Tales from the Pit - Episode 2 - Heron There

Peck's Pit - a name that stirs the imagination. Images of a dark, cavernous place fraught with creatures that defy description are conjured by the mere mention of that name: Peck's Pit.

In reality, it is a park-like area where picnic tables stand over lawn-like grass and shaded by oaks and sycamores. Then there's the lake where fishermen cast their poles with the hope of catching some catfish. It is also a favorite haunt of birders, particularly of late, when some unusual birds were spotted there.

And so, self-respecting birder that I am, visited this birdy place with a strange name a few times trying my luck at finding those unusual birds. There were times I got lucky - seeing both Blackpoll and Lucy's Warblers (see my previous blog) - but more frequently, I wasn't. Although I missed out on the rarer kind, the local bird population, most especially the herons, have been quite cooperative.

One fine day as I was scanning the tiny strip of land in the middle of the lake for a possible Solitary Sandpiper (yes, that single bird bane of my life) and once again dipping badly, a Great Blue Heron suddenly gave a loud squawk and flew towards my side. With the agility of a hungry leopard, I lifted my camera and captured the flight of the huge wader.


A couple of days later, at the north end of the lake, while searching for a Northern Waterthrush (and again failing miserably) I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron knee-deep in green duckweed water. Actually herons don't have knees but I'm just trying to anthrophomorphize the scene I was witnessing.

A short distance from it, a Green Heron, hating to get its feet wet, perched on some branch jutting from the greenish puddle.

Getting pictures of three herons there on the pit is quite a feat and I was happy I picked a place like Peck's.



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Short-lived Birding

We didn't know when we went to Peck Park last Saturday that we would be birding next to a crime scene. We were quite unaware of that fact as we innocently birded along the lake. For starters our target birds - Glaucous-winged Gull and Canvasbacks - were on the far side of the lake. The filth along the shoreline probably drove them farther away, we thought. So we contented ourselves with whatever we could encounter along the way. Luckily, we saw some Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a very skittish Green Heron and what looked like an overstaying Pacific Slope Flycatcher. Other than those, it was just the usual smattering of Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Finches, American Goldfinches and White-crowned Sparrows. When we tried to take the road to the far end of the lake, we noticed an unusual number of police cars and firetrucks blocking the way. We quickly retraced our steps and as we approached the parking area, more emergency vehicles were coming in.

Just as we watched the scenario, wondering what was going on, Chet King, the forensics person for the Arcadia Police engaged us in conversation. It turned out that he does professional photography on the side. We also learned from him that a body was found earlier floating on the lake.

After a while, Renny and Lynn Maddox, birders from Burbank, joined us and told us that they saw the Canvasbacks. "But they were quite a distance", they said. Noting the commotion going on, they, just like us, decided to cut short our birding activities for the day.

Chica Chica Boom

My recent fiasco with the Buntings and Bishops sort of awakened my too complacent photographer spirit. It's time to get down to basics. Time to put into practice the principles learned ages ago. Time to look back into past experiences and benefit from them.

When I sallied forth into the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve last Wednesday, my one and only purpose was to photograph birds. Take pictures of any bird, in any situation, then go home and determine if the resulting shots showed any progress in my abilities or not. I did not wear my birder hat that day.

It turned out to be gloomy that morning which did not daunt me at all. After all, I wanted a challenge. And what could me more challenging to a photographer than overcast skies. Right off at the boardwalk, I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron in full breeding plumage, standing motionlessly among the vegetation as it patiently waited for some unwary fish. An unmoving subject would be a good start, sort of to give my confidence a boost, I thought. I mean, how can you go wrong with a bird that stays still under gray skies? That shot went quite well.

Feeling encouraged, I moved on where I encountered a small flock of Western Sandpipers. In contrast to the Night Heron, these are tiny birds that like to scamper along the water's edge. I was now faced with the challenge of focusing at a small, constantly moving object, whose plumage blends with the watery background. Got a good shot there as well.

