Robinson Canyon/Elk Heights Burn Field Trip (Sept. 9, 2008) Highlights

One highlight was seeing a Sooty Grouse fly thru the woods. As we watched the area where it had come from,  one person spotted a Great Horned Owl perched low to the ground up a slope into the woods. It was probably only 3-4' above the ground. Then a second bigger one, probably the female, was seen perched about 6' to the right and up about 2'. A little while later another Sooty Grouse flew off. Another surprise was seeing only one swallow, a Barn, all day. We had a number of Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawks. In the burn area we saw no woodpeckers, only Cassin's Finch, Red- and White-throated Nuthatches, Mountain Chickadees and a couple of Cooper's, probably why there weren't more birds in the area.

Fifty bird species were seen:
 
GALLINACEOUS
Sooty Grouse (3)
 
NEW WORLD QUAILS
California Quail
 
VULTURE
Turkey Vulture (2)
 
RAPTORS
Osprey (2)
Cooper's Hawk (5)
Red-Tailed Hawk (3)
American Kestrel (2)
 
DOVE'S, PIGEONS
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
 
OWLS
Great Horned Owl (2)
  
SWIFTS
Swift species (3)
 
HUMMINGBIRDS
Hummingbird species (1)
  
WOODPECKERS
Red-naped Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

FLYCATCHERS
Western Wood-Pewee
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
 
VIREOS
Cassin's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
 
CORVIDS
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
 
SWALLOWS
Barn Swallow (1)
 
CHICKADEES
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickdee
 
NUTHATCHES
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch (2)

KINGLETS
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)
 
THRUSHES
Townsend's Solitaire (4)
American Robin
 
STARLING
European Starling
 
WAXWINGS
Cedar Waxwing
 
WARBLERS
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
 
TANAGER
Western Tanager
 
SPARROWS
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
 
BLACKBIRDS
Brewer's Blackbird
 
FINCHES
Purple Finch
Cassin's Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak