Gualala Birds

In the last two days, I’ve added 3 new birds to my life list and got a better look at an old/new friend

First, the new lifers!

Lifer #127 – Townsend’s Warbler

Not a great photograph – he was pretty far up a tall tree, but I got some nice looks at him thru my binoculars. This is only my third warbler !

Lifer #128 – Surf Scoter

This one was fun – the wife and I took our dog to the beach for a walk. The waves were quite vigorous and we would see a small group of these Surf Scoters swimming along and then diving under the water just as the surf was about to crash on them. Hoping to see these guys again as their coloring and faces are pretty incredible.

Lifer #129 – Killdeer

This guy doesn’t really belong here in my life list… he should come much earlier. In my introduction, I mentioned how I had “birded” about 10 years ago. I wasn’t particularly serious birding, and did not do a good job keeping my eBird Life List up to date. The Killdeer was a bird I had seen multiple times in the past, but never added to my list. I saw him again today and promptly added him.

Lifer #130 – Pelagic Cormorant

The last find for our dog walk was this group of Pelagic Cormorants. At first, I almost didn’t photograph these guys because I thought “I already have Cormorants (#28 Double-Breasted, #107 Brandt’s ) on my list.” Boy was I wrong. These beauties are clearly unique in their coloring and size.

Lastly, let me share some photos of a Pileated Woodpecker. This was a bird that got me very excited earlier this year. When I first heard his call, I almost dropped my phone trying to open Merlin Bird ID to find out what he was. It took me 6 days to finally get my first view of this bird. (This is a story by itself.)

When I heard him again today, I promptly headed out into the woods and found him high up a dead tree. This guy was POUNDING on this tree. I also heard what I think is the birds “drumroll” – a rapid pecking on the tree.