Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

Working Birds

December 15-20, 2013

I've been spending a lot of time at work over the last few weeks.  I haven't had much of a chance to get out.  I decided to take my camera to the office and try to grab some pictures at lunch.  I caught a few birds in the parking lot, but a couple of times I drove down to Pleasanton Ridge for little lunch hour nature hikes.  It was a great way to spend a lunch hour, I suspect I'll make it a regular habit for a while.

Dark-eyed Junco -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

There are two large trees in the Pleasanton Ridge parking lot.  There's an insane amount of activity around those two trees.  The first thing I noticed were all the ground squirrel holes.  A small city of rodents must live under these trees.  After seeing the holes I noticed the squirrels themselves.  They're very skittish.  Then I realized the ground was moving.  It was swarming with little dark-eyed juncos.  They blended right in with the dried leaves.

Acorn Woodpecker -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

White-breasted Nuthatch

After watching the juncos for a while, I heard knocking in the trees.  A woodpecker!  Who doesn't like woodpeckers?  I found three acorn woodpeckers working one of the trees over.  Those little guys work hard.  Then I heard a knocking low on the trunk, much lower than where the acorn woodpeckers were storing their acorns, and I saw the head  of a nuttall's woodpecker poking around the edge of the tree.  Then a nuthatch darted around from the other side of the tree.  There were other birds darting in out of the trees.  What a crazy amount of activity for just a couple of old trees.

Nuttall's Woodpecker -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

Western Scrub-jay

There's a lot of activity up on the trail as well, but to really get a hold of it you've got to stop and allow yourself to become part of the environment.  The trees and bushes are full of sparrows that will drop down to forage once you've become part of the landscape.  I heard frogs croaking on one of the grassy hillsides, but I couldn't find the frogs.  I found a little hole, I suspect they were tucked down inside it.

Golden-crowned Sparrow -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

Shoot, I almost left out the cedar waxwing I saw at work.  What a pretty bird,  He was too small to get a good look at when he was right in front of me.  Once I got home and saw the pictures, though, I became an instant fan.  What a beautiful bird.  Great hair, too.

Cedar Waxwing -- Pleasanton, CA