(AKA Songbird Sightings on the Santa Cruz)
Welcome! Each newsletter, I would like a share musings on the wonderful and beautiful reality of the precious bird world we are enveloped in along the Santa Cruz River. To give a background, each blurb will contain experiences and contemplations regarding the birds seen and heard along the Anza Trail area, and a little blurb on highlighted species observed!
As hints of autumn are emerging upon us and settling in, it is a pleasure to see another wave of migratory birds.
Calliope Hummingbird- As a newer repeat caller on the Merlin app, the Calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird native to the United States and Canada, but it is mighty. The Calliope hummingbird has a massive migration of approximately 5,600 miles round trip! The males have a most striking feature, a bright magenta hued ray on their throat that shimmers in the light. I think they are very cute with such short tail feathers and a stout body, making them look like a fuzzy ping pong ball!
Northern Harrier– I was grateful to have been spooked by a low and graceful gliding shadow that emerged in view, as a Northern Harrier quartered the scrubby trees around me. Harriers are unique with a more owl disc shaped face, and a tendency to fly with their wings tilted upward in a V shape. I am exceedingly glad to have live in a wild enough space that would attract such a beautiful raptor.
Lazuli Bunting– Another striking frequent summer visitor, the Lazuli Bunting is named after the brilliant blue gemstone Lapis Lazuli, is a treasured sighting due to its turquoise blue head and throat on the breeding males. These males each create their own individual songs, after they learn from tunes sung by older males, they assemble bits to form their unique melody which they retain for the rest of their lives.
Thank you for taking time to read this first installment and to allow me to start a conversation to express how much I feel these small creatures are invaluable for my sanity. As we know they are such a quintessential indicator of the thriving ecosystem we live in in the Santa Cruz watershed. I pray we may continue to have the blessing in this area of having such a bounty of beneficent birds!
An Amateur Birding Friend Seeking Fellowship in the Flow
“Watching a bird is like observing a small miracle.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe