Junco which?

Taking advantage of a break in the stormy weather Southern California has been experiencing lately (with more to come tomorrow) I thought I'd visit Legg Lake in El Monte to "document" the Red-throated Loon that was seen there yesterday. It is rather unusual for a seabird like a loon to be hanging out in a freshwater inland lake so the birding gurus in Los Angeles County would like to see a photo which, thankfully, I was able to get without any problem at all.

What got my attention though was the flock of Dark-eyed Juncos feeding by the picnic tables. As you know there are several "varieties" of Dark-eyed Juncos differing slightly in plumage coloration. What I noticed in this particular flock was that there were individuals that differ from the very common Oregon variety. Looking closely, I was able to pick-out what I believe to be the Pink-sided variety and a male and female of the Slate-colored subspecies! What boggles my mind is why these three different varieties all flock together. Aren't subspecies supposed to be separated geographically? Or does this "flocking" happen only during the non-breeding season? Moreover, the different "kinds" of Dark-eyed Juncos are quite distinct from each other that they should be elevated to a species status. I mean there are sandpipers that look so very much alike that are of different speciation. Why not then the Dark-eyed Juncos?

Oregon (female)

Pink-sided

Slate-colored (male)

Slate-colored (female)

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Franklin's my dear, I got a lifer!

I thought I would be getting my first dip of the year. Not a good way to start the year was what I felt as I left Legg Lake a little before 10 am, Monday morning. I was searching for the Franklin's Gull that was observed here just the day before. After going around the lake looking at every single gull that was there, and not finding my quarry, I reluctantly left for home.

After lunch I checked the Yahoo group postings for a possible update on the gull's whereabouts. Chris Akiyoshi, a birder friend, who originally found the bird, posted that it was seen again by the main lake at 11:30 am. By 4 pm I was once again scouring the shores on the north side of the lake. Ed Stonick, another birder friend, was already there and gave the bad news that he couldn't find the Franklin's Gull. When he said he will try to look for the Tropical Kingbird, which hangs around the middle lake, instead, I decided to go the south side of the main lake and try my luck there.

There were a bunch of Ring-billed Gulls standing on the shore when I arrived. Then I noticed a smaller gull with some dark feathers on its head. My heart leapt as I realized that I finally found my lifer! I started taking its photograph when a kid came and flushed all the gulls away. Luckily I was able to get a few shots before the gulls, including the Franklin's, flew off to parts unknown. I checked the north side again when I returned to the parking area but the little gull wasn't there.

Nevertheless, I am quite happy that I got my 505th lifer, just 4 days into the new year.

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Buddy Birding

I visited Legg Lake Monday to look for Canvasbacks. The only photo I had of this species was that of a female taken at Bolsa Chica several years ago. It wasn’t long before I found a group of them lounging at the third lake. Also in the area were a bunch of Ring-necked Ducks. Inasmuch as these species would be a lifer for my birding buddy, Tom Starcic, I asked him to meet up with me on Tuesday morning. That was also an excuse for me to bring my bigger lens. My images of the male Canvasback that I got on Monday with my 100-400mm zoom lens were not big enough for my taste.

I was already taking shots at the Canvasbacks when Tom arrived. We proceeded to the area where the Ring-neckeds hang out. Along the way we were startled by a pair of Northern Flickers which darted across from us and landed on a nearby pine tree giving us some nice photo ops. The Ring-necked Ducks, on the other hand, were all sleeping way out at the middle of the lake. We moved to a point that would bring us closer to them and patiently waited for some activity. Eventually a few Ring-neckeds awoke and started their morning ablutions. Tom and I had some nice views.

As we were rounding the lake, Tom would every now and then stop and point to a flock of parakeets whizzing overhead, screeching as they went.

“Most likely Yellow-chevroned Parakeets”, I informed Tom.

When we reached the parking area, Tom stopped and stared at a sycamore tree.

“The parakeets are there.”, he said.

Silently, we approached the tree until we saw a pair of the Yellow-chevroneds. Tom was smiling as we reviewed our shots of the lovely exotics. He just got his second lifer of the day.

We then proceeded to north Rosemead – still a part of the Whittier Narrows Recreational Area – to look for the Pine Warbler reported seen last Monday. Although the place was quite birdy (lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Finches, American Goldfinches, Western Bluebirds and Black Phoebes), the Pine Warbler was nowhere to be found. What we saw was a Plumbeous Vireo and Tom’s third lifer for the day.

