Water Low

"The Boy" was supposed to bring a lot of rainfall to Southern California. El Nino is a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean that supposedly causes drought in eastern Asia and Australia and wetter winters in western North America. However since it is now spring, the rain apparently had abated and gave way to a warmer-than-usual weather. The absence of precipitation caused the water levels in the ponds and wetlands to drop significantly.

That was how it was when we visited the two prime birding spots in Orange County: the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (SJWS) and the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. Thankfully, and despite the low water levels, there were still quite a number of birds in these places.

At the SJWS all three species of teals were represented.

Blue-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

The long-legged waders were up and about.

American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt

There were fewer birds than usual at Bolsa Chica because most of the migrants have returned to their breeding grounds way up north.

The uncommon Reddish Egret was performing its fishing dance.

The long-billed birds were already busy pursuing their morning meals.

Long-billed Curlew

Long-billed Dowitcher

Marbled Godwit

The Belding's subspecies of the Savannah Sparrow is a sure sighting here.

The absence of the migratory duck species were compensated by these crested swimmers.

Horned Grebe

Red-breasted Merganser

It was spring break, so to speak, in terms of bird migration. That was why there weren't that many birds compared to the colder months of the year. 

All in all, we had a good birding experience, low water level notwithstanding.

Once Was Lost.....

Imagine my horror when not a single photo showed up when I was uploading my CF card to the laptop! And to think that the photos I took were of the birds of two of our favorite spots in Orange County - San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary and Bolsa Chica - and also those from our first day in Arizona! My mind raced to what caused such mishap. Perhaps it was when I reset the date in the camera settings. It was still in Philippine time so I changed it to U.S. Pacific Coast time. Or I might have pushed a wrong button. In a state of panic I asked for help via Facebook. Friends responded quickly. Two of them, Jun Osano and Micky Lim, even offered the codes needed to access the data using a specific software. I tried those but somehow it didn't work. Possibly it was because the software was designed for the Sandisk brand whereas my CF card's was Lexar.

Days passed and my heart still couldn't bear the fact that I might have lost my shots for good. Not that there were any photo lifers there, or that Cynthia also took pictures of practically the same birds using her own camera. Still......

I took the CF card to Samy's Camera who quoted me $35 for the recovery process. That afternoon I got a call from them saying they were not able to recover even a single shot from the card. So we went to the store and picked up my damaged CF. Since Cynthia and I are planning to go to Costa Rica in a couple of weeks, I bought a 64GB Lexar CF card which was on sale. At home when I opened the package, voila! there was a code provided should I need to recover a damaged card! After downloading the recovery software we (with my son, Kurt's, help) tried to work it out. Yes, we managed to get some raw files but they were from an earlier session and not those from the Orange County foray.

It was after our trip to Costa Rica and with a lot of time in our hands that I tried to run the software again. This time it was a complete success! What were once lost, now are found!

Here are some of those recovered shots:

American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt

Allen's Hummingbird

Savannah Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

A Sight for Soras

There are those days in birding when you see a species that a) you're not really looking for and b) you don't expect to find out in the open on a hot morning.

It started out quite inauspiciously as we started out at Pond C at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine. Spread along the water's edge where a bunch of photographers brandishing a wide array of camera equipment all of which were trained at some avocets nonchalantly going about their business. When we returned three hours later, the same photographers were still at it, steadfast in their desire to capture the avocets doing their "thing". You know, the "thing" that avocets in particular, and birds in general, do in spring to ensure the perpetuation of their species.

Cynthia and I, on the other hand, preferred to roam around and see what birds are available to be photographed (aside from romantically-inclined avocets). And it was at the adjoining pond, Pond D, that we had a serendipituous encounter with a bird seldom seen in the open. The Sora. At first it was just a single bird, cautiously venturing away from the protective covering of the reeds. Soon it was calmly feeding on the muddy soil. Sensing the confidence this bird had on its surroundings, two more Soras emerged from hiding and frolicked at the farther end of the pond.



It must have been a holiday in the Sora calendar because after meandering around the sanctuary until noon, the Sora (this time it was by itself) was still at it, unmindful of the scorching weather. When we reported our sightings at the Nature Center, Pat Thelen, a new birder (he started only about six months ago) got excited and wanted to see the bird as it will be a lifer for him. We gladly took him to Pond D. Our hearts sank because the Sora was no longer there. But then, after a while, it reappeared albeit at the other end of the pond. Pat got good looks nonetheless and was so ecstatic at getting a life bird.

It was also quite a fruitful day for us. Aside from the Soras, we saw seven species of warblers: (Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Wilsons, Nashville, Yellow and Hermit!) and a couple of Vireos (Hutton's and Warbling). Today's birding foray upped our yearlist to 240.

And oh, here's a gratuitous shot of an Avocet, sans l'amour…