Atlas Dispatch: April 2026 Rewind

Atlas Dispatch

May 5

Written By

Hello May, and welcome to the latest edition of Atlas Dispatch! Before we look back at the incredible discoveries from April, a few quick updates:

California Bird Atlas Big Weekend (June 4–7, 2026)
We’re launching the inaugural CBA Big Weekend, our annual flagship event. More details are available here. Mark your calendars and plan to atlas as much as possible during those four days!

CBA Town Halls
In case you missed it: Our 4/16 Town Hall featured CBA Review Coordinator Megan Jankowski’s excellent presentation on finding breeding birds. It’s a must-watch if you want to sharpen your atlasing skills. Watch it here.Our next Town Hall is scheduled for May 27, 2026 at 7:00 pm PT. Register via Zoom | Submit a question.

Jump to section:

By the numbers
Reports from the field
What else is new?
Before you hit “Submit”
Atlas firsts
Featured media

By the numbers:

In April, 2,271 atlasers submitted 25,086 checklists to the project. Atlasers covered 3,767 blocks, logged 30,722 hours, and covered 18,202 miles (that's like traveling the length of California from top to bottom 22x!). Checklists came in from all 58 counties and atlasers submitted nearly 144,140 breeding codes, exceeding last month's all-time record by 33k! We're approaching 100,000 complete Atlas checklists—whose will it be?!

In previous months we’ve highlighted how the Atlas has driven a large (+600%) increase in breeding code use. But is this translating into data in new places, or simply more data from the same old haunts? We checked, and as of April 14, the number of blocks with breeding codes has more than doubled compared to the same point in 2025! By continuing to spread out our effort, we’re building a more complete picture of how birds use California’s diverse landscapes to breed. Nice work, team.

May Mini-mission

Be the first to color in a block.

Two-thirds of the Atlas blocks still have zero survey hours. You can find blocks near you without any coverage on this new webmap (learn more about this tool below). There’s great satisfaction in seeing a block you were first to cover fill with color!

Reports from the field:

Want to share a sighting? Email us at info@californiabirdatlas.org!

An important county first!

Atlasers have confirmed the first-ever know nesting attmept of Snowy Plover in Butte County! The pair was originally found and observed copulating by Mary Muchowski, Jon Aull, and Lisa Winslow. Followup visits by Liam Huber and Mike Skram confirmed the birds were on a nest:

"First nesting record for Butte County! Mike and I observed the two Snowy Plovers together for about 45 minutes. During this time, one individual (presumed female) was laying in incubating position, reaching down with her bill every couple minutes to (most likely) adjust eggs. Presumed male stayed within 5 feet for this entire period, mostly standing and preening. Nest location is on top of the island, in an area with lots of shells and rocks. We will continue to monitor the pair, and hope water levels stay low!"

The interior population of Snowy Plover is a California Bird Species of Special Concern, making this a significant record. Loss of wetlands and alkaline lake habitat across the Central Valley and Tulare Basin during the late 1800s and early 1900s likely had a substantial negative effect on nesting plovers.

Bird finds lizard

Last month we asked people to note interesting species interactions observed while atlasing. I loved seeing this observation from Dawn Garcia of Greater Roadrunner carrying food for young at Dana Point in Orange County:

"One adult (male) brings legless lizard to nest area but ends up taking it across the street to hotel property- so- I think one of the chicks is over there now. So fun!!"

The prey the bird was photographed carrying was a San Diegan Legless Lizard, which mostly lives underground and has zero observations on iNaturalist at the site (and only a handful throughout the county). Birds are clearly better at finding some species than we are!

Early birds: now up north!

So far, Southern California and the deserts have received most of the attention regarding early breeding activity. Not to be outdone, Humboldt has joined the party. Regional Coordinator Rob Fowler documented a fledgling Hutton’s Vireo in Arcata on April 26, nearly a full month earlier than the county’s previous earliest date:

"OMG a super cute little fledgling seen being fed by adults near the east side of the park by the river access. The previous earliest fledgling date in the Humboldt BBA was 23 May."

