Winter is in full force here in the San Bernardino Mountains. It can be a little cold, but winter birding is hot! While much of the songbird population departs for warmer places in the fall, many species of waterfowl flock to our lakes and ponds to spend the winter. On a recent outing we sighted ruddy, ring-necked, and redhead ducks, with some males sporting breeding plumage. Also seen in abundance were American goldeneye, canvasbacks, gadwall, and American wigeon, along with a few hooded mergansers.
Eared and pied-billed grebes were mixed in with copious numbers of American coots as a great blue heron patrolled the shoreline. Speaking of shorelines, the raucous calls of small flock of red-winged blackbirds caught our attention, but only revealed quick glimpses of themselves as they darted in and out of a patch of reeds. Nearby, a trio of Steller's jays seemed determined to create more noise than the blackbirds, and at that, we believe they succeeded! A few acorn woodpeckers dive-bombed the jays, helping to explain the cacophony we heard. A red-shouldered hawk observed from the bough of a towering ponderosa pine, seeming disinterested in the squabble between the woodpeckers and the jays. As we made our way up the trail, a number of dark-eyed juncos flitted about in the understory, staying just ahead of us. Our final sighting of the morning was a pair of spotted towhees, their rufous sides helping them blend in with the leaf litter they kicked about in search of their next meal.
It won't be long before spring migrants and summer residents begin to appear. In the meantime, we'll continue to enjoy the species that winter here in the lovely San Bernardino Mountains.
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