Sightings of note throughout Mendocino county are posted on the Yahoo group site Mendobirds.

For directions to most of the sites mentioned, see Kris Carter's excellent book A Guide to Finding Birds in Mendocino County or contact the webmaster.

You can visit Peregrine Audubon's archives for a list of Mendocino bird sightings going back to Oct 1998. To facilitate searching this is in one large file of about 1.9 Mb.

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 -- This morning I went to Rodman Slough for my third try for GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, and I succeeded. I set up my scope at the green gate to the east of the bridge at number 1830 and scoped the rice fields and trees to the north. It took about 15 minutes before I saw one sitting in the top of a dead tree to the NW - in line with the pumphouse. The scope was really necessary to pull this one in from public access on dry land. -- George Chaniot

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 -- Greetings Mendobirders- Cheryl Watson, Barbara and I saw 3 adult female WILSON'S PHALAROPES this morning on the sludge pond at the Ukiah Sewage Treatment Plant. Sure wish they would start draining some ponds so we could get some mud. There wasn't anything else really noteworthy out there on this hot day! -- Chuck Vaughn

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 -- This past Saturday 6/26 we were walking along the Eel River in Mendo county just over the hill from Potter Valley when we saw a beautiful yellow bird with a red head. Looked it up in our book and it sounds like a WESTERN TANAGER. -- Stan, Santa Rosa

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 -- Today Linda Angerer and I conducted the Hullville BBS which runs from up on Hull Mtn. in ex. se. Mendocino Co., I believe, south past the west side of Lake Pillsbury in n. Lake County. The route passes through some outstanding chaparral of a kind that does not occur in Humboldt County, mostly because it's loaded with chamise.
          A highlight was a singing Bell's [Sage] Sparrow, a form regarding as worthy of individual treatment by Beadle and Rising in their sparrows book. This bird was at a site I did not mark but which was one of the flagged BBS stations. It's a few miles northward of Lake Pillsbury and, while a straightforward drive, takes a long time to get to on the mostly unpaved M1 forest road. If anyone is interested in trying to hear and see this sparrow, which I viewed from the main road, let me know and I can put you in touch with Linda for directions.
          We also encountered numerous Blue-gray Gnatcatchers as well as other chaparral birds, including Oak Titmouse. I had California Thrasher at a BBS stop here a couple years ago but not this time. We heard a Poor-will at our camp high on the south shoulder of Hull Mountain the evening of the 25th. From the looks of the habitat, it would seem likely they're scattered throughout that stretch of country. -- David Fix, Bayside, HUM, Calif

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 -- This morning I birded the 'old logging road' along the Eel River from Pioneer Crossing Bridge to beyond Bucknell Creek and into Lake county a ways. I saw several WILSON'S WARBLERS in this area which I don't often see at this time of year. I also saw Orange-crowned Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and eight Yellow-breasted Chats for a total of six warbler species. There was a lot of dipper sign at the riffle just below Trout Creek and the county line riffle just above Bucknell Creek - but no dippers today. -- George Chaniot

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 -- Not sure if this is unusual but it struck me as so... a pair of OAK TITMICE in the courtyard by the tasting room at Handley Cellars in Philo on Thursday 6/25, midday. I don't recall having seen them in the valley. -- Taylor Ellis

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 -- Today I went to the ponds where the COMMON MOORHEN young were seen. I saw one breeding adult foraging across from me. On arrival I flushed the GREEN HERON. Other birds included; SONG SPARROW, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, ,CALIFORNIA TOWHEE, SPOTTED TOWHEE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BLACK PHOEBE-ONE LOOKING LIKE A FRESH YOUNG BIRD. Surrounding area birds included; ACORN WOODPECKER, TREE SWALLOWS hawking; NUTTALS WOODPECKER; LESSER GOLDFINCHES.
          I missed the floating island-it was not moving . No rattlesnake though I was alert due to Karen's report.
          At the Bottle brush up by the utility road North of the walk-in to the pond, there were numerous ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, and a beautiful SELAPHORUS MALE that repeatedly tried to enter and feed ,but was being harassed and chased away. Back and out the gate at that North pond there were WESTERN BLUEBIRDS; MOURNING DOVES; CANADA GEESE WITH young, and a lone WESTERN GREBE. 7 COMMON RAVENS came down to drink. -- Barbara Dolan

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 -- I had not checked my e-mail for a week (vacationing in Yosemite) when I briefly stopped by Rodman Slough yesterday at 10:00 am, so I was unaware of George Chaniot's sighting of a Least Bittern last week. A couple of minutes after clambering up on the rocks I was pleased to see the LEAST BITTERN flush from reeds about 30 feet away, fly about 20 feet farther into the reeds, and disappear. This morning I learned that Doug Weidemann and his father searched for it at noon yesterday--but they were less fortunate. I also searched fruitlessly for a grackle at Rodman Slough.
          A CASPIAN TERN was on the beach at Austin Park in Clearlake. At the small park east of Park Street in Lakeport I counted 67 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON nests, up from the 34 nests that Doug and I tallied on May 17. Clear Lake now has large numbers of courting WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBES, but I could not find any fledglings among them. -- Floyd Hayes

Thu, 18 June 2009 -- George Chaniot and I met at Mendocino College to look for the two juvenile COMMON MOORHENS at the "rail pond" on the campus of Mendocino College in Ukiah.  George confirmed these birds as the first breeding record of COMO in Mendocino County this past Sunday, 14 June.  We also were interested in trying to refind a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON that George saw on Sunday. 
          We had to wait a while to finally see the two young COMO's emerge from the cattails on the east side of the larger pond that is closest to the buildings. They are growing quickly!  One of the parents was near the north side of the pond.
          There were a few other VERY interesting sightings while we were there. One was the traveling clump of cattails that George mentioned in his previous post on 6/14.  There was no breeze at all, but this clump of living cattails, about 4 ft in diameter, moved back and forth over a 8-10 yard area!  There must be an animal (maybe the beaver I saw another time) propelling the cattails around the pond - a very puzzling sight to see.  Also, we watched dragonflies and snake(s).  CAUTION>>>> a WESTERN RATTLESNAKE was by the path at the south side of the pond.  It was still cool, so the snake moved slowly across the path and into a low area of gray, granite-type rocks. These rocks are easy to see, so take care in that specific area.
          After George had to leave, I stayed on to continue looking for the BCNH. It was not to be found!  On the east side of the smaller pond to the south, I got great looks at a slow moving, 4 ft Gopher Snake.  I got fairly close to the adult COMO on the north side of the "rail" pond.
          Park at the east end of the main parking lot and walk south to the ponds, which are just west of where the entrance road turns north. -- Karen Havlena

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 -- I drove over to Rodman Slough on Clear Lake this morning mainly to look for the Great-tailed Grackles reported recently - no luck. I walked south from the bridge and out to the rocks near the picnic table. There were at least 10 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS in the reeds to the south. After about ten minutes a LEAST BITTERN appeared in the same reeds, then flew by close and landed about 50 feet away. It was about as good a view as you can get. There was a female GADWALL in the rice field at 'Robinson Lake' , and there were at least four CINNAMON TEAL flying over the rice fields along Reclamation Road - both species listed as extremely rare in summer on the Lake County list. -- George Chaniot

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 -- Our kayaking business is at Dolphin Isle on the Noyo, and we have been watching this HARLEQUIN DUCK over the past 2 years. He is one of the first migratories to appear early in the fall and one of the last to leave in the late spring. We see him almost daily including last night. Lately he has been fraternizing with the mallard drakes. In the winter, he tends to congregate with the buffleheads. He has a very squeaky - "rubber ducky" like voice and a personality of his own. We are glad that you noticed him. He is such a handsome bird. Best of days, -- Cate Hawthorne

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 -- Two days ago another, smaller snake came and ate all the babies. One adult House Wren mobbed it over and over, and a couple of Anna's Hummingbirds also hovered around the scene. The fact that only one adult wren was mobbing the snake makes me think something happened to the other parent as well as the babies.
          This morning I opened the nest box, looking for jumping spiders or their egg sacs, and I found the snake still there. At the moment it's torpid and sort of upside down, so I'm not sure of the i.d.
          The reason I was looking for jumping spiders is that House Wrens (mostly males) collect jumping spider egg sacs and attach them to the walls of the nest cavity, and the sticks that make up the nest. When the spiderlings hatch they go around gobbling up mites. (At least that's been observed in nests of captive House Wrens). I was trying to figure out what kind of jumping spiders they collect. -- Kate Marianchild

