Home»Jasper Ridge Galleries»A Day at a Time: Individual Visits»4/7/2019 Avian Activity in Phainopepla Tree

The Phainopepla Tree is named after a bird, rare for San Mateo County, that fed on the mistletoe here in December 2009. Rising at the crest of a ridge, this old Valley Oak is a natural lookout post for predator birds; the oak and mistletoe provide food and shelter to many bird species. It is a favorite place to stop and wonder, for birds, birders, and photographers. In the years since 2009, the tree and even the mistletoe have died. The tree remains, a branch occasionally succumbing to drying, rot, and gravity, but still providing a high lookout post and a convenient perch, a source of boring insects for birds, a granary tree for Acorn Woodpeckers.

This April day I pass back and forth by this tree, pausing each time to note the activity here. I am well rewarded. Western Bluebirds find insects, and jerk them up and down to prepare them for their young. Baby birds of many species peep hungrily, beseeching their frantic parents. Swallows swoop and dive; one finds a nice perch for a morning’s thorough preening under the watchful camera of a photographer. Nearby, a White-tailed Kite hovers, then dives on an unsuspecting vole; these birds seem less frequently here, so far in the 2000’s.

Another gallery nearby shows other locations this morning, documenting changes as the sun rises and the quality of light hardens.