Persistence Pays

My wife finally retired from work. To celebrate what we would hope to be full time birding from now on, we thought of trying our luck and look for Mountain Quails at Wilderness Park in Arcadia. Where, it turned out, that the only species of interest was an Orange-vested Leafblower whose ear-piercing noise drove away the local avifauna. Including our sought after Mountain Quail. We did hear them, in between the blasts from the leafblower, the "kow-kow-kow" slowly fading into the impenetrable parts of the forest. The only consolation we got was from a Hermit Thrush who popped out from the underbrush and looked at us briefly with those oh-so-full-of-sympathy eyes.


Not wanting to waste the beautiful morning, we debated on where to go next. Cynthia suggested Eaton Canyon in Pasadena but I had a better idea. "Why not try for the Tropical Kingbird at Legg Lake", I told her.

"Are you prepared to be disappointed for the umpteenth time?", she asked. She had a point. I have tried over and over again to see the Tropical Kingbird at Legg Lake. Time and again I dipped miserably. What adds to the pain is that everybody who had been to Legg Lake had seen the bird rather easily.

"Well, if we don't see it today, then we'll try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that..." I replied firmly.

And so, five minutes after getting off at the Santa Anita parking lot, we saw the Tropical Kingbird. It was at the bare tree at the southern side of the South Lake where it had almost always been observed. Persistence finally paid off.






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