What Kind of Duck Climbs a Tree?

A Wood Duck, of course. On a trip with the Sea & Sage Audubon Society this morning at Santiago Oaks Regional Park, we found this pair apparently scouting out possible nesting sites:

Male and female Wood Ducks in a Eucalyptus tree

They were being mobbed by Acorn Woodpeckers, but didn’t seem to mind too much. About half a dozen European Starlings were also present and scouting some of the same holes. I hope they lose the competition for the space.

In about 4 hours we logged some 30-odd species including:

  • Wood Duck
  • Great Egret
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Mourning Dove
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Acorn Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Red-naped Sapsucker
  • Nuttall’s Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Cassin’s Kingbird
  • Western Scrub-Jay
  • American Crow
  • Common Raven
  • Tree Swallow
  • Bushtit
  • European Starling
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Spotted Towhee
  • California Towhee
  • Song Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • House Finch
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • Nutmeg Mannikin

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a very good bird for the West Coast, though I’ve had numerous in New York already this year.

Red-naped Sapsucker and Cassin’s Kingbird are both life birds. (I’ve seen Cassin’s Kingbird before but mis-identified it.)

I’ll have to check and see whether the Nutmeg Mannikin is officially countable or not. Update: Nutmeg Mannikin wasn’t countable back in 2008, but in 2013 the California Bird records Committee added it to the state list, so I now count this as #993.

3 Responses to “What Kind of Duck Climbs a Tree?”

  1. red tailed hawk Says:

    […] specimen lurks in our back yard, keeping an eye out for the small varmints that routi1heckofaguy.comWhat Kind of Duck Climbs a Tree? A Wood Duck, of course. On a trip with the Sea &amp Sage Audubon Society this morning at Santiago […]

  2. turkey vulture Says:

    […] said they are doing a lot of damage. Despite reportedly ripping off shingles and …www.wesh.comWhat Kind of Duck Climbs a Tree? A Wood Duck, of course. On a trip with the Sea &amp Sage Audubon Society this morning at Santiago […]

  3. Mokka mit Schlag » #400 Cassin’s Kingbird Says:

    […] updating my life list, I discovered that the Red-naped Sapsucker seen on this month’s Sea & Sage Audubon trip to Santiago Oaks was in fact a life bird. That makes the Cassin’s Kingbird we found a little later #400! (I […]

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