Our friend Tess told us about this wonderful 11-acre preserve 25 minutes from our house. The free tickets are limited and by reservation only for just a few hours on some Saturdays. We were thrilled to get some for this weekend.
We were greeted by a lovely host to get checked in. He welcomed us first-timers and humored us by sharing in our excitement about our family Big Year. Turned out he was born in Minnesota and lived there for a few years. He pointed to a notebook on the table that had a handwritten list of birds seen there recently and when I squealed about the Oak Titmouse – which we haven’t seen yet – he let me know they were nesting nearby. We were off to a great start!
Along the trail within the reserve boundaries, we experienced three native plant communities: Coastal Sage Scrub, Southern Willow Riparian Forest, Pond Habitat and Coast Live Oak Woodland.
Spotted Towhee 
We walked the loop twice during our 90 minute visit, leaving a little time to wait for that Titmouse to come feed it’s chicks. The host saw it minutes before, but we didn’t see it around the nesting box. I took a photo of this bird, but these are the only two shots, so unless someone here can ID from this blurry closeup, we won’t count it.
Oak Titmouse Nesting Box 
Oak Titmouse? 😉
When we didn’t have luck with the Titmouse, the host asked us if we’d seen the owls…
Also seen but not featured above: Mourning Dove, Bushtits, an unidentifiable Sparrow, Crows, Red-Tailed Hawk, and Hummingbirds.
Many thanks to Tess for the recommendation and we wish the hosts good birding along their own Big Year. We will have to head back soon!
The Big Year 2021 
1 Comment