Pinyon Jay - Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

The Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, is a bird that relies heavily on Pinyon Pine/Juniper habitat, so it's a species seldom seen found along the coast.We often see then on trips to the Mono Lake basin, on the eastern slope of the Sierra. Mono Mills, along 120 east of Mono Lake, is often a good spot to encounter a roving band of these handsome blue jays. As we stood on the Mono Mills viewing platform a group of 30-40 Pinyon Jays flew back and forth from a stand to pine trees down to the dry streambed below, foraging opportunistically on whatever food source they had discovered. Photos below taken in sequence at a distance of about 15-20 yards.

The above bird quickly moved to check below the log, perhaps for termites. Note the bright blue of the head, and how the tail is lighter blue that the back and flanks. The bill is fairly long and straight. 

The birds arrived in groups of up to 5 individuals and seemed to enjoy the a non-competitive feast. The frequent round-trips to nearby pines suggested they might be caching food in advance of winter. Next photo barely shows the white streaking in the throat.

Here 2 more of these very blue corvids have just arrived.

The previous day at Crowley Lake (east of Mammoth) Dave Shuford heard Pinon Jays flying at some distance, and our group got to watch about 150 birds flying above a nearby ridge. It's always a bit of a thrill to encounter these nomadic troupe as they roam the interior mountains of our western states. They call loudly as they fly but are relatively silent on the ground and wary of any approach.

Mono Lake with Shuf and The Vagrants - Day 3

Driving north from Mono Lake we crossed Conway Summit and drove down to Bridgeport, turning right to the Bridgeport Reservoir. Highlight of the drive were the Black-billed Magpies near the turnoff. The cool morning air and absence of wind allowed for good photos.

After scoping the thousands of birds on the lake from a roadside pullout we continued to the Bridgeport RV Park and Boat Launch, where the genial manager allowed us to walk down to the now-diminished lakeshore. As we started down we saw a Cooper's Hawk resting on the concrete boat ramp only 20' away. The hawk lifted off but landed on a table at eye level, seemingly unconcerned by our murmuring and gawking. The spangled brown back denotes a juvenile (thanks, Dave) and the large size suggests a female. Rounded tail, of course.

Nearby we spotted a lone White-faced Ibis foraging in a shallow waste area, ignoring our contingent as well as the hawk. Each step and movement of the ibis reflected a rainbow of color. All credit here to the morning light and a cooperative bird. Apologies for the oil container.

The chestnut color is from a brown form of melanin known as eumelanin. The rainbow of other colors is produced when the microstructure of the feathers refracts the white light and preferentially reinforces certain wavelengths, as we see in thin oil films and hummingbird gorgets.

The Glossy Ibis is quite similar, especially in non-breeding plumage, but the red iris and bare skin are seen only on the White-faced Ibis.

One last shot - choose your favorite.

Below the dam at the north end the group saw a limited variety of birds, highlighted by a few Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. I contented myself with photographing a pretty little green skipper butterfly, which Leslie identified as the Juba Skipper.

After lunch we drove back on 395, turning right at Conway Summit to drive up to the Virginia Lakes area. The Virginia Lakes Resort is welcoming to birders, and their feeders reliably attract Cassin's Finches, members of the Carpodacus finches, commonly called Rosefinches (not Rosy-finches). Note the reddish cap and gray auricular area. The top (culmen) of the upper mandible is almost straight, whereas the culmen on the Purple Finch is convex, and even more so on the House Finch.

Nearby a Thick-billed Fox Sparrow refused to pose in good light:

Seeds on the ground attracted several bright Pine Siskins. Note the sharply pointed bill, a helpful fieldmark when the yellow color is lacking.

We saw lots more of course, including many species of waterfowl. Check it out some day!

Mono Lake with Shuf and the Vagrants

Patti and I just returned from a 3+ day trip at Mono Lake with our good Vagrant friends, led by Dave Shuford and ably planned and organized by Kate Carolan. Weather was fantastic, meaning rain-free and cooler than usual.

Day One was spent south of Mono, starting at Crowley Lake. The morning chill gradually faded as we studied the reservoir with our scopes. Most of the thousands of birds were at some distance. One highlight was watching 2 subadult Sabine's Gulls. Before leaving we walked over to the Leyton Springs area, on the nearby eastern slope above Crowley. There we watched 2 Green-tailed Towhees as they bathed and foraged in the shade near the spring inlet. Distance and deep shade challenged the photographers. 

