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Wrentits are small, brownish-gray birds with large, round heads and short rounded wings giving them a plump appearance. They have long tails that they often hold up at an angle and a very distinctive pale iris. Wrentits mate for life and form pair bonds as early as 30 to 40 days old and both males and females sing their bouncing-ball song. Wrentits inhabit coastal scrub and inland chaparral west of the Pacific Crest from Oregon south through California to northwestern Baja. They do not migrate. Wrentits are common in the chaparral south of Four Seasons, where they defend territories and tend to stay in the same vicinity throughout their lives. At the beginning of our Aug. 4 bird walk, two birds were flitting around a willow. We had pretty good looks, but identification was baffling. That is, until we returned to The Lodge and looked at photos of the mystery birds taken by Dave Kettering. From the photos, it was clear this was Four Seasons' first record of Wrentit! Wrentit is Four Seasons bird #78 and our first first-record since May. The two birds we saw were likely fledglings, already in a committed relationship and exploring for a territory of their own. ~ Steve Edelman Birding CLUB Bird of the Month FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | SEPTEMBER 2018 59 The Birding Club welcomes beginning and experienced birders to start or hone bird identification skills. Our main activity is a monthly bird walk along Four Seasons' nature trails, which follow native riparian woodlands. We keep a list of all species observed at Four Seasons (currently 78) and take field trips to nearby birding hot spots. During our August bird walk we tallied 18 species, highlighted by Four Seasons' first record of Wrentit (our Bird of the Month). This is the time of year when young birds are leaving the nest, thus we saw fledgling California and Spotted Towhees, with funny short tails and disheveled feathers. We also got good looks at a female Hooded Oriole (the Aug. Bird of the Month) feeding its young. There were no Bell's Vireos, although we counted five in July and we had them on Aug. 5 last year – had they headed south for the winter or were they just being quiet? Also, we were surprised to see a Coyote, a bird walk first! We meet on the first Saturday of the month at 8 am at the Trail A trailhead (Lodge parking lot). After the bird walk, we meet at the RCN Lobby to review the morning's sightings. Email steve.h.edelman@gmail. com for current schedule and other information. ~ Steve Edelman Wrentit • Photo by Julio Mulero On our August bird walk, club members looked at this bird for a solid five minutes, unable to identify it. After the bird walk, Dave Kettering showed us this photo of the mystery bird, easily identified as a Wrentit, Four Seasons' first! Photo by Dave Kettering, Birding Club member

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