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 -- Geoff and I saw two ROCK WRENs on the south end of the Lake Mendocino dam this morning. The first was in the lake side rocks side not far from the tower and the second near the rest room. As we headed back, the first wren flew across the dam and south in the direction of the second. A pair maybe? -- Cheryl Watson

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 -- I went back to the Mendocino College pond this morning to check on the COMMON MOORHENS, and I quickly found an adult clambering around in the _top_ of the cattails pecking at the newly emerging 'flowers'. It carried something yellow in its bill deep into the cattails. A few minutes later I saw a largish juvenile with a lot of clinging down emerge from the cattails at the east end of the pond. About 15 minutes later I saw two juveniles at the same time. I heard a lot of rail sounds which I have never heard before coming from their vicinity. This is, I believe, the first confirmed nesting in Mendocino County. Oddly, there is a floating island of cattails in the pond which must have drifted 40 feet while I was there. -- George Chaniot

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 -- A single Male Harlequin on the Noyo River June 12, 2009 about 10 AM and again at 5PM. -- Bud Bernard

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 -- Hi All, The WHITE-FACED IBIS continued at the Ukiah sewage plant today (June 12). At 8:30 this morning it was along the southern edge of the second large pond as you look from south to north (southern most pond is almost dry). It was very well hidden in the vegetation at the edge of the pond. Most of the time it was not visible or only its head would stick up above the vegetation. -- John Luther, Oakland

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 -- This evening at sunset I was walking along West Road in Potter Valley south of the cemetery when a nighthawk flew over low heading toward the western hills. It was silent, but I got a good enough look at the position of the white bar and the pointedness of the wings to be sure that it was a COMMON NIGHTHAWK. It's the first of this species that I've seen in Potter Valley since 10 Jun 1984. [not seen the next three evenings] -- George Chaniot

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 -- This morning I did some productive birding along the Lake Pillsbury road, 240B, between Potter Valley and Soda Creek, concentrating on the Lake County side of the line. My goal for the day was to search the grassy area west of Soda Creek for Grasshopper Sparrow, since on May 31 Chuck Vaughn and I found several at a similar area on the Covelo Road. As it was a weekday morning, there was very little traffic until about 10:00, and I had the place almost to myself.
          Just about 1/4 mile into Lake County I found a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, a pair of HERMIT WARBLERS, and a HOUSE WREN. The female Hermit Warbler was carrying food. At about mile 36.3 I heard a booming SOOTY GROUSE near where I heard one several years ago. Isn't this late in the season?
          I spent about an hour at the grassy hillside. It is located at about mile 32.5 and is called "The Slides" on the Mendocino National Forest map. It also shows as an open area on the DeLorme map p.75, A 4.5. I picked up on a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW before I finished my first thermos of coffee. It appeared briefly on a fence wire on the north side of the road then flew across the road and down the slope a way. Over the next half hour I got two more views downslope. One could be seen singing, and the other seemed to have some food in its craw. These were in the area between the two "Slide Area" signs and near the pi-shaped gate posts at 27282. In the same area there were at least four LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES, 3m 1f, visiting some water in a seep along the road and feeding in the weedy grasses upslope - some of which were bloomed-out fiddlenecks. I also had several close passes by GOLDEN EAGLES and one BALD EAGLE flying upcanyon high overhead. -- George Chaniot

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 -- Greetings Mendobirders- I stopped in at the USTP this afternoon for a quick walk around the ponds. There was a WHITE-FACED IBIS feeding on the edge of the middle pond. It flew to the sludge pond as I approached, and it was still there when I left. About the only other bird of any interest out there is a continuing and very worn BUFFLEHEAD female. -- Chuck Vaughn

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 -- I just wanted to let you know that there has been a male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK visiting my bird feeder on Ford Street in Ukiah. I saw him visit off and on yesterday (Sunday, June 7) in the early morning and again in the afternoon. -- Lois O'Rourke

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 -- We saw at least 3 GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES up the right branch of Rodman Slough near Lakeport on Sunday, 6/7 around noon. -- Mark Bailey

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 -- RED CROSSBILLS are now coming to our feeders in Little River. I've seen at least 2 juveniles. They are very trusting. I've posted two close-up pictures in my Red Crossbill album in the photo section. -- Richard Hubacek

Last revised July 2, 2009
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