BajaNomad

Birds We See Book

BigOly - 1-11-2012 at 09:47 AM

Following is a letter we received from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. We want to thank all the Nomads that are helping us fight cancer by purchasing a copy of our book "Birds We See" in Baja California Sur, Mexico. We are donating a portion of the book's profits to the cancer center. If you'd like to order books, visit http://birdswesee.com/order-books-3/about-birds-we-see-in-ba...


volcano - 1-12-2012 at 07:47 AM

the book is a treasure...all the way around! And.. It will hopefully help me figure out my own little visitors.

Two questions: both sounds in the night, eastcape. One: a neighbor thought might be a nighthawk. Are they around? as I cannot describe that one, other than being a two part call, repetative.

The other, in the night as well..brought me to asking if there were peccaries in the area. As the answer was no, it must have been birds. Walking up a dry wash next to my house..the sound......click click click, whirr (or Hmmm)????

BigOly - 1-12-2012 at 09:20 AM

Volcano, I would like to invite you and all Nomads to join our questions and answers birding forum where I will try to answer your birding questions, or any member may contribute. Birds We See Question and Answer Forum

BajaBlanca - 1-12-2012 at 11:48 AM

very impressive photos of birds ... what a great idea to make a book !

volcano - 1-13-2012 at 07:58 AM

Oly/neighbors to my north...am busy getting ready to hit the road in a week in that direction. Can you answer here in the meantime..if you know?

BigOly - 1-13-2012 at 10:05 AM

Here in Baja Sur we mostly have Lesser Nighthawks. We see them flying around houses feeding on insects. Their song is normally only heard at mating time as they fly around at dusk with long, deep diving displays. I've seen this a lot in Oregon. We are out of their breeding range in Baja Sur but a lot of birds make noises when they are roosting. Less common is the Common Poorwill, and accidental Buff-collard Nightjar and Whip-poor-wills. These are also night-birds and will make noises w/roosting.
Road Runners make noises at night while roosting also as well as toads and various mammals. Hope this helps? Oly

volcano - 1-14-2012 at 08:05 AM

thanks..your knowledge is impressive. #1 was a two part call...owl like but the two parts were not the same.

#2 obviously not done while nesting...I'm at a loss..sounded like a herd of something very weird

BigOly - 1-14-2012 at 05:29 PM

This is getting a little spooky. Night Hawks, Nightjars were once believed to suck goat teats at night so there were a lot of voo-doo-like spooky stories about them. They are nocturnal and have super large mouths (for catching insects in the dark) so they are a good subject to spin a story about. Maybe you did hear a roosting (not nesting, different thing) Night Hawk??? #2 sounds like a pack...
maybe a bunch of raccoons or a family of ring-tailed cats. Hard to tell.