life

columba (pigeon or dove) fasciata (banded)

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, California

The trail I was on soon entered open fields, so I cut over to another trail called the Waterline Road and headed back the way I’d come. In area covered with bushes and scattered trees, I saw three large birds flying in a straight line not far above the treetops. I knew at once they were pigeons, and that they weren’t Rock Doves. They were larger, with longer tails, which gave them more of a stretched-out look.

Unfortunately, they were between me and the sun, so I couldn’t see a great deal of detail. They were slate gray with darker wing tips and paler tails. They continued flying out of my sight and, although I kept looking, I never spotted any more.

baeolophus (from baio, little, and pogon, beard)  inornatus (without adornments, plain)

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, California

I explained to the woman who took my entrance fee in the visitor center that I was looking for four specific birds. She introduced me to Charity, the staff naturalist who is also a birder. I told Charity that I only had that afternoon to spend birding and asked if she could direct me to the best places to look. She pulled out a map and told me my chances were good for three of the four (California Quails are often tough to find). She recommended that I make my way down into the woods along the Vista Grande Trail and walk slowly.

I wasn’t seeing very many birds, but it was the heat of the day (about 80 degrees, which is a little warm for mid-February, even in southern California). When I came upon a small pool I stood still for a couple minutes listening and watching. I heard some very chickadee-like sounds coming from a nearby tree and soon spotted an Oak Titmouse. It was about 10 feet off the ground, calling, and moving about rapidly. I saw it again, or another one, in the same tree about two hours later and heard it’s titmouse-like two-syllable song.

It was brownish gray and very plain with a small crest. I tried for photos but it was moving too quickly for me to find it and focus on it. Here’s the tree where I saw it.