Into the Greenhorns - Day 7

This ten day bicycle-birding trip was way beyond anything I had done in the past. For example, I had never done a trip of over three days or over 200 miles before. On May 3, I got up to face the longest steepest climb I had ever pedalled on my bicycle - my first single climb of over 3,000 feet in elevation gain. I was set to cycle from just over 2,600 feet at Wofford Heights to over 6,000 feet at the summit of Highway 155, in just seven miles!  There were posted grades of 13%. I had driven it in the past and had shifted to my lowest gear to avoid burning my brakes on the way down. Locals shook their heads when I told them I intended to cycle up to the summit at Alta Sierra. They lumped it together with the ride up to the lake from Bakersfield - sane people didn't ride their bikes on either road.


I got a good night's sleep and got up early for the climb since I was feeling a little intimidated not only about the amount of climb, but the short distance in which it was to be accomplished. I ate breakfast in my room and packed a range of clothes since the forecast was 80's at the lake, but there was snow on the ground where I was to be birding near the summit. I decided I would take my time and bird along the way as I climbed from the town of Wofford Heights, up through oak woodland, chaparral, and eventually into the conifers of the higher mountains.

Half-awake high school students were walking down the hill at 7 AM, as I was starting up the first less steep stretch. After I got through the cluster of homes the real climb began. As I pedalled uphill I could hear the "wacka, wacka" of Acorn Woodpeckers and the robin like song of the Black-headed Grosbeak urging me on. Pedalling uphill is great for listening to birds. (Downhill, however is not, with the air rushing through the helmet and by my ears - drowning out most vocalizations.)

Less than half way up I heard a Pygmy Owl whistle in the riparian woods in the canyon below me, along with other birds I had not heard in the prior three days around Lake Isabella such as Hutton's Vireo and Wrentit. My target species on the way up was Green-tailed Towhee which I was told could be found in the chaparral where the power lines cross the highway. After 4 locations that fit the description and no Green-taileds, I stopped playing the recording and concentrated on getting to the top. I had brief excitement from the song of Fox Sparrows (song sounds a lot like Green-tailed, to my ear) and saw several Nashville and MacGillivray's Warblers. I passed the 4,000 foot sign feeling fine and about the time I felt like I would never see the 5,000 foot sign I got to the top, at just over 6,000 feet. I had taken so much time, about 2 hours, that I was not really very tired from the climb. In the conifers on the way up I had heard calls and rattles of White-headed Woodpeckers, the "chickadee-dee-dee" of the Mountain Chickadee and the nasal "ank" of the Red-breasted Nuthatch (BIGBY ## 259, 260 and 261). Some Caltrans workers were talking at their vehicles by the pictured sign near the top when I arrived. One came over to say "Hi" and gave me info on the local roads.


I took the dirt forest service road that went north from the summit, toward Tiger Flat. It was closed due to snow, but I could pedal in for a ways before the snow covered the road. This was a great bird stop. Two of the first birds I saw were male and female Pileated Woodpeckers (BIGBY # 262)! I had not seen these in Kern County before and I had not expected them on my trip. They were very shy and I could not manage a photo, but I did take a picture of a hole they were working in a tree stump (above). In that same general area were Hermit Warbler, Purple and Cassin's Finch (BIGBY # 263), Brown Creeper, White-headed Woodpecker, Mountain Chickadee, Band-tailed Pigeon, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. After I came to big area of snow, I turned around and took the paved road south toward Shirley Meadows.


The road to Shirley Meadows was a very quiet and an easy uphill climb to the Alta Sierra Ski Resort at 7,000 feet. I passed large areas of snow in shaded areas in the trees with completely snow free slopes across the road in the sun. In one of the open sunny areas I heard a Green-tailed Towhee (left) (BIGBY # 264) call in some bushes near an overlook that looked down on area Highway 155 climbs through and the lake far below. I sat on a sun warmed granite boulder and ate some snacks and photographed the towhee. As I sat there enjoying things, a raptor went right over my head and toward the ridge on the other side of the highway. This large accipiter with fluffy white undertail and gray underparts was a Northern Goshawk (BIGBY # 265) - another unexpected find!