We're excited to eventually compare data from the statewide Atlas with the 1995–1999 Humboldt County Atlas to rigorously evaluate possible shifts in species breeding phenology over the last 30 years.

Before you hit “Submit”:

One of the most helpful things you can do when submitting breeding evidence, especially if you're unsure about the proper code to use, is to provide comments! Describing what you observed helps clarify observations for reviewers and substantially increases a record’s long-term scientific value. To help with this, we've put together a table listing helpful comments to include for each of the confirmed and probable breeding codes. Head over to the new Breeding Code Commenting Guide to learn more.

Preview of the Breeding Code Commenting Guide. Click the image to view the full table.

What else is new?

New block mapping tool: atlas.calbirds.org

Atlaser Bart Wickel has released a new webmap to aid viewing and exploring Atlas blocks. The site displays all of the block survey effort variables, plus county boundaries and hotspots. A dedicated layer highlights blocks that have not yet received any coverage and a tracker summarizes this statistic for the state and each county. Give it a try here.

Atlas firsts:

In these early Atlas Dispatches, we’ve been highlighting Atlas-first confirmed breeding observations for each species. At last check on March 31st, 157 species had already been recorded as confirmed breeders. Since then we've collectively added another 70! Our list of confirmed species now stands above 200! If I had to guess, this will be the longest monthly list of state firsts, as the pool of likely remaining unconfirmed species grows smaller. (Don't worry--there will many other types of "Atlas firsts" to celebrate!)

