Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya)

Romero Canyon, 2018-10-07

People birdwatch for lots of reasons. For me a lot of it is aesthetic: I just think they’re pretty to look at, and it makes me catch my breath when I see them.

The SAPH is one of my favorites. Maybe my favorite favorite. I’m not sure what it is, and this photo doesn’t do it justice. But this bird has it.

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Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus)

Romero Canyon, 2018-10-07

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes

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Sometimes

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anonsally
replied to your photo “A few weeks ago the hills above Carpinteria, the coastal town I live…”

Good luck. I hope you’ll see something… Also, that’s a gorgeous photo.

Thank you! And thank you! That’s a tree that I’m pretty sure isn’t there anymore. I took that photo on the scouting trip that produced the eBird list below, two weeks before the fire. Supposedly the riparian corridor in the base of Romero Canyon only has “moderate” damage, with the understory burned but a lot of the trees only slightly scorched and hopefully surviving. But the hillside above, where this fire road runs… Well. I haven’t been back there yet. But like I said; pretty sure this tree is gone.

Romero Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, US
Dec 1, 2017 8:01 AM – 10:03 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.709 mile(s)
Comments:     Looked for, but failed to find, Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Hiked the canyon, then up the Old Romero Canyon dirt road a half mile or so up the hill and back down.
25 species (+2 other taxa)

California Quail  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Band-tailed Pigeon  16
hummingbird sp.  1
Northern Flicker  2
Black Phoebe  1
Hutton’s Vireo  2
Steller’s Jay  1
California Scrub-Jay  3
Oak Titmouse  2
Bushtit  9
Canyon Wren  2     Great views foraging in an oak limb.
Bewick’s Wren  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
Wrentit  5
Hermit Thrush  4
California Thrasher  1
Orange-crowned Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  8
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)  2
Fox Sparrow  2     Believe they were Thick-billed, but I didn’t see them long enough to confirm that.
Dark-eyed Junco  1
California Towhee  4
Spotted Towhee  2
House Finch  6
Purple Finch  1     Female
Lesser Goldfinch  2

View this checklist online at http://ift.tt/2F0ZATA

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

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Sigh

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