Since it was still early – a little after 10 am – Tom suggested that we visit Bonelli Regional Park which is not too far from here. After enduring a terrible traffic jam at the Pomona Freeway, we arrived at Bonelli around 11 am. Our first stop was the area next to Restroom 8 where the Painted Redstart spends winter every year. Sure enough, it was in its favorite tree and was very cooperative in posing for us.

The lake itself was surprisingly devoid of a lot of birds. The Redheads I saw just a week ago were gone. Only a few Scaups and Western Grebes dotted the lake. At this point I was already tired from lugging my heavy gear so I just rested while Tom explored the lakeside trail. After a while, he called me saying that there’s an Osprey perched not too far from where I was resting. I hauled my camera and tripod and proceeded to where Tom said the Osprey was. There it was, unperturbed by the harassing of a pair of American Crows.

Soon Tom returned from his foray. We made several more stops along the lake but bird activity had pretty much slowed down. It was 1 pm and we both were getting hungry so we agreed to call it a day. It was a great birding day for both of us; Tom getting three lifers and me getting good shots at the male Canvasback and getting a good work out for my back.

Marvels at Warblers

My mid-week birding brought me to Legg Lake in Whittier. Not by chance, but by a report of a Blackpoll Warbler sighting. When I arrived a little after 8 am, the place was discouragingly quiet.

I did a quick tour around the lake with hopes of seeing the Canvasbacks likewise reported there. Got blanked on that. Nothing of interest inhabited the lake and its surroundings. Disappointment was starting to creep in as I returned to the tree where the Blackpoll was sighted. It was also at this particular tree that a Bay-breasted Warbler was seen by a lot of people last year, including moi.

As I was resting at the picnic table, I finally noticed some movement among the leaves. Peering through my binoculars, I saw a warbler-like bird hunting for insects that looked a bit different from the Yellow-rumps that have also begun to pop out seemingly everywhere. Soon I was joined by a fellow birder/photographer, Chris Akiyoshi. When I showed him my shots, he was a bit skeptical as to the correct ID of the warbler I just saw. He did admit that it was paler than the brownish Butterbutts. Later after I uploaded my pictures to the computer that I was able to confirm that I did get a shot (although not a very good one) of the uncommon Blackpoll Warbler. It was my 85th lifer for the year 2008.
Chris and I hung around the now bustling-with-activity tree for a couple more hours. Throughout that period, we marveled at how a single tree can produce 6 species of warblers: the ubiquituous Yellow-Rumps, an Orange-crowned, a Yellow, several Black-throated Grays, a few lovely Townsends, and of course, the prized Blackpoll.

A Black-throated Gray:

Just as we were about to leave, a flock of Western Bluebirds landed at a nearby tree and stayed long enough for us to get some good shots. The term "bluebirds of happiness" proved to be true this morning.

Here and There Birding

My bad luck seemed to continue as I consistently dipped on my target birds the past couple of days. Fall migration is in full swing and there were a few reports on migrating warblers passing through the San Gabriel Valley area.

When I went to Eaton Canyon last Monday morning, my expectations were really not that high. So I just challenged myself to take a picture of every species I saw. After a couple of hours, I saw about 16 species and had photographed 13 - 3 of which are not good enough for my standards. Among the better shots are: A young Anna's Hummingbird whose head seemed like it was dipped in grape jelly...

Tuesday morning I headed to Legg Lake. At the area where we found the Bay-breasted Warbler last year, various kinds of warblers, including a rare Lucy's, were reportedly seen. Of course when I got there, there wasn't a single bird at all. Not one! To console myself from such disappointment, I wandered around the lake and even visited nearby Whittier Narrows, hoping for some sort of redemption. Thankfully, there was. At a tiny puddle of water in Whittier Narrows, an Anna's Hummingbird, unable to stand the sweltering heat, decided to take a bath.

Soon it was followed by an Orange-crowned Warbler, finally showing why it was given such a name.

I returned to Legg Lake shortly after that, where I encountered a group of birders staring at a young Red-tailed Hawk, uncharacteristically perched low on a high tension wire tower.

I joined the group for a few minutes as they searched vainly for the warblers as well. I even managed to show them a young Bullock's Oriole who tiptoed to look at the bunch of gawking people below.

The heat of the day and the disappointment of not seeing some unusual warblers were both getting to be quite unbearable, so at 10:30 am I called it quits.

