April 15, 2011
11:30, 73° F, overcast
This was another Vertebrate Biology field trip. Safari West is located at 3115 Porter Creek Road in Santa Rosa, about 7 miles east of Hwy 101. We took a driving tour of the large animal enclosures, as well as a visit to the walk-in-aviary. This journal entry records only the native and non-captive wildlife I saw during my visit to the park, most of which were seen on the jeep tour.
Not long after the start of our tour, we went past the large lake on the property, where we saw Killdeer, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, and Western Pond Turtle. I also had a fantastic sighting of a Green Heron. Rather than flushing and flying away when we approached (perhaps because we were in a vehicle rather than on foot), this bird seemed unconcerned about our presence and continued to hunt. I was able to view if for several minutes through binoculars, and watched it catch a small invertebrate from the mud at the edge of the lake.
In and around the Rhino enclosure, I spotted Mallard, and a pair of lovely Wood Ducks. There were also Golden-crowned Sparrows here. In various hoofstock enclosures, I saw Wild Turkey, a male Western Bluebird, Violet-Green Swallows, and more Canada Goose, California Ground Squirrel were seen in various places, and I noticed that they all had a dark colored, triangular patch of fur on their shoulder area, a marking I do not remember seeing on individuals in the East Bay. I also had a wonderful sighting of a pair of Lark Sparrows foraging in one of the feeding barns. It’s only the third time I’d seen this species, and I wasn’t able to ID them from memory. These are large sparrows with white on the side of the tail and distinctive facial/head plumage: a dark brown head with a white throat, white crown stripe, and white stripe above and below eye. One bird had a rufous patch below the eyes and both had a white patch below and posterior to the eye. Not hard to ID once I had a look at a field guide.
I saw Brewer’s Blackbird, including a male that appeared to be building a nest in a small tree near the pond, and another pair performing what appeared to be a courtship display: both were hopping and vocalizing with wings lifted. I heard the slow, regular pee-uh-wee call of a Pacific Slope Flycatcher, and saw Red-winged Blackbird near the giraffe barn.
Not a bad list, considering our primary purpose was to view the captive animals.
Species List
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos), Canada Goose (Branta canadensis moffitti), Green Heron (Butorides virescens anthonyi), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura aura), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus vociferus), Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis difficilis), Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis oreganus), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana occidentalis), White-breasted Nuthatch (Pacific) (Sitta carolinensis aculeata), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina thalassina), American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla), California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata)
Let me know what you think!