Roundup: “Leave it to the birds…”
Tuesday April 9, 2024
From the less messy desk of Amanda Eichstaedt…
Green Heron
When we moved to Olema in 2004 I recall vividly my shock in seeing a group clad in nature-colored clothing standing by our back gate staring into our yard using binoculars. I thought, “What type of place did we move to where people do such things!”
I soon learned that it was the Christmas Bird Count and that these were not creepy perverts, but just your average run of the mill twitchers. We were working on the house and Ken was commuting to SF. We did not have a dog at the time. I was a bit lonely and I began to notice all of the birds in the yard and procured a bird book and started to learn about the local bird population.
I got some bird feeders back then, which also attracted a very acrobatic squirrel (who we called Squirrel-Du-Soliel). When the last episode of avian flu came about I removed the feeders (be sure to clean yours regularly due to the current strain). Feeders or not, the birds come in droves, or would that be flocks?
Green Heron. Thank you Claire Peaslee for helping me identify.
I am not a “birder” but I do enjoy watching the goings on of our avian neighbors. Some bird highlights that we have experienced over the years include watching red tailed hawks fledge in a nearby tree, the occasional heron or egret in the yard, finding a beheaded great horned owl (juvenile that strayed into a more mature owl’s territory), a beautiful mossy pouch that was an oriole nest with bright colored babies, and a green heron perched in the pear tree making some very strange sounds.
I am also fond of sparrows, crows, woodpeckers, towhees (both California and spotted), and the hummingbirds are really fun to watch. Jays and quail also frequent the property. I don’t remember the Brewer’s blackbirds when I first moved here, but they come in droves each spring, building nests pretty much everywhere. When the babies learn to fly, it is very entertaining as they flop around and get the hang of using their wings. And keeping the swallow nests from taking over the eaves is an ongoing task.
Just some really nice clouds in Olema. photo: AE
You can get your bird on with EAC Marin’s Birding and Nature Festival, and at last check there were still some tickets available for a bunch of cool birding and nature related activities.
We hope that all you KWMR “bird’s of a feather” will take it upon yourselves to answer some quick questions in the KWMR Focus Group Survey (link below). Thank you to the folks who have done so already!
And….the Bingo cards are here! If you subscribe to, or purchase the paper copy of our local weekly newspaper, The Point Reyes Light, keep your eye out for the Bingo insert!
It’s all part of the upcoming fun that is associated with KWMR’s 25th Anniversary Pledge Drive and Celebration. All the cool info is below and you can get more information HERE.
Be sure to swing by the Dance Palace Community Center sometime this month to check out the “Raindrop Project” show organized by Susan Hayes. It’s very cool and Lyons Filmer has a raindrop!
I’m getting psyched up for the KWMR 25th shenanigans, and I hope you are, too!
Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager and Executive Director