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Four Seasons Breeze June 2020

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The Olive-sided Flycatcher is a stocky flycatcher that sports a greenish vest. They spend much of their time perched high in trees, watching for large flying insects to catch by flying out in quick pursuit, seizing the prey, and returning to the same perch. The Olive-sided Flycatcher is a long distance migrant that breeds in North American boreal forests and high elevation coniferous forests in the west. They winter in Central and South America. Their distinctive whistled song -- famously rendered as quick, three beers! -- can be heard all summer in our local mountains and in coniferous forests northward to Alaska and northern Canada. The Olive-sided Flycatcher that was sighted at the west end of Trail B on May 2 was on its way to one of these places. ~ Steve Edelman Birding CLUB We welcome beginning and experienced birders to start or hone bird identification skills. Our main activity is a monthly bird walk along Four Seasons (FS) nature trails, which follow native riparian woodlands. We keep a list of all species observed at FS and take seasonal field trips to nearby birding hot spots. Because the pandemic prevented us from getting together for the May 2 bird walk, we again conducted a virtual bird walk in which we birded individually and combined our lists at the end of the day. Key sightings were reported by Tina Canon, Genie and Bill Cooper, Margaret Hosterman, Gerrie Karczynski, Sue Nash, Tom Paulek, Peter and Julie Shuttleworth, Margi Spies, and Barbara Wasco. By having many people scouring FS all day for birds we sighted a staggering 36 species, second only to the 43 species found during our April 4 virtual bird walk; the difference was that wintering birds were still around on April 4 but had left by May 2. The highlights were two FS first records, a Black-chinned Sparrow and an Olive-sided Flycatcher (our Bird of the Month), which bring the FS total to 98 species. Other highlights were several Cliff Swallows in their mud nests, Lark Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Red- tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, American Goldfinch, and Wilson's Warbler. We normally meet the first Saturday of the month at 8 am at the Potrero Creek (Trail A) trailhead at The Lodge parking lot. Email steve.h.edelman@gmail.com for current schedule and information. ~ Steve Edelman FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JUNE 2020 35 Bird of the Month Just in case: Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time. This male Black-headed Grosbeak is one of many that migrated through Four Seasons in April. Photo by Margaret Hosterman, who reports the grosbeak showed no fear of the larger bird! Lark Sparrow photographed near the Summit by John Hansen. The Lark Sparrow is a very nicely marked bird. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Males and females are identical. Photo by Mary Gillihan, Pinterest. Seasoned Solos If you are single and enjoy a variety of activities, then Seasoned Solos just might be the group for you. At each meeting we discuss what is going on in the Inland Empire and plan activities, from local lunches and dinners to excursions to presidential libraries, the Redlands Bowl, Metro Link trips into LA, and the beach train to San Juan Capistrano. There's not much that we won't consider doing. We meet on the first Friday of each month in The Lodge Arts & Crafts Room at 6 pm. For further information, call Joyce at (951) 850-3055. ~ Joyce Olson

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