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Month: March 2026

March Recap

March Recap

Total Species Recorded: 67

As March comes to a close, I find myself thinking about how my Big Recording Year has evolved. The initial adrenaline rush of recording a dozen or so new species each week has settled into a steady, but much slower pace. While I recorded some fascinating birds in March, such as the Bonaparte’s Gulls and Lawrence’s Goldfinches, I mainly recorded the birds we see year round.

With the recordings slowing down (for now), I shifted my focus to a new activity: submitting eBird lists to the California Bird Atlas. This is an ambitious five-year project to document bird breeding activity in California to support conservation efforts and expand our knowledge of our breeding birds.

I have to admit that diving into this project has been intimidating. The breeding codes feel daunting, and the birding involves a different focus that requires you to carefully observe bird behavior. I watched a webinar recording that helped me get over my nerves, and spent time reviewing the breeding codes to ensure I understand them.

It turns out that the atlas project supports my recording goals since one of the breeding codes is for a singing bird. You can also add a code if a bird has been singing in the same location for a week or more. Because of that, I’m attempting to take careful notes of the singing birds and their locations to track their territories.

There is a particular mockingbird that has caught my attention recently. I’ve been drawn to its complex song of mimicries, often lasting more than 2 minutes. I enjoy the challenge of identifying the mimics, which includes Mallards, American Crows, and fire alarms. Even though I’ve already recorded this species for the year, I’m submitting additional recordings because it’s helping me to tune in to the song and perhaps it will support the atlas project.

April is just around the corner, and with it will come a fresh new wave of birds to record for my Big Year, and observe for the breeding project. In the meantime, I hope to continue to monitor the mockingbird as long as it continues to sing for a mate.

To read more posts about this challenge, see the dedicated Bird Recording Challenge 2026 web page or click on “Bird Recording Challenge 2026” under “Tags” at the bottom of this post.

Suet Feeder Activity

Suet Feeder Activity

Our little community park occasionally attracts a Nuttall’s Woodpecker, offering a fun bird visitor to observe. Watching this woodpecker, with its black and white striped back, climb the trunk of a tree is delightful. In late 2024, a Nuttall’s briefly visited my backyard, exploring the spindly plum tree. Inspired by the visit, I bought a shepherd’s hook and a basic suet feeder hoping that it might attract a woodpecker to our backyard again.

It didn’t take long for the first bird to find this new food source. Within a day, a Yellow-rumped Warbler expertly clung to the cage, picking off morsels that it ate on site. Little bits of suet would fall to the ground, attracting the White-crowned Sparrows as the clean-up crew. The sparrows quickly learned that when the Yellow-rumped Warblers would feed, it meant an opportunity to take advantage of dropped suet bits. So the sparrows always appeared underneath the feeder when the warblers showed up.

Perhaps enticed by the suet, one White-crowned Sparrow decided to try to eat directly from the feeder rather than wait for scraps. The sparrow was not designed like warblers and it clung awkwardly to the sides, flapping its wings to keep its balance, while barely managing to nab some larger pieces. The other sparrows were content to remain on the ground.

By the end of the winter season, an Orange-crowned Warbler visited the feeder, exchanging places with the Yellow-rumped Warbler as they battled over feeder rights. But the surprising behavior came from the California Scrub-Jays. This new object piqued their curiosity. The jays spent significant time trying to figure out how to get some of the suet. They must have realized that they were simply too large to cling to the tiny feeder cage. They eventually figured out that they could hover below the feeder, craning their necks to grab the suet from the bottom. They frequently nabbed two beakfuls in one flight attempt, and would either eat it right away or fly off with the grub. I suspect that they might be caching the food for later.

The shepherd’s hook offered its own usefulness to the birds. It’s often used as a perch by the jays, mockingbirds, finches, and sparrows. Perhaps it gives them a good view of the backyard as they plan their next move.

Fast forward to this past winter: the California Scrub-Jays, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers have continued their same eating patterns, but this time all the White-crowned Sparrows were hopping on the feeder rather than the single, brave bird from before. Sometimes there would be up to three sparrows clinging at once, fighting over the limited space. They still fed on the ground below the feeder, but getting at the suet directly seemed to be more popular this year.

A new bird also joined the crew – the Ruby-crowned Kinglets popped onto the feeder for a quick bite, navigating it just as expertly as the warblers. A few times, an Anna’s Hummingbird hovered by the feeder, leading me to wonder if it was looking for bugs attracted by the suet.

While this hasn’t attracted any woodpeckers yet, I’m delighted with the active winter scene this encourages!

A Day with the Bonaparte’s

A Day with the Bonaparte’s

Bonaparte's Gulls

Bonaparte’s Gull flock flying in front of playground equipment, 2026

Total Species Recorded: 57

“It’s always a good day when you see a Bonaparte’s Gull.”

This is what I tell my husband every time I see Bonaparte’s Gulls. I find these delicate birds absolutely adorable in their winter plumage. They are tiny white gulls, smaller than the local California Gulls, that expertly zip around the airspace above the waters with mesmerizing acrobatics. The simplicity of their winter plumage with petite black bills, dark eyes, and black ear spot on a perfectly rounded head is a relief from studying other gulls with their endlessly variable appearances.

My neighborhood park filled up with water with the recent rains, and it attracted the expected water-loving birds, such as Greater Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilts, California Gulls, and even some egrets. But what delighted me the most were the Bonaparte’s. As each day passed, their numbers grew until I counted at least 200 visiting at once!

One cloudy afternoon, I spent some time watching them from the edge of the park. They were picking off worms while swimming around the waters. Their preferred method of foraging seemed to involve swimming in the shallow lake until something caught their attention, causing them to pop straight up into the air and then dive head first into the water. They would emerge with a squirmy worm in their bills.

Bonaparte's Gulls

Bonaparte’s Gull flock foraging for worms in a shallow park pond, 2026

I took note of their plumage differences. While not as complex as other gulls, there was some variability depending on the age. The younger Bonaparte’s Gulls had pale legs, brown in their outer flight feathers, brown along the edges of their wings, and a brown line across the wings that forms a faint “M” in flight. Their tails are also dark along the end. The adults, on the other hand, have deep reddish-orange legs, gray wings, and black across the primary tips – a much cleaner look than their younger counterparts.

What struck me as unique about this experience was their calls. I had never heard them vocalize before, and here they were by the hundreds giving me ample opportunity to observe! Some of their calls sounded to me like a cross between a Mallard and a Gadwall. When later I researched their calls on All About Birds, it was described as “tern-like,” which made more sense.

Of course, this is a Big Recording Year and I knew I had to grab a recording. This proved to be difficult to achieve. Neighborhood noise from cars and lawn care were endlessly present. The wind was also a major factor, making it nearly impossible to hear the gulls in the background. I had to settle for a one-star recording. It was a good thing that I captured any recording at all, for the water would recede in the coming days and my daily visits with the dainty gulls would soon come to an end. But for now, I was happy to call it a good day having spent quality time with the Bonaparte’s Gulls.

To read more posts about this challenge, see the dedicated Bird Recording Challenge 2026 web page or click on “Bird Recording Challenge 2026” under “Tags” at the bottom of this post.