May 3

On our Godwit Days adventure we saw Band-tailed Pigeon. Like city pigeons, these birds bob their heads and are plump. The Band-tailed has a white stripe on the nape of its neck and a yellow bill with a dark tip. Head and breast are purplish, the rest gray and black. These birds eat grain, and, indeed, we saw them near Lake Earle in Del Norte County, in the heart of farm country. And we saw an Anna’s Hummingbird. The bright red head of the male is striking on these tiny, hovering creatures.

And we saw swallows. We saw Purple Martins, with the slim bodies, pointy wings and forked tail so swallow-like. They are, as advertised, glossy and purple/blue. They nest in old woodpecker holes, and are rumored to be declining in the west a bit because of competition with starlings. We saw the Tree Swallows we have already logged in. And we saw Violet-green Swallows, more greenish blue than the Martins and with white on cheek and neck and undersides. Finally, we saw Barn Swallows. Like the Violet-green, these swallows nest in colonies. They are brown with a reddish yellow throat and whitish/buff underparts. The tail on this swallow is forked much more deeply than the other swallows we saw. These swallows use mud to build their nests – present in abundance in the Arcata Marsh. All these creatures catch their insect diet on the wing; they apparently have bristles in their mouths that help them catch the insects as they swoop and dive and skim. Need I say we didn’t see those bristles?

We saw Black-capped Chickadees. These are small birds that hop about in bushes and trees, sometimes hanging upside down. They are gray and buff, with a black cap and bib. And they call with a sound somewhat like ‘chickadee-dee-dee. We saw a Hermit Thrush, a shy and modest little bird, gray-brown with a cinnamon tail and some speckling on the upper breast. They are hard to see, often foraging on the ground, but their songs are clear and lovely, rather Bach-like.

Our Bird of the Day on Saturday was the Marsh Wren, found in tall marshy grasses of the Arcata Marsh. They are small brown birds with a white eye stripe and a black and white striped triangle on their back. The males build woven nests above the water before mating. Our favorite was standing on top of his bush, beak wide open and tilted up, singing out his advertisement: ‘I may not be much to look at, but I’m a hell of a carpenter!!!’ A very dear little bird.

Total to 5/3: 108