Northern Gannet – Reported building a nest (NB) by Farallon Island, Amanda Spears at Southeast Farallon Island (Farallon Islands NWR, restricted access), San Francisco County
More context: The Pacific's only known Northern Gannet was observed by Point Blue's Farallon crew carrying material to a nest! Some may question the use of the breeding code here, given this bird has no realistic opportunity to reproduce, but keep in mind that the NB code reflects a nesting attempt, not a guarantee of success. Many “confirmed” codes capture breeding behaviors that may or may not result in young (any nest can fail...). Species like this, which show breeding behavior but are not known to successfully reproduce in the state, will be treated with the appropriate level of nuance in final Atlas products.
Marsh Wren – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Bart Wickel at Woodland WTP - Atlas block North, Yolo County
“Dome nest in tule”
Lesser Nighthawk – Reported performing a distraction display (DD) by John Martin at 92131, San Diego US-CA 32.91069, -117.05268, San Diego County
Northern Flicker – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Peter Gordon, Patty Drew, Carol Maxwell, Rick Gonzalez, Eileen Wintemute, JoAnn Nothhelfer, Jami Josifek, George Nothhelfer, Zehava Purim-Adimor, Susan Parnell, Royce Slick, Dyanne Witwicki Bauman, Sea and Sage Volunteer, Monica Stone, Sandra Tauber, Amanda Gaskin, Linda Gleason, As Is, Edie Shaw, Jeanne Christie at Irvine Regional Park, Orange County
Canyon Wren – Reported carrying food (CF) by Nick Lethaby at Refugio Creek Canyon, Santa Barbara County
Sandhill Crane – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Kelby Gardiner at Stampfli over Indian Cr, Plumas County
“Adult female in incubating posture (sitting low on nest), with its probable mate foraging nearby. Island nest in flooded wetland.”
Pileated Woodpecker – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Paul Hardy at Lake Davis Westside Road, Plumas County
“Pair nesting in aspen snag.”
American Goshawk – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Frank Fabbro in Amador County
Grasshopper Sparrow – Reported carrying food (CF) by Chris McCreedy at San Diego National Wildlife Refuge--Trail to Willow Tree Dam, San Diego County
“Carrying large prey.”
Northern Pygmy-Owl – Reported carrying food (CF) by Peter Schneekloth at Cachuma Campground and surroundings, south of Lion Canyon, Santa Barbara County
“I saw a bird perched holding a lizard in it's talon. After a few minutes of watching it flew over my head holding the lizard to a cavity opening in a nearby Sycamore tree and landed at the opening. After a few seconds it flew away from the cavity and landed in a branch facing me, it no longer had the lizard.”
Ladder-backed Woodpecker – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Henry Detwiler, Suzanne Detwiler at Senator Wash Reservoir, Imperial County
“Female flew into fresh cavity and remained for several minutes until we left. Seen later poking her head out of the cavity.”
Cassin's Finch – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Beverly Reynolds, Ruslan Balagansky at Turtle Rock Campground, Alpine County
“Female, accompanied by male holding multiple thin, silky, white fibers. Only noticed this when going through footage later.”
Common Poorwill – Reported at a nest with eggs (NE) by Vincent Baker at Hahamongna Watershed Park (formerly Oak Grove Park), Los Angeles County
“Known nest; 2 eggs were first discovered by a coworker (Alexis Weaver) on 3/25/26. Originally thought to be a MODO nest based on its shoddy excuse for a nest and 2 whitish eggs were pretty exposed on the ground, but the following day, a poorwill flushed from the nest as my coworker walked by. As of today, 2 creamy white pink-tinged eggs remain in the “nest” (essentially a scrape upon leaf litter). I saw a dog walker unknowingly flush the adult off the nest while I watched from afar; it seems very susceptible to noise disturbances. Adult was seen incubating when I returned to check on the nest from a safe distance about 2 hours later. Photos of eggs only as I didn’t want to approach for photos and risk flushing once the adult was incubating again.”
Hairy Woodpecker – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Ed Yong at Lake Temescal, Alameda County
Burrowing Owl – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Jeremiah Stock at Calipatria State Prison--pond, Imperial County
Black-chinned Hummingbird – Reported building a nest (NB) by M Kwan at California Botanic Garden (formerly Rancho Santa Ana BG), Los Angeles County
Chipping Sparrow – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Elizabeth Lewis at Crane Creek Regional Park, Sonoma County
Gadwall – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Janet Scheel, Mark Scheel at Piute Ponds (permit required) (CA Atlas - Rosamond Lake CW), Los Angeles County
“Three babies with adult.”
Mountain Bluebird – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Mary Clapp at Aspen Grove across from Aspen Campground (37.9397,-119.1841), Mono County
“Two pairs of MOBL. Observed female collect nesting material (pulling fine fiber from downed aspen snag) but then drop. Both pairs prospecting cavities in aspen”
Forster's Tern – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Andrea C at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Orange County
“One adult bird seen sitting on a mound of brown grasses, on a far island, somewhat elevated but near the edge. While looking to confirm tern type, another Forster's Tern flew in and hovered overhead, seemed to give the sitting bird a small fish (but it was hard to see from distance). Overall, the bird on the nest was in a roosty position so likely sitting on something special!”
Virginia Rail – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Brennan Mulrooney at Bonsall--old golf course, San Diego County
“At least two fledglings could be heard giving squeaky calls”