Farther up the trail where the tide gates are, a group of young Forster's Terns were sallying from the posts and diving into the waters hoping to grab an edible morsel. White flying birds became my next challenge. I must admit that BIF (birds-in-flight) photos are not my forte. The fact that I was using a 300mm with a 1.4 extender (which slowed the auto focusing) made me even more resolved to get these shots right. I was rewarded by a couple of fairly good captures - better than most of my previous BIFs.

But then, I thought that I got the terns when they were hovering - not exactly a BIF. When a Black Skimmer flew by and started doing its unique feeding style - cruising a few inches above the water surface with its lower beak submerged - it presented a true flying bird shot opportunity.

Not long afterward an immature Brown Pelican flew in and displayed its own style of feeding: float on the water looking for prey, fly a short distance and plunge into the water and grab the fish with its enormous bill. For a huge bird, it does this maneuver with grace and agility.

I continued to spend the rest of the morning taking shots of the various birds that I encountered. I felt that I have lived up to the different photographic challenges presented my way with some degree of success. So satisfied was I with my photography that I even switched to videography - capturing the antics of a Green Heron, some Sandpipers and a Black-bellied Plover trying to eat a clam.

Below is the video of the Green Heron. The music is titled "Ay Cosita Linda" which means "what a cute little thingy". It refers to what the heron did towards the end of the clip. :-) Enjoy!

Peck-a-Boo

I have to go birding! It has been more than two weeks that I haven't done so. Domestic matters precluded me from pursuing my hobby for the past fortnight. So now I must bird. I must satisfy the growing need to go out once again under the hot summer sun and feast my eyes and point my camera on the feathered creatures that I hope to encounter.

My destination of choice was Peck Road Water Conservation Park, better known to birders as Peck Pit. Based on recent birding news, I purposely set my expectations to low. This has not been a very good year for birds here in California where even the regular summer visitors were quite sparse. Scanning the lake, I only saw a couple of cormorants, a few gulls and some mallards. The picnic area was devoid of birds except for a murder of crows and a flock of domestic rock doves.

Moving closer to the edge of the lake, I saw a single Western Gull feasting on a dead catfish.

Suddenly, a Green heron flew by and landed on dead tree branch.


A pair of skittish Cooper's Hawks did not stay long enough for a photograph and simply vanished as I approached.

At any given park or birding place in Southern California, the birds most likely to be seen are Mourning Doves,

Northern Mockingbirds

and Black Phoebes.

And so I was a bit surprsised when I saw some Band-tailed Pigeons perched on the telephone wires. These large birds normally inhabit higher elevation forests and to find them at this low altitude was unusual.

Another unexpected sighting was a Lincoln's Sparrow which is a very secretive and somewhat nondescript brown bird.

After about an hour, my birding spirit has been appeased but my gastronomical need was starting to make itself noticeable. It was only proper that I now return home.

A Brant New Day

The disappointment of last Saturday's trip to Chilao was still lingering like a bad aftertaste. I had some time to spare on Tuesday afternoon after my appointment with my dentist and before I pick up my wife from her work. Like any opportunistic bird photographer, I had the foresight to bring my 30D + 100-400 combo with me.

My destination was Legg Lake in El Monte which was not that far from my wife's office. Besides, there were sightings of a Brant in the area and that was more than enough incentive for me to go. Brants are small, black wild geese and are rather uncommon in Southern California. Of course, it would be a lifer for me should I be lucky to see this one purportedly inhabiting the north shore of the lake. Lucky I was! I have not been standing by the lake for more than 5 minutes when I spotted it right away - contentedly bathing in the shallow waters. I captured the next two hours of its life in digital images thereby washing off the sad memories of Chilao.

In between my sessions with the Brant (sometimes it would swim off towards the middle of the lake or else mingle with the local domestic geese population) I would venture off and observe the other avian residents of Legg Lake. Green Herons were also cooperative giving me good and close enough opportunities to take their pictures. Both Orioles (Bullocks and Hooded) were busy rearing their almost grown-up offsprings. American Robins and Western Bluebirds were working the grassy areas. A Nuttall's Woodpecker suddenly popped into view.

My enthusiasm has been restored.