BIRDWATCHING: Sepulveda Dam Wildlife Refuge

California Thrasher 

California Thrasher

The most impressive sighting of the morning, a California thrasher, singing a distinctive territory-defining song for a half-hour displaying itself on the top of a bare branched shrub.

It was soft brown - I could only get a back and profile view, and the curve of the bill was  very distinctive, perhaps because I was viewing it while it was vocalizing so loudly.  Sable's illustration of this bird doesn't really show the size or down-curve; it's scythe-like.  This bird is only found in California and Baja.

I've only seen it once before, many years ago, and it was on the ground and obscured by much chapparal.  

The song I heard was not raucous and was louder and sweeter than the recordings I've listened to today.  

Two other sightings today were fine.  A green heron sat about 10 feet away from me along the lakeshore, allowing me to enjoy the rich chestnut and green coloration.  The eye is distinctively yellow.

Hunkered down along the shoreline I found a black-capped night heron.

 The bird remained hunkered down for many minutes, waiting beside the shoreline for a snack. It's a stocky, staunch heron, phegmatic quality.

Like most visits, I found a great egret, a great blue heron along the lakeshore, and saw a kingfisher flash quickly into the trees.


A medium-size osprey also swooped over the lake several times, too, a first sighting for me for that little lake.  



Songbirds were not plentiful, however.