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On our annual trip to the U.S. we always make it a point to go birding at the two of our favorite places in Orange County: San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (SJWS) and Bolsa Chica Wetlands. This time we were fortunate to see (and get photos of) some species that we hadn't encountered the past 8 years or so. It was like meeting an old friend whom we hadn't seen for a while - and saying "Hello like before!"
At SJWS these were the "friends" we met:
Tree Swallow - although a regular resident, we weren't able to get photos the previous times we were here.
Rufous Hummingbird, quite uncommon and therefore a nice surprise.
The Common Yellowthroat, although "common", we never saw them the past 8 years that we've been here. And now we saw at least three of them frolicking by the reeds.
Another surprise was the very active Blue Grey Gnatcatcher
The highlight of the morning was the White-faced Ibis that was feeding at Pond D.
At Bolsa Chica, aside from the usual species seen here, we saw a Greater Yellowlegs.
Black-bellied Plovers, still in non-breeding plumage were quite plentiful.
The Belted Kingfisher was less skittish now.
I'm not 100% sure about the ID of this bird, but my guess is Least Flycatcher.
The highlight of the day was a couple of lucky shots of Ring-billed Gulls. One was flying with the moon in the background.
The other was when an immature bird leapt and then dove for some fish and I caught it at the perfect moment.
It was indeed nice to have seen these birds once again after a really long time.
It was bound to happen. Put a camera in her hands and she'll produce wonders. I have just gotten my new Canon 30D and wanted to give it a test run. So I attached it to my workhorse lens - the 500mm monster plus the 1.4 extender. To my old Canon 20D I attached the 300mm (another formidable glass). The latter I handed to Cynthia for her to practice on, it being lighter and can be handheld quite easily by a lady of her stature.
We first visited the tamarisk trees at Camarillo for the migrating warblers. The tamarisk trees line up alongside a farm road and is a "migrant trap" (a place where migrating birds stop over during their southerly journey). The farm road sees only a few traffic but the vehicles that pass through usually do so at speeds that are only witnessed at NASCAR sites. While I was straining my neck to locate these energetic small birds, Cynthia decided to pursue the Yellowthroats darting back and forth across the small creek nearby. I lucked out (not without really trying - but the odds of getting flattened by a vehicle rushing at 60 miles an hour are greater than getting a shot at the tiny, flitting birds, skulking behind the dense pine-like leaves of the tamarisks), but Cynthia's persistence paid off. She got the yellowthroat!
We then moved on to Playa del Rey where the shorebirds are a lot friendlier. Cynthia got shot after shot of the bird population of the playa while I struggled handholding my almost 10-lb gear. I can't use my tripod because the jetty where the birds are are too narrow for it. And the birds are too close for my huge lens that almost all my shots were portraits.
When we got home and after I have uploaded our pictures to the computer, lo and behold, Cynthia had some really great killer shots! She enjoyed it so much she already staked her claim to the 20D/300mm combo as "her" camera. I have created a monster.