I finished the ride to Shirley Meadows (left), which was mostly covered with snow, and walked around there a bit. I had hoped for maybe a nutcracker near the top, but no luck. I did hear a singing Chipping Sparrow (BIGBY # 266) although its rattly buzzy vocalization is not much of a song to me (but to Mrs. Chipping I am sure it is wonderful). I got his photo (above) after chasing him around for awhile and headed back down. On the ride back to the summit I stopped because of a loud woodpecker drilling noise and saw a White-headed Woodpecker (below) drilling a large hole right next to a stuffed fabric owl decoy on a cabin still boarded up for the winter. I think that the owners got the phony owl to scare of the woodpeckers (see the metal patch over a prior hole), but the woodpecker was not impressed.


There was also a couple of Townsend's Solitaires on the way back to Highway 155. One gave a beautiful and complex song that I had forgotten; normally I have only heard their simple whistle call note. I took my time, stopping again at the overlook for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch. It was warm in the sun and the day was beautiful up in the Greenhorns. I took side roads on the descent on 155 and got back to Wofford Height in the mid afternoon, stopping a couple of times on the way down to rest my hands which were tired from braking and to cool off and adjust my brakes. The ride to Lake Isabella Motel was hot and not very birdy. I arrived at the motel at about 4 PM and, after unpacking, I went into town for dinner at a Vietnamese/Mexican Restaurant ("My Place" - not very Vietnamese (e.g. Chow Mein and Chop Suey!) but I had a good curried chicken soup) and then went grocery shopping for the next day's breakfast and ride, before retiring for the night.

Elfin Forest Big Sit List

All Time Elfin Forest Big Sit List (2009 = x):