Day Two highlights were along route 120 on the south side of Mono Lake. At South Tufa we were too late for the Wilson's Phalaropes, but still enjoyed a decent variety of the usual species. As we exited the cars we enjoyed watching a Sage Thrasher on the roof of the restroom building.

Along the shore we watched a few Least Sandpipers feasting on the brine flies.

Heading east on 120 we stopped at the Mono Mills kiosk, where we were greeted by the resident White-breasted Nuthatches. Viewing from the kiosk we watched an animated flock of 30-40 Pinon Jays foraging at the base of some desert scrub plants and then flying back to nearby pines to cache or eat their harvest, which might have been insects. Distance and active movements were a challenge to capture. More fun just to watch the frenzy.

Nearby a White-headed Woodpecker was spotted by Beth, and we all watched in awe as this rare visitor plucked pine nuts and stashed them in bark crevices of an adjacent pine. Too close for me to get a good photo, so I took a short video and extracted a few frames Mottle red on crown may denote a juvenile:

Another corvid completed Mono Mill kiosk show, Clark's Nutcracker:

Day 3 to follow.

Mono Lake with Shuf and the Vagrants

Patti and I just returned from a 3+ day trip at Mono Lake with our good Vagrant friends, led by Dave Shuford and ably planned and organized by Kate Carolan. Weather was fantastic, meaning rain-free and cooler than usual.

Day One was spent south of Mono, starting at Crowley Lake. The morning chill gradually faded as we studied the reservoir with our scopes. Most of the thousands of birds were at some distance. One highlight was watching 2 subadult Sabine's Gulls. Before leaving we walked over to the Leyton Springs area, on the nearby eastern slope above Crowley. There we watched 2 Green-tailed Towhees as they bathed and foraged in the shade near the spring inlet. Distance and deep shade challenged the photographers. 

Day Two highlights were along route 120 on the south side of Mono Lake. At South Tufa we were too late for the Wilson's Phalaropes, but still enjoyed a decent variety of the usual species. As we exited the cars we enjoyed watching a Sage Thrasher on the roof of the restroom building.

Along the shore we watched a few Least Sandpipers feasting on the brine flies.

Heading east on 120 we stopped at the Mono Mills kiosk, where we were greeted by the resident White-breasted Nuthatches. Viewing from the kiosk we watched an animated flock of 30-40 Pinon Jays foraging at the base of some desert scrub plants and then flying back to nearby pines to cache or eat their harvest, which might have been insects. Distance and active movements were a challenge to capture. More fun just to watch the frenzy.

Nearby a White-headed Woodpecker was spotted by Beth, and we all watched in awe as this rare visitor plucked pine nuts and stashed them in bark crevices of an adjacent pine. Too close for me to get a good photo, so I took a short video and extracted a few frames Mottled red on crown may denote a juvenile:

Another corvid completed Mono Mill kiosk show, Clark's Nutcracker:

Day 3 to follow.

Clubtails along Bear Creek

On our July 16 visit to Bear Creek with Tim Manolis and Leslie Flint we were happy to find 2 species of clubtails, The White-belted Ringtail and the Gray Sanddragon.

The White-belted Ringtail, Erpetogomphus compositus, has an well-chosen scientific name, as "compositus" suggests tit has multiple varied features. Indeed, it looks like a colored drawing filled in by a artistic youngster. Gray face, blue-gray eyes, multi-colored stripes on the thorax, white rings on along the black abdomen, and yellow-orange on the last 3 segments of the abdomen that form the "club" on the male. The female otherwise looks similar. 

They often pose for a while on the same rock. This one turned to face the audience. Dragonflies have quite a range of rotation between the head and the thorax. The widely separated eyes is a common feature of the clubtails (see text at end).

The Ringtails, genus Erpetogomphus, make up one of about 13 genera of dragonflies in the family called Clubtails, the Gomphidae (see below). There are 22 species in genus Erpetogomphus, of which 6 are seen in Western U.S. (Paulson) with only 2 in California (Manolis). Ringtails are restricted to the Americas, whereas other clubtails may have a worldwide distribution. Like most Clubtails, the Ringtails are found along rivers and streams. Most of the 22 species have more green color.

A marginal shot of a female White-belted Ringtail found by Leslie.

There is a bridge along the road to Wilbur Hot Springs (resort destroyed by fire), which allows access to gravel-lined shoreline below it that is a favorite habitat of the Gray Sanddragon, Progomphus borealis. This may be a female, lacking a clubbed tail. Note the prominent light-colored flat cerci at the end of the abdomen.

From a 2013 post:

The Clubtails as a family are indeed very diverse, with at least 13 genera seen in the U.S., including Sanddragons, Leaftails, Forktails, Hanging and Pond Clubtails, Common Clubtails, Least Clubtails, Spinylegs, Dragonhunters (gotta love that one!), and Grappletails. All Clubtails have widely separated eyes (check out the close-up here), compared to the eyes of most dragonfly families where the eyes are close and often touch at the midline, and most are found along rivers and streams where they choose a horizontal perch. Worldwide, there are a total of about 90 genera in the Clubtail family, numbering some 900 species. Quite a group to study, although not nearly as numerous as the Skimmer family, Libellulidae.

Dancers along Bear Creek, California

On July 16th Leslie Flint and I joined Tim Manolis on an ode trip along Bear Creek. It's along route 20, west of Williams, and just past the junction where route 16 t-bones into route 20. The day started warm and reached 90+ when we quit at 2 pm. Not a place to go as a first-timer, or alone. Cell service non-existent and access to creekside habitats can be dicey.

We saw 20+ species of odes that day, including 15 dragonfly and roughly 5 damselfly species.

The three main genera of our Pond Damselfies (family Coenagrionidae) are the Bluets, Forktails, and Dancers. The Dancers, genus Argia, hold their folded wings above the abdomen, while Bluets and Forktails hold folded wings alongside the abdomen. Paulson informs us (Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West) that there some 111 species of Dancers in the world, of which 32 are seen in North America. We have 10 dancers in California (Manolis - Dragonflies and Damselflies of California). We tallied 4 of those along Bear Creek that day.

My favorites was Emma's Dancer, Argia emma. which we found along Bear Creek on the west side of route 16 on our way home. the male is a pretty light purple, with blue at the end of the abdomen at S-8-10. The 4 wings neatly overlap each other, which makes for less than clear venation patterns in a photo. Emma's Dancers are damsels of the northwest, extending down to Central California. Found mostly along rivers and large streams.

We found the Sooty Dancer, Argia lugens, at several locations. It's also a dancer of western states, but with a more restricted distribution than Emma's. The lack of color makes for less dramatic photos. Rounded forms on the bottom of S-2 may be water mites.

Another Sooty Dancer posed for a bit. Perhaps someone out there can tell us what the white bits hanging from the end of the abdomen are all about. The perch here may be on Dallis Grass, an invasive weed in wet areas.

Final dancer photo of the day is a marginal shot of what is likely a California or Aztec Dancer. The 2 species are quite similar and require close examination "in hand" by someone with a hand lens and strong experience for an accurate ID. Note how the abdominal segments are mostly blue, and how the black stripe on the side of the thorax is both slender and forked. Both Aztec (Argia nahuana) and California (Argia agriodes) are western species with considerable overlap in their distributions. Aztec's range extends well into Texas.

Lastly, I remembered that the Vivid Dancer, Argia vivida, was the first damselfly I ever photographed. This from a 2005 trip with Rich Stallcup to Mono Lake and points south.

Bluets - genus Enallagama

Note - most of my Odonata research relies on Denis Paulson's great guides, The Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West -- and of the East).

The bluets are members of the genus Enallagama, the American Bluets, and I blame them for discouraging me from exploring more deeply into the damselfly suborder. I learned early on that many bluet species are similar in appearance and often cannot be accurately identified unless they are captured and examined with a hand lens, not something I do when birding.

There are about 37 American Bluets in the US, 25 of them seen in the "west", and 33 in the "east". I checked all my nature photos (25,000) and found that almost all my bluets were tagged as "bluet sp.", reflecting my failure to learn how to sort them out. I took a few shots of bluets on our Florida trip in early April, at the same pond where we found the Eastern Amberwing.  Yesterday I decided it was time to take the plunge and see if I could learn more. 

Here's the first shot, from a pond in Palm Harbor, FL. Looks like a "typical bluet", a damselfly with blue/black eyes, blue and black stripes on the thorax, and a variable pattern of blue and black on the 10 abdominal segments. Here the abdomen pattern is more blue than black, until you get to the 7th segment, which shows more black than blue. S-8, S-9 and S-10 are mostly blue, with some black on S-10. The wings are held to to side of the body, as with most bluets. Immediately behind the eyes there appears to be a pale blue line, in the area where one sees the post-ocular spots on a damselfly. Note also that the terminal appendages at the end of the abdomen appear quite small.