Golden-crowned Kinglet – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Rob Fowler, jerry meral at Redwood Park (HUM Co.), Humboldt County
“Female seen grabbing nesting material on the ground right near the base of trail #1 next to Redwood Park.”
Northern Yellow Warbler – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Alicia Di Rado at Hahamongna Watershed Park (formerly Oak Grove Park), Los Angeles County
“One female (pictured) repeatedly flew down from the oak trees to the bridge over Berkshire Creek to collect spider webs. She also darted between the bridge's rails to visit the willow trees beside the bridge for fluff. She then returned to the oak trees above. I was unable to locate the nest amid the thick canopy, however. I'll keep my eye out for it on future visits.”
Heermann's Gull – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Kyan Russell, Max Frantz, Aidan Randall at Seaside--Heermann's Gull Colony on Broadway/Calaveras, Monterey County
“Monterey Audubon Society has been conducting weekly checks on the only breeding colony of Heermann's Gulls in the entire United States with the help of college interns from CSUMB. Despite netting placed atop their usual rooftops, we were delighted to observe pair formation on the adjacent buildings as well as some birds carrying nesting material (couldn't identify but likely sticks, trash, or feathers). To learn more about this unique urban rooftop gull colony, the challenges they face, and the community supporting them visit here. See also this checklist for better views and video.”
Yellow-rumped Warbler – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Frank Fabbro at Winton Rd, West Point US-CA 38.42895, -120.33256, Calaveras County
“Female collecting thin plant fibers”
Red-masked Parakeet – Reported at a nest with young (NY) by Dominik Mosur at Buena Vista Park (SF Co.), San Francisco County
“Soft calls from inside cavity - this cavity was observed occupied by two parakeets about a month ago, based on conversation with other observers, it was apparently used for nesting last year. After several minutes of observation from a respectful distance to adults, flew in one entered the cavity while the other one hung from the outside.. additional adult parakeets were also observed flying into nearby trees, so I suspect there may be more than one nest here”
Black-headed Grosbeak – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Howard Friedman at Sanborn CP--John Nicholas Trail, Santa Clara County
Gull-billed Tern – Reported at a nest with eggs (NE) by Matt Sadowski at San Diego Bay NWR--SoCal Saltworks (restricted access), San Diego County
“Pair w at least a 1e nest on W dike V ext. Second pair nearby. Could see egg(s) when incubating bird stood to chase the intruding pair. Earliest nest initiation for Salt (previous 18 Apr 2017). Eighteen birds on E dike V, including up to four that might be on eggs.”
Chukar – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Nicole Desnoyers at San Clemente Island--Boulders North/South, Los Angeles County
“Adult with very small fuzzy chicks, probably within 3 days of hatch.”
Crissal Thrasher – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Chris McCreedy at Amargosa River--Shoshone PRBO Nest Plot, Inyo County
“Either pair with at least 2 well-developed fledglings or M with 3, tails close to fully grown, jiggity and clumsy but mobile. Alerted to them by fledges watery messy pjury dury-esque notes.”
Common Murre – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Connor Cochrane at Pt. Reyes--Lighthouse, Marin County
Lucy's Warbler – Reported at a nest with young (NY) by Chris McCreedy at China Ranch Date Farm, Inyo County
“Adult small amount of food in the bark of a Phoenix dactylifera about 4 m up on the 7 m, right in front of the China Ranch bakery. Second trip to the nest after 9 minutes of waiting.”
Varied Thrush – Reported carrying food (CF) by Rob Fowler at Russ Park, Humboldt County
Royal Tern – Reported at a nest with eggs (NE) by Matt Sadowski at San Diego Bay NWR--SoCal Saltworks (restricted access), San Diego County
“Three 1-eggers on S tide gate finger.”
Cassin's Vireo – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Fox Vasquez at Carpenter Ridge Rd., Butte County
“FOS. Seen with fluff”
Pacific Wren – Reported feeding young (FY) by Rudyard Wallen at Golden Gate Park--AIDS Memorial Grove, San Francisco County
Hooded Merganser – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Judy Spitler at Ferrari Pond Trail, Placer County
“Female with 5 or 6 young”
Yellow-breasted Chat – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Millie and Peter Thomas, Jess Haley, Mary Kennedy, C K, Cynthia Cornelius, Nancy Stassinopoulos, Patrick Dugan, Sandy Kuntz at Mission Trails Regional Park--northeast region, San Diego County
“Flew off with a stick in its bill taken from the tangle it was standing on.”
Sora – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Forrest English, Nancy Overholtz, Rosie Howard, Barbara Kelley at Owens Lake--westside delta ponds (T36s), Inyo County
Wood Stork – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Tom Benson at stakeout Wood Stork, Chino Hills (2026), San Bernardino County
“While surveying the cormorant rookery tree at Lake Los Serranos (a private community), I found a Wood Stork standing on a nest in the tree. It was easily viewable from where I was standing at the time, at the intersection of Pipeline and Glen Ridge Road (33.975344,-117.715278). From the intersection, look northeast about 30 meters into the eucalyptus tree with all the nesting cormorants. The stork is near the top middle. A scope is useful. Please do not trespass into the community and risk jeopardizing my access for breeding bird atlas surveys. It seems likely that this is the same stork that has been summering in the Prado Basin for several years, but who knows? This is the first documented San Bernardino County record since 1935.”

