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Bird of the Month California Towhees are large sparrows with a long tail and cone-shaped bill. Males and females look alike, uniformly brown except for rusty colors under the tail and around the bill. California Towhees hop or run on the ground and, when not foraging, they may perch on shrubs, rooftops, and fences. Their song is given only by the male and is made up of repetitions of the bird's metallic call note, typically with a few well-spaced notes that rapidly accelerate into a trill. Males and females call intermittently to maintain contact, sound an alarm, or reinforce pair bonds. California Towhees eat seeds, berries, and nuts supplemented with insects during the breeding season. California Towhees live in chaparral and other shrubby habitats as well as in backyards and city parks. They occur west of the Pacific Crest throughout Baja California and north through California to Eureka with an isolated population that straddles the California- Oregon border. California Towhees do not migrate and therefore are year-round residents throughout their range. They are common throughout Four Seasons and several were seen during the Birding Club's Sept. 4 bird walk. ~ Steve Edelman Birding CLUB Our summer field trip to Bluff Lake (near Big Bear) on Aug. 19 was delightful despite the rather slow birding, likely due to the very dry conditions. The highlight came when we heard a Western Screech Owl that turned out to be two birders playing a screech owl recording to attract songbirds, which often mob owls. The Western Bluebirds, Mountain Chickadees, House Wrens, and Dark-eyed Juncos that were squawking around the iPhone "owl" constituted the best birding of the day! The birding was followed by a very pleasant lunch at Nottingham's Restaurant in Big Bear. Our morning bird walk on Sept. 4 produced a total of 17 species highlighted by an Olive-Sided Flycatcher, our first pass-through migrant of the fall migration season. Other highlights included several Mountain Chickadees, which have been around since Aug. 9 and will continue through the winter at Four Seasons, and nice looks at a pair of Wrentits and a Bell's Vireo. An additional seven species, highlighted by a Purple Finch and a first-of-season Orange- crowned Warbler, were sighted at Four Seasons during the day by Tina Canon, Genie Cooper, Tom Paulek, and me for a total of 24 species. FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2021 39 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 Olive-sided Flycatcher perched in the famous dead tree at the west end of Trail B during the Sept. 4 bird walk. Photo by Club member John Hansen Above: The Birding Club pauses for photographers on Trail B during the September bird walk Below: California Towhee. Photo by Club member John Hansen