_x_ 1) Red-throated Loon, ___ 2) Pacific Loon, ___ 3) Common Loon, _x_ 4) Pied-billed Grebe,_x_ 5) Eared Grebe, _x_ 6) Western Grebe, ___ 7) Clark’s Grebe, _x_ 8) White Pelican, _x_ 9) Brown Pelican, _x_ 10) Double-crested Cormorant, _x_ 11) Brandt’s Cormorant, _x_ 12) Pelagic Cormorant, _x_ 13) Great Blue Heron, _x_ 14) Great Egret, _x_ 15) Snowy Egret, _x_ 16) Black-crowned Night Heron, ___ 17) White-faced Ibis, ___ 18) Snow Goose, ___ 19) Cackling Goose,___ 20) Canada Goose, ___ 21) Brant, ___ 22) Gadwall, ___ 23) Wood Duck, _x_ 24) Green-winged Teal, _x_ 25) Mallard, _x_ 26) Northern Pintail, _x_ 27) Blue-winged Teal, _x_ 28) Cinnamon Teal, ___ 29) Canvasback, _x_ 30) Northern Shoveler, _x_ 31) American Wigeon, ___ 32) Eurasian Wigeon, ___ 33) Ring-necked Duck, ___ 34) Greater Scaup, ___ 35) Lesser Scaup, ___ 36) Surf Scoter, _x_ 37) Ruddy Duck, ___ 38) Red-breasted Merganser, ___ 39) Bufflehead, _x_ 40) Turkey Vulture, _x_ 41) Osprey, _x_ 42) White-tailed Kite, _x_ 43) Northern Harrier, _x_ 44) Golden Eagle, _x_ 45) Sharp-shinned Hawk, _x_ 46) Cooper’s Hawk, _x_ 47) Red-shouldered Hawk, _x_ 48) Red-tailed Hawk, ___ 49) Ferruginous Hawk, _x_ 50) American Kestrel, _x_ 51) Merlin, ___ 52) Prairie Falcon, _x_ 53) Peregrine Falcon, _x_ 54) California Quail, _x_ 55) Virginia Rail, _x_ 56) Sora, ___ 57) Black Rail, _x_ 58) American Coot, _x_ 59) Black-bellied Plover, ___ 60) Pacific Golden Plover, _x_ 61) Semipalmated Plover, _x_ 62) Killdeer, _x_ 63) American Avocet, _x_ 64) Greater Yellowlegs, _x_ 65) Lesser Yellowlegs, _x_ 66) Willet, ___ 67) Whimbrel, _x_ 68) Long-billed Curlew, _x_ 69) Marbled Godwit, ___ 70) Ruddy Turnstone, _x_ 71) Red Knot, ___ 72) Sanderling, _x_ 73) Western Sandpiper, _x_ 74) Least Sandpiper, _x_ 75) Dunlin, _x_ 76) Short-billed Dowitcher, _x_ 77) Long-billed Dowitcher, _x_ 78) Wilson’s Snipe, ___ 79) Red-necked Phalarope, ___ 80) Pectoral Sandpiper, ___ 81) Parasitic Jaeger, ___ 82) Pomerine Jaeger, _x_ 83) Heerman’s Gull, ___ 84) Bonaparte’s Gull, _x_ 85) Ring-billed Gull, _x_ 86) California Gull, _x_ 87) Western Gull, ___ 88) Glaucous-winged Gull, ___ 89) Sabine’s Gull, ___ 90) Herring Gull, _x_ 91) Caspian Tern, _x_ 92) Royal Tern, _x_ 93) Elegant Tern, ___ 94) Common Tern, _x_ 95) Forster’s Tern, ___ 96) Black Skimmer, ___ 97) Band-tailed Pigeon, _x_ 98) Rock Pigeon , _x_ 99) Mourning Dove, ___ 100) White-winged Dove, _x_ 101) Eurasian Collared Dove, ___ 102) Barn Owl, ___ 103) Short-eared Owl, _x_ 104) Great Horned Owl, ___ 105) Burrowing Owl, ___ 106) Vaux’s Swift, _x_ 107) Anna’s Hummingbird, _x_ 108) White-throated Swift, _x_ 109) Belted Kingfisher, ___ 110) Acorn Woodpecker, _x_ 111) Northern Flicker, _x_ 112) Downy Woodpecker, ___ 113) Nuttall’s Woodpecker, ___ 114) Pacific-slope Flycatcher, _x_ 115) Black Phoebe, _x_ 116) Say’s Phoebe, ___ 117) Loggerhead Shrike, _x_ 118) Tree Swallow, ___ 119) Cliff Swallow, ___ 120) Violet-green Swallow, ___ 121) Barn Swallow, ___ 122) Steller’s Jay, _x_ 123) Western Scrub Jay, _x_ 124) American Crow, _x_ 125) Chest.-backed Chickadee, _x_ 126) Wrentit, ___ 127) Oak Titmouse, _x_ 128) Bushtit, _x_ 129) House Wren, _x_ 130) Bewick’s Wren, _x_ 131) Marsh Wren, _x_ 132) Ruby-crowned Kinglet, _x_ 133) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, ___ 134) Western Bluebird, _x_ 135) Hermit Thrush, _x_ 136) Northern Mockingbird, _x_ 137) California Thrasher, _x_ 138) American Pipit, ___ 139) Red-throated Pipit, ___ 140) Cedar Waxwing, _x_ 141) European Starling, ___ 142) Warbling Vireo, _x_ 143) Hutton’s Vireo, _x_ 144) Orange-crowned Warbler, ___ 145) Blackpoll Warbler, _x_ 146) Yellow-rumped Warbler, ___ 147) Palm Warbler, ___ 148) Black-throated Gray Warbler, ___ 149) Townsend’s Warbler, _x_ 150) Common Yellowthroat, ___ 151) Yellow Warbler, _x_ 152) Spotted Towhee, _x_ 153) California Towhee, _x_ 154) Fox Sparrow, ___ 155) Savannah Sparrow, _x_ 156) Lincoln’s Sparrow, _x_ 157) Song Sparrow, ___ 158) Chipping Sparrow, _x_ 159) Golden-crowned Sparrow, _x_ 160) White-crowned Sparrow, _x_ 161) Western Meadowlark, _x_ 162) Red-winged Blackbird, _x_ 163) Brewer’s Blackbird, ___ 164) Great-tailed Grackle, _x_ 165) Brown-headed Cowbird, _x_ 166) House Sparrow, _x_ 167) House Finch, ___ 168) Purple Finch, ___ 169) Pine Siskin, ___ 170) Lawrence’s Goldfinch, _x_ 171) American Goldfinch, _x_ 172) Lesser Goldfinch