Nearby I photographed another bluet, perhaps the same species. The thorax stripes and the pattern of black and blue on the abdomen segments is quite like the first photo. The appendages here look a bit larger (different perspective?) and the post-ocular spots, now more visible, seem to form a dumbbell shape. You can get a better view of these photos by going the link to my Flickr photos , then clicking on the photo there to enlarge it.

Next I consulted Paulson's book on the Dragonflies and Damselflies of the east, focusing on the bluets. The range maps for each species were a good starting point, and it showed that there were only about 10 Enallagama species found in central Florida west of Tampa Bay. Of these 10 the color of the thorax and the pattern of black/blue on the abdomen quickly eliminated 7 species. That left only Big Bluet, Familiar Bluet and Atlantic Bluet. Hey, it's easier than I thought! I eliminated Big Bluet in part because it favor large lakes, but mostly because the black rings on the big extend forward more along the top of the abdomen segments. The Familiar and Atlantic Bluets share the same pattern on the thorax and abdominal segments. In Familiar the post-optical spots are usually not joined in a line or by a bar, so I favored Atlantic Bluet as the ID. The Atlantic also favors small ponds.

Looked though my older bluet photos and found this one, which I thought was probably a Familiar Bluet, from Marin County, CA. Note the larger terminal appendages, as well as the how the post-ocular spots are not connected by a bar. I'm not real confident with my conclusions and would welcome a review by more experienced eyes.

Chalk-fronted Corporal - Ladona julia

On the advice of Leslie Flint a few years ago we visited Sand Pond to search for dragonflies. We found many Four-spotted Skimmers there then, but dipped on our target species, the Chalk-fronted Corporal, Ladona julia. Perhaps I failed to get the proper search image into my brain, because they are common at Sand Pond starting in mid-June.

On June 14 we walked the trail around the pond and spotted a number of male Chalk-fronted Corporals, mostly in open sunny areas not far from the water. The males are distinctive, with a light blue waxy coating (pruinosity) on the top of the thorax and  the proximal abdominal segments. The wings are quite plain, in contrast to many more ornate species in the skimmer family (Libellulidae).

I enlarged the above photo to show the base of the wings where they join the thorax, to show small black areas with some adjacent brown color., the only markings on these otherwise plain wings, but all the better to show off the venation.

After some searching I finally found a Chalk-fronted Corporal perching briefly on some vegetation near the water. 

The Corporals, genus Ladona, are a small North American genus sometimes placed with the King Skimmers, Libellula. There are 3 species of Corporals, but this in the only one whose range extends to Northern California.

For esoterica-inclined souls (you are probably one if you read this far), the rank of corporal has an insignia of two bars. I figured that referred to the 2 broad white bars on the top of the thorax as seen above. Then I read that the use of "corporal" for this genus refers rather to the 2 narrow bars on top of the thorax seen in females and immature of the genus, and not to the broad white bars in these photos, which actually do look like a corporal's bars. I was still puzzled, as the top of the thorax is clearly not the "front", so why call it chalk-fronted? Well, turns out that the "top" here is also the "front", as it refers to the part of the thorax in front of the wings! Go figure.

Give me a simple name like Exclamation Damsel any day.

Rambur's Forktail - Wheel

In summertime birding slows down while we await the returning shorebirds, but hopefully we still get to enjoy the species that breed in our area. The warm days may not be ideal for birding, but the dragonflies love it, and many birders take time to look for them near creeks and ponds.

Ishnura is the genus of the Forktails. Of the 14 forktail species seen in the U.S. 8 can be found in California. I think the mating pair here are an example of Rambur's Forktail, Ishnura ramburii. It''s range barely includes southeast California, but is a common across the southern tier of the U.S, including this twosome we found in Palm Harbor, Florida, early April 2016..

The male (above) is clasping the female behind her head, while she bends her abdomen sharply forward to receive sperm from where they have been stored in his second abdominal segment. This "ring", or "wheel" position is seen in many species of damselflies and dragonflies during mating.. Note how the coloration of the female here strongly mirrors that of the male, a color phase describe as "andromorphic". Andromorph females are supposed to be pretty common among Rambur's Forktails.

There are 69 species of forktails worldwide (Paulson, Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West). Many have largely black abdomens when viewed from above, often with blue in the last few abdominal segments.