Squickle Squirrel and the Wild Ones

Hurrah! Raccoon from our team Wild Ones was up all night twice (okay, not so hard for a raccoon) making a picture of our bird list for those who can't read. It's a bit fuzzy looking on a phone but better on a computer screen.

Point Blue Birdathon 2025

Team Wild Ones, Squickle Squirrel captain

Oct. 6–7, SF, Sacramento, and Solano Counties (traveling)

Our second annual birdathon was more than we hoped for! 

Our search officially began suddenly one afternoon when our driver said “come to the airport to drop off a friend and we’ll see the ocean.” So we did and started our 24 hours at 6 p.m. where water makes the loudest noise ever and smashes into sand and rocks and people. We smelled the colonies of birds on big rocks in the distance and figured out what they were. Later we walked in a forest atop the tallest cliff we’ve ever seen. We saw a napping coyote and found new birds to list. At dusk we stood by big quiet water near noisy highways where a round moon rose over White Pelicans. 

Early next day Great Horned Owls called us awake and neighborhood birds showed up to be counted for the birdathon. Next began the roadtrip east to the wide hot flat valley. Many people were doing the same and some had animals traveling also. Finally we turned off onto little roads and got a bit lost. But we spotted a hunting White-tailed Kite which was awesome for our list though it made everybody but Bear tremble. 

Next we stopped at a big big field where other people were looking for birds, too, and our driver said “But where is the water?” We saw pretty butterflies instead. Next we enjoyed a shady-sunny path under trees where the sciurids on our team met wild squirrels who were too busy to chat. Finally we found a big big pond and our driver said “Now we’re talkin’” (but then went quiet) and we rested there mesmerized (Mouse says this is the correct word). It was a bird convention: birds on the water, under the water, in the grass, in the mud, and even coming from the sky in all directions with a lot to say. Also frogs seemed to be everywhere but hiding, until we figured out they were not frogs but huge birds with long necks and no tails, flying overhead until deciding to come to earth.

With only 5 hours left in our 24 hours, the driver said heading for the big big mountains was silly because it was far far away. So we went to a favorite place from last year's birdathon: Lake Solano and Putah Creek. “Where is everybody?” our driver muttered when the expected birdy spots were nearly silent. Well last year it was morning but now it was a hot afternoon so most critters were napping. We went up the river into shade and sat on rocks where everybody was mesmerized by churning noisy water. A young human came by and said it was a favorite spot so he joined us and became a highlight of the day. He was not surprised by us Wild Ones out of the house on a quest. He spoke of his long connection with nature and showed us a book from his pocket of magical writings and art that he was inventing.

We finished the day with minutes left, driving through a canyon to see “sedimentary strata tilted at greater than 45 degrees” which a donor had challenged (we saw 90 degrees!). 

We slept on the drive home after a day full of critters, new places, and stories to share. Here are our birdies and some of the critters we met:

Birds

Greater White-fronted Goose

Canada Goose

Northern Shoveler

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Brandt’s Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Pied-billed Grebe

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Heerman’s Gull

Western Gull

Black-necked Stilt

Killdeer

Long-billed Dowitcher

Greater Yellowlegs

Least Sandpiper

Sandhill Crane

White-faced Ibis

Black-crowned Night Heron

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

American Coot

California Quail

Wild Turkey

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

White-tailed Kite

Cooper’s Hawk

Northern Harrier

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Prairie Falcon

Great-horned Owl

Anna’s Hummingbird

Tree Swallow

Acorn Woodpecker

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

California Scrub Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Western Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

Northern Mockingbird

Western Bluebird

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Pygmy Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bewick’s Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Lark Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

European Starling

Critters (non-bird)

Gray Buckeye butterfly (Junonia gresia)

Orange Sulfur (Colias eurytheme)

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Lorquin’s Admiral (Limenitus lorquini)

California Oak Moth (Phryganidia californica)

Globe Skimmer dragonfly (Pantala flavescens)

Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius)

California Bordered Plant Bug (Largus californicus)

N. American Common Water Strider (Aquarius remigis)

Chinook Salmon youngsters (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)

Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)

California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beechyi)