More context: Another bird exhibiting "confirmed" breeding behaviors that--because it is the only known individual of its species in the state--is unlikely to successfully reproduce. See the note under Northern Gannet, which explains how many of the "confirmed" codes reflect confirmed nesting attempts.

Brewer's Sparrow – Reported building a nest (NB) by Chris Howard at Antelope Spring, Inyo County
“Note nest material in bill, plus more around singing”
Zone-tailed Hawk – Reported building a nest (NB) by Eric Lutomski at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego County
“Taking sticks to a nest. Location withheld to give them privacy. 3rd year at this site.”
Northern Shoveler – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by John Fulton at 7885 South Bert Crane Road, Atwater, California, US (37.286, -120.633), Arena SE, Merced County
“5 small ducklings”
Elegant Tern – Reported at a nest with eggs (NE) by Matt Sadowski, Kristina Wolf, Bridget Spencer at San Diego Bay NWR--SoCal Saltworks (restricted access), San Diego County
“Two 1e nests on edge of ROYT colony.”
Cinnamon Teal – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Ethan Longhenry at Ballona Wetlands Reserve--Area B Open Marsh, Los Angeles County
“saw four young ducklings following after a couple of the teals”
Rhinoceros Auklet – Reported at a nest with eggs (NE) by Farallon Island, Bridger Buck, Ashley Waters, Nilkanth Patel, Kate Burns, Amanda Spears at Southeast Farallon Island (Farallon Islands NWR, restricted access), San Francisco County
Black-throated Gray Warbler – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Kimball Garrett at Big Rock Campground, Los Angeles County
“two different females seen carrying feathers (for nest lining?); at least 9 singing males”
Least Bittern – Reported feeding young (FY) by Nick Thorpe, Alex Pemberton at Mission Trails Regional Park--Kumeyaay Lake & campground ONLY, San Diego County
“One adult seen with two scruffy-looking young on edge of reeds. Adult seen regurgitating food to one of them.”
Northern Pintail – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by E Lehnert, Anonymous eBirder, Christina Baal at Merced NWR, Merced County
“Hen with 12 ducklings”
Purple Martin – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Ann Stockert, Reef Comer, Roger Hammer, Lou McGonagill at Hwy 58, Santa Margarita CA 35.39672, -120.57490, San Luis Obispo County
“One female in the nesting hole for the duration of our observation. She was being fed at one point.”
Gray Vireo – Reported at a nest with young (NY) by Matt Sadowski at Sunrise Hwy--mile 15.5 pullout, San Diego County
“Angry rasps at both jays and me. Jays were scolded even when the vireos were on foraging trips, well away from the nest area, me, only when I was in the immediate vicinity of the nest. Male singing, female mostly quiet, with occasional rasps. At first, I confirmed CF only via photo. They were carrying very tiny food items. Found nest 3-4 feet up in a chamise. Two new chicks and one egg. Two more males singing up by hwy, maybe E of it.”
Indian Peafowl – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Eileen Burton at My yard, Pasadena, CA, Los Angeles County
“Very young birds walking around with adult female.”
Ring-billed Gull – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Patti Koger at Modoc NWR, Modoc County
“Flying gull carrying a long strand of what appeared to be dry grass over one of the crowded gull and tern islands in Teal Pond.”
Mitred Parakeet – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Jasmine Kay at E First Street, Los Angeles County
“I think I'm generally pretty cognizant of how much bird talk is too much bird talk with my non-birding friends. But this pair of Mitred Parakeets right outside the kitchen window really forced my hand tonight. They were definitely the life of the party for at least half an hour. Occupied nest in the laundry vent right across from my friend's kitchen window. We saw the male loitering on the roof just above the vent cavity throughout our conversation, but I figured it was just site selection. Turns out the female had been in the vent the whole time: she poked her head out for just a moment and returned inside, not to be seen again for the rest of the evening. --She must be quite far inside the vent since these photos were taken while she was inside and I can't see even a portion of her.”
Redhead – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Paul Lehman at Sweetwater Reservoir, San Diego County
