This past Wednesday I had another opportunity to share some of Humboldt Counties' diverse montane birdlife to another out of state birder, New York resident, Doug Happ. Doug was traveling to California to go on some of Debi Shearwater's pelagics and was planning to visit a friend in Fort Bragg in between his 3 scheduled Shearwater trips. He had never birded in Northwestern California before and noted some species on my website and my various web postings that he hadn't seen before so he contacted me and set up a date to take him out and show him some new birds and a new area of California. Like some of my other recent clients from back east he wanted to see species like Sooty Grouse, Red-breasted Sapsucker, White-headed Woodpecker, Hammond's and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, MacGillivray's Warbler, and other "Western Specialties." With these species in mind it was only right to head back up to the Horse and Grouse Mountain area, THE most accessible location for all these species and more. The base of Titlow Hill Road is only 28 miles from the Highway 101/299 intersection and is just a little more than a 1/2 hour drive to get into serious montane birding from the foggy coastal zone.
Now, late-July up in the Horse/Grouse Mountain area is VERY different from the prime breeding season centered around the month of June (see my June trip reports from the area here and here). Almost all bird song has ceased besides an occasional Lazuli Bunting or Thick-billed Fox Sparrow breaking the silence and most of the breeding activity is finished up or getting really closed to finishing. Also, a lot of upslope postbreeding movement is happening with species that breed in the lower altitudes. Late July is also the best time of year to come across such desirable and often hard-to-see species like Sooty Grouse and Mountain Quail as they are more easily found along the roadsides with their young. This day was an eye opening experience for me and we had a few unexpected surprises that really made the day a memorable and exciting one! Most surprising was finding a really good bird that was new for me in Humboldt County (more on that find further down..)!
Bruce and I met up at Espresso 101 at 6 a.m. and picked up some bagels and coffee (shade grown Thanksgiving Coffee!!) and headed out. We arrived at the base of Titlow Hill Road around 6:40 a.m. and started slowly driving up the road in an effort to find Sooty Grouse or Mountain Quail hanging by the roadside. At around 2 miles up we drove right up to a male MOUNTAIN QUAIL right along the road and we got to within 15 feet of it and watched it with leisure for about a minute before it lazily sauntered off into grass off the road! GREAT START!
We made a couple of other stops along the road and picked up our only CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES of the day (heard only) but didn't pick up a single Sooty Grouse before we got to Horse Mountain. Right before arriving to the Horse Mountain saddle we made a stop along a pullout and got into a nice mixed flock right along the road that consisted of 1 CASSIN'S VIREO, 2 DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, 3 MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, 1 BROWN CREEPER, 4 HERMIT WARBLERS, 3 AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and 1 or 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS. We got nice looks of every species in the flock! Satisfied, we moved on to the Horse Mountain saddle where I introduced Doug to some of the conifer species [i.e., Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi)] that make up the interesting serpentine habitat here. The whole Horse Mountain area is a specially designated "botanical area."
After the short stop at the saddle we continued south along Titlow Hill Rd. At a location informally named "Meteor Hill" I spotted 4 SOOTY GROUSE along the road about 80 yards ahead! Two males and two females were foraging right along the road and slowly walked into the forest on the east side of the road and out of sight. SUCCESS!!! Even though late-July is a really good time to look for Sooty Grouse in inland Northwestern California you are never guaranteed to find one so finding 4 at once was exceptional! At this location there were also nice flocks of CHIPPING SPARROWS mixed with some LAZULI BUNTINGS, and OREGON JUNCOS.
After "Meteor Hill" we made a brief stop at Cold Springs to walk out to the overlook there. Not much birdwise happening here but we got very nice looks at a family group of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS that came down to the spring there.
