Butte County Green Big Day. May 16, 2010

The Birds Kept Coming But the Body Said Stop

Our goal was to find and record as many Butte County bird species as we could in 24 hours using only human power; a completely non-motorized ’Green’ Big Day. In the end there were still more birds to see, but there was a shortage of energy left to find them!

We began just after midnight about 2 miles above Jonesville, playing owl tapes to deaf ears. After 4 hours of sleep we roused at 4:55 to try for owls again but the sky was already quite light and flocks of evening grosbeaks were vocalizing loudly. Flycatchers, warblers and woodpeckers joined the dawn chorus and over the two hours between Jonesville and Butte Meadows we were treated to:

Mountain quail
Osprey
Killdeer
Wilson’s snipe
Rock pigeon
Mourning dove
Red-breasted sapsucker
White-headed woodpecker
Northern flicker
Olive-sided flycatcher
Western wood peewee
Hammond’s flycatcher
Pacific slope flycatcher
Warbling vireo
Steller’s jay
Common raven
Tree swallow
Mountain chickadee
Red-breasted nuthatch
Brown creeper
Golden-crowned kinglet
Townsend’s solitaire
American robin
Cedar waxwing
Yellow-rumped warbler
Hermit warbler
Macgillivray’s warbler
Western tanager
Spotted towhee
Chipping sparrow
Fox sparrow
Song sparrow
Dark-eyed junco
Black-headed grosbeak
Red-winged blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Pine siskin
Evening grosbeak

From here we mounted up and rode the 12 mostly downhill miles to highway 32, finding additional montane species including:

Mallard
Cassin’s vireo
White-breasted nuthatch
Winter wren
Hermit thrush
Orange-crowned warbler
Nashville warbler
Black-throated gray warbler
Townsend’s warbler

At the intersection of Hwy 32 and the road to Butte Meadows we stopped briefly to shed some clothing (which we hid in the crotch of a tree to be retrieved later) and snack. Suddenly Liam called out “Dad! Do you hear that WINTER WREN”? I cocked my head and could barely make out a long, tittering song. “Maybe” I replied. A hundred yards away, across the highway, over an embankment and down into an overgrown creek we found the singer, stubby tail cocked, ‘teed-up’ in the blackberry brambles and singing his heart out. Not an easy bird to find in Butte County - we were thrilled to add him to our growing list, and high-fived each other briefly before resuming our trek.

The next 35 downslope miles to Chico, including a stop in Forest Ranch, took approximately two hours and added the following species:

California quail
Turkey vulture
Red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
Band-tailed pigeon
Anna’s hummingbird
Acorn woodpecker
Nuttall’s woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Black phoebe
Ash-throated flycatcher
Western kingbird
Hutton’s vireo
Western scrub jay
American crow
Horned lark
Oak titmouse
Bushtit
Rock wren
Bewick’s wren
House wren
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Western bluebird
Wrentit
Northern mockingbird
European starling
Phainopepla
Wilson’s warbler
California towhee
Lark sparrow
Western meadowlark
Brewer’s blackbird
Bullock’s oriole
Purple finch
House finch
Lesser goldfinch
American goldfinch

Once on the valley floor we turned south and immediately found our target ROCK WRENand HORNED LARK but dipped on the single remaining Lewis’ woodpecker that had been along Potter Road just a week earlier. We then headed up Butte Creek Canyon to the Preserve where we added:

Red-shouldered hawk
Common moorhen
Spotted sandpiper
Violet-green swallow
Northern rough-winged swallow
Cliff swallow
Yellow warbler
Yellow-breasted chat
House sparrow

Standing on a narrow point, the creek on one side and a 4 foot drop into a blackberry tangle on the right I spied a SPOTTED SANDPIPER downstream and, turning to shout the news to Liam slid off the point and into the berries, relying on my teammate to pull me out…this being my second fall of the day!

