Details from Chris Conard:
A first-winter White-winged Scoter was on Bluewater Lake also on Dec 13, 2014. Unknown to me at the time, John Trochet had detected the bird the previous day. Poor quality photos are attached and additional photos (and a complete bird list of the visit to Bluewater Lake State Park can be found at eBird.
At approximately 11:20, while scoping the lake and recording waterbirds, I saw a large dark duck with a scoter profile and immediately recognized it as either a Surf Scoter or White-winged Scoter. At the great distance it was difficult to see the junction of the feathering on the forehead and bill, but the profile appeared slightly concave, not convex as would be seen on a Surf Scoter. White, fairly circular patches were visible at the base of bill and rear cheek, but most helpful was white visible in the secondaries, and shown to be extensive when the bird groomed and flapped. The scoter covered a wide area in the middle of the lake, intermittently foraging and resting, and was often seen adjacent to Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes, appearing slightly larger than a goldeneye. It was quite distant, but I scoped it for a long time (initial views were close to 700 meters away, but got to within 350 meters) and at three separate times between 1120 and 1530. Poor but diagnostic digiscopes are attached. It was first seen from the near boat ramp (access via 412), and then I walked along the shore to get closer.
Details from Christopher Rustay:
White-winged Scoter - A medium-sized diving duck with large "shoehorn" shaped dark gray bill. A pale light spot on feathering at base of bill and a bright white spot at or just behind eye, surrounding by evenly dark brown head and body. Small bright white parallelogram-shaped spot on wings only visible at times. Fairly far out on lake and only seen by itself (i.e. not near other waterfowl for size comparison)
Details from Kim Score:
Larger, stocky diving duck with dark brown body and large, dark gray, "shoehorn" shaped bill. Two lighter/whitish irregularly shaped patches on the sides of the head. One spot just behind the eye, and the other just at and above the bill. The white wing patch was not visible as the bird was swimming, but when it raised its wing to preen, the white secondaries were evident and diagnostic. Tail was short and stiff, either held at a 45 degree angle out of the water, or stayed flat on the water. Overall close in size/length to the nearby Common Mergansers by direct comparison.
Details from Christopher Rustay:
An Aechmophorus grebe (large grebe, long neck, long bill - basically black and white plumage) with the dark of the crown coming down below the eye and completely encircling it. Sides were primarily blackish rather than the more grayish-white of a Clark's Grebe. The bill was primarily a yellow-green color (seen in good light) rather than a yellow-orange color (indicative of Clark's Grebe). The three field marks, in combination, argue for a Western instead of Clark's identification. Though it was far away I didn't see anything that would seem to indicate that this might be a hybrid of the two species.
Notes from Christopher Rustay:
A medium-sized dove seen flying. It was an overall grayish brown above with a large white slash showing at the base of the primaries and secondaries. It had a short tail that was somewhat rounded when flared with a broad light-gray tip across all but the inner-most retrices. The primaries were somewhat darker than the wing coverts and tertials.
Notes from Kim Score:
Twelve individuals seen at the same backyard feeder mentioned above [see Brewer's Blackbird -- ed.]. Large, stocky, sandy brown doves with diagnostic bold white stripes along the edge of the wings. Long slender bills; dark cheek marks on the sides of the face; square-tipped tails.
Notes from John Trochet:
One apparent adult in Diener Canyon on 12 December 2014. In doghair dougfirs I found a very small owl perched just above eye level almost directly facing my direction. The blocky shape was accentuated by the squarish head seemingly attached to the body without benefit of a neck and by the tail being obscured by foliage. Eyes large, forward-facing, with yellow irides set in off-white face with streaky brown margins of facial discs. Forecrown cool medium brown with moderately heavy narrow white streaking. Small bill dark (gray?). Breast, sides and flanks with broad, blurry reddish brown streaks on a whitish background. Visible undertail coverts unmarked and whitish. Found by following whitewash just off the animal trail I was walking up into the trees above. Without the poop, I may not have noticed the bird, sad to say. I backed away so as not to flush the bird, but it wasn't there on count day. Al Charles and I searched the area without success.
Notes from Chris Conard:
Bluewater Village (just northeast of Hwy 40 near the Dairy Queen), Dec 14, 2014, approximately 3pm. Seen with Julie Bryson. The bird flew across the road in front of us (we were in a stopped vehicle) and landed on bare sticks on top of a small bush. I didn't take as careful note as I might have, since I was not aware this was a "write-up bird" for the count. That said, I am very familiar with this species from the Sacramento (CA) area, where I see one to a few several times each week from September to March. I honestly can't say I saw the rosy belly, though I do in my mind's eye. The bird moved with a halting and characteristic flight style of a foraging Say's Phoebe, not quite hovering, but nearly so, as it moved slowly across in front of us (into a strong head wind) and then toward a perch where it swept up slightly to land, pumped its tail and slightly flared it as it landed. The back appeared a fairly uniform grayish-brown and the square-tipped tail was a contrasting black. I am fully confident it was a Say's Phoebe, though I wish I had looked more closely after it landed. I could have even taken a photo!