Next stop was the regenerating clearcut just south of Cold Springs where, if you've read my other recent blog posts, might remember the WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER nest that I found here earlier this summer (photos). No luck on any White-headeds this time but we did find a good diversity of species with the highlights being Doug's lifer RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS (juvenile and adult), OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, decent looks at our first MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS of the day (another lifer for Doug), a heard only WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, and nice looks at a single male LESSER GOLDFINCH, which is pretty uncommon in the montane habitats here. White-breasted Nuthatch was very interesting to find as it is a very local resident in Humboldt County and only breeds at 3-4 known locations in the county within scattered oak habitat. This was the first surprise of the day as I know they have been seen up here in the past but it was the first time I had ever found one. Also of interest was a flock of about 30 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS which were obvious post-breeding visitors (they don't breed anywhere in the immediate area). Of mammal interest was nice looks at a BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT. Here's a couple of photos below
Bruce and I met up at Espresso 101 at 6 a.m. and picked up some bagels and coffee (shade grown Thanksgiving Coffee!!) and headed out. We arrived at the base of Titlow Hill Road around 6:40 a.m. and started slowly driving up the road in an effort to find Sooty Grouse or Mountain Quail hanging by the roadside. At around 2 miles up we drove right up to a male MOUNTAIN QUAIL right along the road and we got to within 15 feet of it and watched it with leisure for about a minute before it lazily sauntered off into grass off the road! GREAT START!
We made a couple of other stops along the road and picked up our only CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES of the day (heard only) but didn't pick up a single Sooty Grouse before we got to Horse Mountain. Right before arriving to the Horse Mountain saddle we made a stop along a pullout and got into a nice mixed flock right along the road that consisted of 1 CASSIN'S VIREO, 2 DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, 3 MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, 1 BROWN CREEPER, 4 HERMIT WARBLERS, 3 AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and 1 or 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS. We got nice looks of every species in the flock! Satisfied, we moved on to the Horse Mountain saddle where I introduced Doug to some of the conifer species [i.e., Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi)] that make up the interesting serpentine habitat here. The whole Horse Mountain area is a specially designated "botanical area."
After the short stop at the saddle we continued south along Titlow Hill Rd. At a location informally named "Meteor Hill" I spotted 4 SOOTY GROUSE along the road about 80 yards ahead! Two males and two females were foraging right along the road and slowly walked into the forest on the east side of the road and out of sight. SUCCESS!!! Even though late-July is a really good time to look for Sooty Grouse in inland Northwestern California you are never guaranteed to find one so finding 4 at once was exceptional! At this location there were also nice flocks of CHIPPING SPARROWS mixed with some LAZULI BUNTINGS, and OREGON JUNCOS.
After "Meteor Hill" we made a brief stop at Cold Springs to walk out to the overlook there. Not much birdwise happening here but we got very nice looks at a family group of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS that came down to the spring there.
Next stop was the regenerating clearcut just south of Cold Springs where, if you've read my other recent blog posts, might remember the WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER nest that I found here earlier this summer (photos). No luck on any White-headeds this time but we did find a good diversity of species with the highlights being Doug's lifer RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS (juvenile and adult), OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, decent looks at our first MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS of the day (another lifer for Doug), a heard only WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, and nice looks at a single male LESSER GOLDFINCH, which is pretty uncommon in the montane habitats here. White-breasted Nuthatch was very interesting to find as it is a very local resident in Humboldt County and only breeds at 3-4 known locations in the county within scattered oak habitat. This was the first surprise of the day as I know they have been seen up here in the past but it was the first time I had ever found one. Also of interest was a flock of about 30 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS which were obvious post-breeding visitors (they don't breed anywhere in the immediate area). Of mammal interest was nice looks at a BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT. Here's a couple of photos below

Screenshot of what I call the "old Russ Ranch clearcut." Yes, I know a picture would have certainly been better! The highlighted region is the clearcut area and is one of the better spots to find House Wren, Western Wood-Pewee, Green-tailed Towhee, and MacGillivray's Warbler. Lazuli Buntings are overly abundant here during the breeding season.
Since we dipped on WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER at the clearcut we stopped at another location where I recently saw one, which is about 4.7 miles south of the Horse Mountain saddle. It was starting to warm up a bit and some butterflies were starting to fly about and we had nice looks at some male GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARYS and took in the beautiful views of the mountain ranges to the east (see Doug's panorama at the top of this post) but had no luck with the White-headeds. We did have another WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH and this time I was ready and called it in. The bird came right in and we had excellent looks! Second time's a charm! Maybe White-breasted Nuthatch is a regular, though rare, post-breeding visitor to this area?
And now for the surprise of the day.......