“Female with 8 young ducklings and 6 other adults, all at upper end. First local nesting record and probably first ever confirmed away from the county's north coast region (Del Mar northwards). Also, this seems a month or so early for nesting of this species locally.”
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay – Reported carrying food (CF) by Sam Eberhard at New York Mountain Rd, Essex US-CA 35.21664, -115.30428, San Bernardino County
“two flights with mouthfuls of indiscernible small food. I was unable to locate the nest.”
Wild Turkey – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Bart Wickel at Elkhorn Regional Park (YOL Co.), Yolo County
“16 eggs”
Black-chinned Sparrow – Reported carrying food (CF) by Sam Eberhard at Caruthers Canyon Rd, Essex US-CA (35.2530,-115.3011), San Bernardino County
“I watched as a male foraged in a pinyon and flew twice in the same direction with billfulls of small insects.”
Caspian Tern – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Howard Friedman at Don Edwards NWR--Ravenswood Salt Pond SF2, San Mateo County
Pine Siskin – Reported carrying nesting material (CN) by Lazy Birders at Pt. Reyes--RCA Building, Marin County
“Observed a single individual, likely a female, gathering rootlets and/or small twigs from the roadside opposite the Cypress Grove entrance. After collecting nesting material, it flew into a nearby cypress tree.”
Blue Grosbeak – Reported building a nest (NB) by Michele Suzann at Fort Ord NM--grasslands, Monterey County
“Female particularly likes the thin grasses below the coyote brush.”
Pinyon Jay – Reported building a nest (NB) by Josh McLaughlin at Piute Mountain Rd.--Landers Meadow, Kern County
“Cool to see! Watched a pair carrying nest material to the same spot about 35ft up a pine for the duration of the checklist. The pair would return to the nest site very roughly every 5-10min, usually just the one bird carrying material and the other following, male escorting the female maybe? The nest was farther out on the branch than I would have guessed, cupped between a few side branches, but obscured enough that I couldn’t make out how far along construction was. Potentially a second pair building in the same tree, but they didn’t return nearly as often so I’m not sure. Definitely multiple pairs nearby.”
Lazuli Bunting – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Paula Theobald at Agua Caliente County Park, San Diego County
“Female with 3 fledglings”
Red Crossbill – Reported with recently fledged young (FL by Gary Lester at Lester's yard, Humboldt County
“two HY with adults at feeder.”
Black Oystercatcher – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by Tony Brake at Stenmark Drive at Castro Point, Contra Costa County
“Pair (same?) has been nesting here since at least 2019.”
Common Merganser – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Hannah Firchow at ARP, Sacramento County
“One female with ten babies following”
Pin-tailed Whydah – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Keith Condon at Frank G. Bonelli RP/Puddingstone Reservoir and vicinity, Los Angeles County
“Young with same age Munia in group”
Blue-winged Teal – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Eric Pilotte, Roger Muskat at Lagoon Valley Park--Fairfield North CE Atlas Block, Solano County
“Family group with adult male and female and little Teal-lings”
Bank Swallow – Reported occupying a nest (ON) by David Garza, Emily Culhane at Fall River Mills--Bank Swallow nest site, Shasta County
“About 20 flying around nest colony. Several occupying nest burrows. Fresh, loose sand at burrow entrances and whitewash below burrows.”
Bendire's Thrasher – Reported with recently fledged young (FL) by Chris McCreedy at Mojave National Preserve—Road to Rock Tank | 35.40399, -115.74176, San Bernardino County
“Scolding parents and I thought I would find a nest, but instead flushed a fledgling with rectrices about 30 to 40 percent out of sheath. Capable of clumsy flight. Estimating around 20 d old. Much earlier phenology than I expected, as not super green here, despite that I have seen phenology 4-5 weeks earlier than previous years for various other Mojave species. Winds over 15 kmph and frustrating cannot locate other fledges for photos. I was so keyed on finding nest that I initially ignored loud flapping of the fledge when I was standing next to its creosote hiding spot - I could have scored a 3 m photo if I had just turned before stepping.”

Featured media:

A small sample of some of the images that have recently caught our eye. Tag your own media with breeding-related behaviors for easier discovery.