Notes from Chris Conard:
Below Bluewater Gorge along creek, Dec 14, 2014, approximately 11am. Julie Bryson and I walked along the creek perhaps a half-mile below the gorge entrance. I pished and up popped a Spotted Towhee. As I was mentioning it to Julie, she matter-of-factly stated that she was looking at a thrasher. It ducked back into the shrubby tangle before I saw it and it took what seemed like five minutes before I found a few windows through the vegetation where I could see the bird. It was immediately recognizable as one of the longer-billed thrashers, and then as a Curve-billed Thrasher, with its glowing orange eye staring back at me. It was larger than the nearby Canyon Towhees we saw, had a similar, though not quite as bright, buffy undertail, and a much longer tail. The bill was long and distinctly curved, both the culmen and the gonys, and decidedly longer than a Bendire's Thrasher bill, but not as long or curved as a Crissal Thrasher. The facial pattern was not as contrasting as a Crissal Thrasher, and there were blotchy spots on the breast and belly slightly darker than the background color. Under the viewing conditions I was not able to rule out the shape of the breast/belly spots of Bendire's Thrasher, but that species was eliminated by bill shape as mentioned above.
Notes from Christopher Rustay:
From the morning: two flushed from clear trench by a road in grassy open area by the lake. Overall buffy color, but somewhat darker on upperparts with even darker wings. A row of dark streaks across breast. On somewhat darker buffy face a lighter buffy supercilium was obvious. Flushed to a concrete barrier where they perched for a bit, bobbing their tails. Calls were a high, thin "sip-it". Another heard calling as it flew over. From the afternoon: Flying overhead. Buffy breast seen. Heard calling a sibilant "sip-it" several times.
Notes from Kim Score:
First heard from about 50 meters away. Identified by very high-pitched, thin whistling contact calls. We could not see the birds directly, as there were numerous Pinyon and Juniper trees blocking our view. However, a group of 15 individuals in a tight flock were seen taking flight over the trees. Their wings were broad and pointed, reminiscent of starlings. Their tails were fairly short and square-tipped. Birds continued to vocalize as they flew out of sight staying in a tight flock.
Notes from Christopher Rustay:
One bird heard from within large Horned Lark flock had a soft three-four note rattle call. Horned Lark simply does not make any kind of rattling call that approaches the calls of these longspurs. Other longspurs eliminated because rattle call was not harsh or loud like all other longspurs.
Notes from Christopher Rustay:
Overall a grayish brown bird above and light below, smaller and much thinner billed than nearby White-crowned Sparrows. Small white eye-arcs and light, not well-marked wingbars. Light yellow rump, and spot on the central sides. Thin, blurry, ill-defined streaks across breast. Call was typical dry "chep" with which I am very familiar. I looked for potential signs of intergradation with "Myrtle" Warbler. There were no indications on one bird; the other had a thin, whitish supercilium connected to the upper eye-arc but beyond this I found nothing that might indicate intergradation.
Notes from John Trochet:
Two birds located, one 11 December at the mouth of Bluewater Gorge and the other 12 December at Cottonwood Gulch. Birds enough alike to be characterized thus: small sparrow with at times slightly peaked crown. Bill medium gray, smallish and more narrowly conical than most song sparrows. Crown rich chestnut brown with very narrow light grayish saggital stripe. Broad cold gray superciliary and lores, narrow off-white eyering broken at rear by origin of dark brown postocular line. Auriculars outined above by this line and anteroinferiorly by another dark brown line. Below this the malar tract was bright orange buff, a color quite like the background to the breast, sides and flanks, which were also marked with numerous narrow brown streaks, and there was a small central breast spot. The whitish throat was diffusely spotted with brown. The belly was whitish. The wing coverts and secondaries had reddish brown edgings that gave the wing panel a conspicuous patch of this color. I cannot well describe the pattern of spotting on the dorsum, but it is diagnostic of this species. The legs and feet were a light pinkish brown. I didn't give the tail of either bird a critical look. The Bluewater Gorge bird called once, a "tek" call that might be likened to a micro-fox sparrow. Both birds were in settings of riparian brush tangles, the Bluewater Gorge bird associated at least loosely with song sparrows and white-crowned sparrows, but the bird at the Gulch was by itself. Chris Conard thought that he laid eyes on the Gorge bird on count day, but he didn't see it well enough to defend counting it.
Notes from Kim Score:
One adult male observed foraging at a backyard feeder with other passerines and doves. Overall long-legged sleek shape with glossy iridescent blue-green black plumage. Diagnostic yellow eye. Similar in size to nearby male Red-winged Blackbird by direct comparison.