After finishing up at the White-breasted Nuthatch spot we moved on further south along Titlow Hill Road and switched our search to looking for GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and THICK-BILLED FOX SPARROW, the latter bird Doug had never seen before. We made a stop at one regenerating clearcut where I had had both species of interest many times this summer. As we were walking along the road I spotted a sparrow foraging on the road under the shade of a shrub and I told Doug, "there's your Fox Sparrow," assuming that's what it was. Then, the more we looked at it, Doug commented something to the effect of "that bill is kind of small, isn't it?" After looking at the bird all of a sudden the correct id hit me: SAGE SPARROW!!!! WHOA!
Now, Sage Sparrow is an "Uber Rarity" in Northwestern California with only 3-4 records in Humboldt County, and 1 record in Del Norte County the latter being the most recent record (11 March 2007). All previous Humboldt records are from August and ALL are from the coast and involve single birds [2 August 1987, 26 August 1974, and 28 August-4 September 1981; Harris (2005)]. There was one record noted in American Birds (31:372) from 13 February 1977 but with no details (Harris, 2005). The Del Norte County bird was the only one that was photographed and was clearly the inland model (Artemisiospiza belli nevadensis). I am not sure if the other Humboldt birds were identified to subspecies but it seems unlikely that nevadensis would move from their breeding grounds (closet breeding being in Northeastern California) and arrive in coastal Humboldt County by August? According to the Birds of North America Sage Sparrow account (Martin and Carlson, 1998), the northernmost population of the coastal race of Sage Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli belli) IS MIGRATORY, whereas the rest of the population is resident.
The bird we found, an obvious juvenile due to it's streaky underparts, was pretty dark overall, has a well-defined dark malar. On nevadensis the malar is less distinct and more muted. Here's some very poor photos I got of the bird to help illustrate what we saw in the field. Compared to the photos the bird in the field was a bit darker overall.
Now, Sage Sparrow is an "Uber Rarity" in Northwestern California with only 3-4 records in Humboldt County, and 1 record in Del Norte County the latter being the most recent record (11 March 2007). All previous Humboldt records are from August and ALL are from the coast and involve single birds [2 August 1987, 26 August 1974, and 28 August-4 September 1981; Harris (2005)]. There was one record noted in American Birds (31:372) from 13 February 1977 but with no details (Harris, 2005). The Del Norte County bird was the only one that was photographed and was clearly the inland model (Artemisiospiza belli nevadensis). I am not sure if the other Humboldt birds were identified to subspecies but it seems unlikely that nevadensis would move from their breeding grounds (closet breeding being in Northeastern California) and arrive in coastal Humboldt County by August? According to the Birds of North America Sage Sparrow account (Martin and Carlson, 1998), the northernmost population of the coastal race of Sage Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli belli) IS MIGRATORY, whereas the rest of the population is resident.
The bird we found, an obvious juvenile due to it's streaky underparts, was pretty dark overall, has a well-defined dark malar. On nevadensis the malar is less distinct and more muted. Here's some very poor photos I got of the bird to help illustrate what we saw in the field. Compared to the photos the bird in the field was a bit darker overall.

Sage Sparrow (possibly/probably belli). Long-tailed sparrow that can be identified as a Sage due to the eye ring, the white submoustachial stripe bordered by the dark and thinner malar (or lateral throat stripe). It also looks like this bird has a dark eyeline beginning in the lores that goes through the eye. This mark is probably more an artifact of the lighting. The very streaked breast is juvenile plumage.
This bird was an especially interesting record not only due to it's rarity in Northwestern California but also because the Sage Sparrow complex is going to be split (or IS already split as I type) into 2 species in the upcoming AOU supplement, coming out any day now (you can read Rick Wright's analysis of the 54th AOU suplement on his blog)! So all the belli and canescens (canescens is found in Southern California east to western Arizona and is intermediate in plumage between belli and nevadensis) are going to become "Bell's" Sparrow and nevadensis is going to become the Sagebrush Sparrow. Further research is needed on the canescens race as it might also warrant species status. So, with our bird, hopefully somebody gets better quality photos of this individual to help solidify the id of this "Sage" Sparrow. I think, though, due to the overall darkness of this birds' plumage and the timing of the record, this bird is most likely a BELL'S SPARROW. Until I get some other opinions and maybe better photos are taken of the bird, I'm happy just calling it a SAGE SPARROW.