Our next destination was the Chico Oxidation Ponds perhaps 7 miles away. We stopped into a couple of convenience stores along the way to supplement our meager supplies as energy levels began to fall, but a sighting of a leucistic BLUE GROSBEAK across the street from 3620 River Road buoyed us, as did EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE and a number of new finds at the ponds:

Gadwall
Cinnamon teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked duck
Ruddy duck
Ring-necked pheasant
Wild turkey
Pied-billed grebe
American bittern
Great egret
American coot
Belted kingfisher
Bank swallow
Barn swallow
Marsh wren
Yellow-headed blackbird

From the Oxidation ponds our next goal was the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. The winding trip down River Road and Seven Mile Lane was a grind but the diagnostic “fitz-bew’ of a WILLOW FLYCATCHER in the willows just north of the refuge provided a short jolt of energy, as did breeding plumaged WILSON’S PHALAROPE and a tardy SNOW GOOSE mixed with a flock of honkers. Also along the road were

Snow goose
Canada goose
American white pelican
Great blue heron
Willow flycatcher
Common yellowthroat
Lazuli bunting
Great-tailed grackle

The standing water of just a week ago had evaporated from one of the south ponds at the unit and so had the black-bellied plovers and black terns of just seven days ago. Still present here though were a few additions including:

Northern pintail
Cattle egret
American avocet
Wilson’s phalarope

At 6 p.m., with the final stop on our hoped for itinerary 10 miles away and strong headwind blowing, we decided to call it a day. Adding up our list from a bench with a view of mountains and valley we were thrilled with the final totals: 13.5 hours of birding, 3 miles by foot, 72 miles on bikes, 125 species.

Complete List For The Day

125 Total

Snow goose
Canada goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon teal
Northern pintail
Canvasback
Ring-necked duck
Ruddy duck
Ring-necked pheasant
Wild turkey
Mountain quail
California quail
Pied-billed grebe
American white pelican
American bittern
Great blue heron
Great egret
Cattle egret
Turkey vulture
Osprey
Red-shouldered hawk
Red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
Common moorhen
American coot
Killdeer
American avocet
Spotted sandpiper
Wilson’s snipe
Wilson’s phalarope
Rock pigeon
Band-tailed pigeon
Eurasian collared-dove
Mourning dove
Anna’s hummingbird
Belted kingfisher
Acorn woodpecker
Red-breasted sapsucker
Nuttall’s woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
White-headed woodpecker
Northern flicker
Olive-sided flycatcher
Western wood peewee
Willow flycatcher
Hammond’s flycatcher
Pacific slope flycatcher
Black phoebe
Ash-throated flycatcher
Western kingbird
Cassin’s vireo
Hutton’s vireo
Warbling vireo
Steller’s jay
Western scrub jay
Yellow-billed magpie
American crow
Common raven
Horned lark
Tree swallow
Violet-green swallow
Northern rough-winged swallow
Bank swallow
Cliff swallow
Barn swallow
Mountain chickadee
Oak titmouse
Bushtit
Red-breasted nuthatch
White-breasted nuthatch
Brown creeper
Rock wren
Bewick’s wren
House wren
Winter wren
Marsh wren
Golden-crowned kinglet
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Western bluebird
Townsend’s solitaire
Hermit thrush
American robin
Wrentit
Northern mockingbird
European starling
Cedar waxwing
Phainopepla
Orange-crowned warbler
Nashville warbler
Yellow warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler
Black-throated gray warbler
Townsend’s warbler
Hermit warbler
Macgillivray’s warbler
Common yellowthroat
Wilson’s warbler
Yellow-breasted chat
Western tanager
Spotted towhee
California towhee
Chipping sparrow
Lark sparrow
Fox sparrow
Song sparrow
Dark-eyed junco
Black-headed grosbeak
Blue grosbeak
Lazuli bunting
Red-winged blackbird
Western meadowlark
Yellow-headed blackbird
Brewer’s blackbird
Great-tailed grackle
Brown-headed cowbird
Bullock’s oriole
Purple finch
House finch
Pine siskin
Lesser goldfinch
American goldfinch
Evening grosbeak
House sparrow