Santa Ynez Avian Fashionistas

Santa Ynez has an amazing variety of birds. I wanted to post a picture of a yellow-billed magpie in flight, but I'm unable to import one from the internet. I'm afraid I'm not speedy enough with my camera to capture one. These birds are incredibly dramatic and elegant when they spread their wings. Magpies have white, black, blue and irridescent hunter green feathers. The green appears at the edge of the tail and is almost like a pinstripe! The open wing has white in the center and black around the edges. The effect in the air is incredible. I think they resemble well-turned out divas at an awards show, so full of confidence they're almost brash. The pump and glide motion magpies use to fly is a model of energy conservation.

Lesser goldfinches are the opposite, darting about anxiously bringing brief grace notes to the symphony of serenity at Ridgeline Ranch. The range of lesser goldfinches is broad but their migratory pattern is still a bit unclear. I'm delighted to be on the pathway to their summer retreat. I think of Ridgeline Ranch as their second home, but perhaps that concerpt doesn't work for migratory birds. Yellow-billed magpies have a narrow range in central California oak woodlands. Because of their preference for woodlands, I rarely see them in Los Olivos and have never seen one in Solvang which is more developed.



Fortunately, the local band of magpies seems to like the Woodstock Ranch area of Santa Ynez. I enter the ranch at the intersection of Brinkerhoff and Long Valley Roads where my friends Sandy and Barry have a good-sized equestrian facility. Without fail, I see magpies perched on wires, fenceposts or even the ground at the intersection. Perhaps they're drawn by bits of hay or grain left by the horses. When they visit Ridgeline Ranch, they usually home in on the area where Cinch is fed.