After our exciting find Doug and I continued on our search for Thick-billed Fox Sparrow but we never did get a look at one and only heard a couple calling! It was just about 1 p.m., though, and things were getting pretty quiet. We did get some decent looks at some GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES, though, and were also treated to nice looks at WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, another MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER a nice male BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, and some WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS (our local pugetensis race).
After birding the area a bit more we decided it was lunch time and took a break to refuel. After discussing some other bird possibilities we decided to head back to the coast and go try and find Doug a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. We got back to the Arcata area around 3 p.m. and, after a couple of brief stops, went to Shay Park, one of the standard locations where Pacific-slope flycatcher is easily found. We walked into the spot and within 2 minutes we had found a group of 3 recently fledged PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS! It's so nice when a target bird is soooooo easy to find! It was now approaching 4 p.m. and Doug had decided he had gotten enough lifers for the day so we called it day. Another superb day of birding in Humboldt County!
Oh, and the Sage Sparrow was my 388th non-introduced Humboldt County Bird!
After our exciting find Doug and I continued on our search for Thick-billed Fox Sparrow but we never did get a look at one and only heard a couple calling! It was just about 1 p.m., though, and things were getting pretty quiet. We did get some decent looks at some GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES, though, and were also treated to nice looks at WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, another MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER a nice male BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, and some WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS (our local pugetensis race).
After birding the area a bit more we decided it was lunch time and took a break to refuel. After discussing some other bird possibilities we decided to head back to the coast and go try and find Doug a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. We got back to the Arcata area around 3 p.m. and, after a couple of brief stops, went to Shay Park, one of the standard locations where Pacific-slope flycatcher is easily found. We walked into the spot and within 2 minutes we had found a group of 3 recently fledged PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS! It's so nice when a target bird is soooooo easy to find! It was now approaching 4 p.m. and Doug had decided he had gotten enough lifers for the day so we called it day. Another superb day of birding in Humboldt County!
Oh, and the Sage Sparrow was my 388th non-introduced Humboldt County Bird!
eBird lists from the day:
base of Titlow Hill to Horse Mountain saddle
Titlow Hill Rd.--Meteor Hill
Cold Springs
Titlow Hill Rd.--Russ Ranch clearcut
Titlow Hill Rd.--pullout 4.7 miles south of Horse Mountain
Titlow Hill Rd.--new clearcut
Shay Park
Full species list: 46 total
Mountain Quail 1
Sooty Grouse 4
Turkey Vulture 2
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird 4
Red-breasted Sapsucker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Western Wood-Pewee 2
Dusky Flycatcher 7
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3
Cassin's Vireo 2
Hutton's Vireo 1
Steller's Jay 5
Common Raven 1
Violet-green Swallow 39
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Mountain Chickadee 13
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
Western Bluebird 5
American Robin 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 10
MacGillivray's Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 9
Hermit Warbler 5
Wilson's Warbler 5
Green-tailed Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 17
Sage Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 45
Western Tanager 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
Lazuli Bunting 21
Purple Finch 4
Pine Siskin 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1
Literature Cited:
Harris, Stanley W. 2005. Northwestern California Birds. Living Gold Press, Klamath River, CA.
Martin, John W. and Barbara A. Carlson. 1998. Sage Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/326
base of Titlow Hill to Horse Mountain saddle
Titlow Hill Rd.--Meteor Hill
Cold Springs
Titlow Hill Rd.--Russ Ranch clearcut
Titlow Hill Rd.--pullout 4.7 miles south of Horse Mountain
Titlow Hill Rd.--new clearcut
Shay Park
Full species list: 46 total
Mountain Quail 1
Sooty Grouse 4
Turkey Vulture 2
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird 4
Red-breasted Sapsucker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Western Wood-Pewee 2
Dusky Flycatcher 7
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3
Cassin's Vireo 2
Hutton's Vireo 1
Steller's Jay 5
Common Raven 1
Violet-green Swallow 39
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Mountain Chickadee 13
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
Western Bluebird 5
American Robin 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 10
MacGillivray's Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 9
Hermit Warbler 5
Wilson's Warbler 5
Green-tailed Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 17
Sage Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 45
Western Tanager 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
Lazuli Bunting 21
Purple Finch 4
Pine Siskin 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1
Literature Cited:
Harris, Stanley W. 2005. Northwestern California Birds. Living Gold Press, Klamath River, CA.
Martin, John W. and Barbara A. Carlson. 1998. Sage Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/326