I decided to celebrate my recent Audubon Society membership with a trip up to one of their wildlife reserves in California. The Kern River Preserve is located on CA-173, which branches off of CA-14 just south of the junction with US-395. Part of a system of Kern River Valley wildlife refuges that span several hundred thousand acres, the KRP itself is a 1200-acre sanctuary for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife. Overall I was able to photograph 3 species of butterfly, 7-12 species of birds (not quite sure on some of them… they may be the same), as well as some deer.
These are my first real bird identifications, and I’m still getting use to my field guide. If I have mis-identified any, please let me know.
Red Winged Blackbird (Aegelaius phoeniceus). This is one of the most populous birds in California.
I’m not sure on this, but I’m going to ID it as a young Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna). Anna’s Hummingbird is very populous in Southern California, so that is one sign, and also the young look like the female and often are missing the chin spots, which this one is. Not 100% positive though.
Oof, hummingbirds are tough. Ok, from the females of Anna’s Hummingbird, the Black-Chinned Hummingbird, and the Calliope Hummingbird… I eliminate Calliope based on the shape of the body, and the fact that the wings while perched do not extend beyond the tail. Between the remaining two, I’m going to call female Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) based on the shape of the head and a close call on the wingtip comparison.
This bird I believe is the male Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). I almost went with American Goldfinch, but note the green-gray back. The American Goldfinch has the same yellow body, black forehead, and black wings, but is solid yellow behind the forehead.
Hard to say with only the head showing, but I would guess a female Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor. I base this on the bluish head, white belly area, and affinity for the next box.
It’s a bit far away, but I say this is a House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). Birding more than anything has pushed me more and more towards getting a new telephoto! This 200mm works, but a 300 or 400 would be better.
Unidentified butterfly.
