Birding by Habitat at Wildcat Ranch 5/15/23

It is always a special treat to bird at Wildcat Ranch where iconic western habitats are extensive and largely intact, such as sagebrush shrublands and juniper woodlands. Interspersed with hay meadows, pastures, small ponds and wetlands, and stands of aspen or pines, the overall Wildcat landscape offers pockets of rich habitat filled with birds. We succeeded in finding many Brewer’s Sparrows, denizens of sagebrush shrublands and hard to find elsewhere in the valley. We also observed interactions of Tree Swallows and Mountain Bluebirds at paired nest boxes meant to house Swallows in one and Bluebirds in the other. The highlight of the day was a Virginia Rail that emerged from cattails to forage in the open, even swimming at times. For such a secretive, rarely-seen bird, this was a big treat! Other highlights included a Bullock’s Oriole and an especially bird-filled nook along an irrigation ditch where we saw various Warblers, Woodpeckers, Kinglets, and Chickadees. Join us on Wednesday, May 17 for another spring birding field trip to the Airport Open Space and Radar Road, excellent habitats to explore during the airport’s annual closure through our special permission to access this restricted area.

Canada Goose

Mallard

Gadwall

Ring-necked Duck

Green-winged Teal

Mourning Dove

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Wilson’s Snipe

Virginia Rail

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Red-tailed Hawk

Lewis’s Woodpecker

Red-naped Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Dusky Flycatcher

Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Mountain Chickadee

House Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

Green-tailed Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer’s Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Bullock’s Oriole

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Virginia’s Warbler

Yellow Warbler