One of the first birds I saw was a Cassin's Kingbird perched at the top of a tree. Below is a photo of it.
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| Cassin's Kingbird |
Soon after I saw the kingbird, I noticed a group of birds flying in. Some were singing, and I recognized them as American Robins. There were quite a few, but I had a difficult time trying to take picture because it was dark. Then, a beautiful male robin hopped into the tree right above me where the sun was starting to shine through and I managed to get a photo. Below is the robin.
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| American Robin |
One bird that I didn't expect to see was an Oak Titmouse. They certainly live in this area, but I haven't seen one in a long time (I kind of forgot that they lived here). However, this morning, they were everywhere, and moving very quickly. Oak Titmice are found mainly in the open oak woods of California, but they're also found in part of southern Oregon and northern Baja California. They are very small, plain gray birds with short crests. They are nearly identical to Juniper Titmice, but their ranges only overlap in a small part of northeastern California. They are very cute little birds, and seeing them was probably the highlight of my morning. Below are two photos of one of the Oak Titmice.
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| Oak Titmouse |
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| Oak Titmouse |
There are a lot of Western Bluebirds at Cal Poly. I see them every morning catching bugs on the lawns. Below are two photos of a female bluebird I saw this morning.
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| Western Bluebird |
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| Western Bluebird |
There are also quite a few gulls at school, mainly Ring-billed Gulls. There's a baby Ring-billed Gull living on top of the rec center at the moment; though, unfortunately, I haven't been able to photograph it (it stays hidden, though I often hear it). Below is a photo of an adult Ring-billed Gull in nonbreeding plumage (notice the speckles on the back of its head).
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| Ring-billed Gull |
Of course, there are the common "parking lot birds." House Sparrows, American Crows, and Brewer's Blackbirds are very common on campus, mainly around the restaurants. The blackbirds are more common in the morning, when there aren't so many people around. Below are a male House Sparrow, an American Crow, and a male Brewer's Blackbird.
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| House Sparrow |
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| American Crow |
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| Brewer's Blackbird |
There are a lot of small birds that like to hop around and hide in the dense trees. I usually give up on trying to identify them, but today I had the time to follow one of them and take a few pictures. It turned out to be a little Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Below is a photo of it.
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
The entire time I've been here, I've been expecting to see Western Gray Squirrels. However, until today, I hadn't seen a single one. I was starting to worry that they weren't here anymore (as I've mentioned before, Western Gray Squirrels are disappearing in parts of their range due to disease, habitat loss, and competition with the invasive Eastern Fox Squirrel). This morning, though, I saw them everywhere. They were very noisy and energetic, running all over the place and barking in the trees. I was very impressed with one of the squirrels, a somewhat small female. She managed to pick up a large pinecone in her mouth and carry it all the way up a tree without dropping it. Below are five photos of that particular Western Gray Squirrel. (Note: Oddly, all of the squirrels seemed to just disappear a bit before ten o'clock. If you want to see them, you have to get up early.)
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| Western Gray Squirrel |
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| Western Gray Squirrel |
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| Western Gray Squirrel |
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| Western Gray Squirrel |
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| Western Gray Squirrel |
There are also a lot of Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon subspecies) at Cal Poly. They can be found in the trees, bushes, and on the ground at all times of the day all around campus. Below is a photo of a male junco.
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| Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon subspecies) |
So far, I've only seen Anna's Hummingbirds at Cal Poly, and there are quite a few of them. Every tree and bush seems to have at least few hummingbirds looking for insects or visiting flowers. Below is a male Anna's Hummingbird.
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| Anna's Hummingbird |
Most of the birds and other animals didn't like the recent hot weather (even the lizards were hiding in the shade). However, the Turkey Vultures seemed fine with it. When everything else was hiding, the vultures were always soaring over the fields and over the campus. Below is one I saw this morning.
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| Turkey Vulture |
Even though I saw it yesterday, not today, here is a baby Western Fence-Lizard that fell asleep on a rock for a few seconds. It was tiny (about the length of my finger) and adorable.
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| Western Fence-Lizard |
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