Short and Sweet

My wife has a 10 am appointment Saturday, June 14th. When we arrived at Legg Lake in El Monte we only had about an hour to go birding. Thank heavens, we weren't disappointed.
By the water's edge a Great Blue Heron was patiently stalking some potential breakfast.

The tree tops were blossoming with Double-crested Cormorants and awash with the calls of Great-tailed Grackles.

Near the green bridge a family of Bullock's Orioles were chasing one another. Finally, one of the youngsters, perhaps getting hungry from all those flying around, decided to hunt for spiders from a dead tree.

Not far from it Barn Swallows were resting on the telephone wires.

Since Legg Lake is a popular picnic area most of these birds had become familiar with the presence of humans. We were having a blast enjoying the "tameness" of these birds when I noticed that an hour has already passed. As if to say goodbye, a lone American Robin eyed us as it sat basking in the morning sun.

And they said summer always brings birding doldrums.

We're gonna git ya, sapsucka!

The weather was nice Friday so we thought we'd try again for the Bay-breasted Warbler at Whittier Narrows. And hopefully see the Canvasback (which I missed twice before) this time. Let me just say that the Bay-breasted broke about a dozen birder's hearts that morning by not showing up at all. My heart was broken on the other hand by the Canvasback who was also a no-show.

After much lingering in the area and not seeing anything interesting except for a cooperative Spotted Sandpiper and American Robins playing tag, my wife and I were just about ready to leave. Just then something different flew into the tree where the Robins were. It was a Red-naped Sapsucker! And then another one flew in to the same tree. For the next half-hour or so, we played hide-and-seek with these lovely birds, them doing the hiding and we doing the seeking. The joggers and picnickers who saw us running from tree to tree, all the while pointing our cameras in every direction imaginable must have thought that these couple in camos had gone loco.

When the sapsuckers finally flew off to a densely leafed pine tree, we gave up the chase and hoped that we have gotten good enough photographs of the woodpecker-like bird.

Well, we did get ya, sapsucka!

Mission Accomplished

"Your mission should you decide to accept it is to locate and photograph the Bay-breasted Warbler seen at Whitter Narrows Recreation Area. Should fog or any misdirection of locale prevent you from accomplishing this mission, bird photographers all over Southern California will disavow any knowledge of you and your equipment."

After my failure to locate the bird last Friday and my decision not to chase after it during the weekend, I went back to Whittier Narrows Monday morning to try my luck at seeing, and maybe getting a few photographs of the Bay-breasted Warbler. I arrived a little after eight am. The place was covered by thick, soupy fog. I proceeded to the area where it was last seen. Next to the fenced children's playground, construction workers have begun their work. Engine noises and men yelling disturbed the idyllic scene. Not seeing any bird activity at the nearby trees, I went back to the warmth of my Jeep and dozed on and off for about an hour.

About 9:30 am I decided to give it another try. As I approached the area I saw a birder. He said that he had not seen the Bay-breasted yet but explained that he saw it yesterday in this place as he pointed to a clump of trees. Soon we were joined by Jim Moore of the San Fernando Valley Audubon and Jeff Webster of Whittier Audubon. Jeff led us to a huge maple tree where warbler activities were beginning to pick up. Soon I saw a Hermit Warbler pop-out among the dense foliage and I informed everybody about it. Not long after, I saw the object of our hunt and enthusiastically announced my discovery to the birders present.

The fog still had not dissipated at this time and getting photographs of the rare warbler was next to impossible. As the hours passed by birders came and went, each one able to lay their eyes on our avian visitor from the east. At around 11 am, the sun finally broke through giving joy to the birder/photographers (including myself) who patiently waited for such an opportunity.

A little after 12 pm with my 2GB flash card full (95% of which were Bay-breasted Warbler shots), my hands numbing from the cold, and developing birder's neck, I called it day. I took more than 200 shots that morning. From these, only 4 were what I considered acceptable. Four was good enough. Mission accomplished.

Priorities..

When news of sightings of a Bay-breasted Warbler and a couple of Hermit Warblers at Legg Lake in South El Monte broke last Thursday, Nov. 15th, I was there early Friday. Despite spending close to three hours, I still dipped - big time! On both species! They were not lifers for me but I wanted to hopefully get some decent pictures of both warblers. I would learn later on that the birds were seen - probably not long after I left.

Saturday, my wife was down with the flu. Even though she gave me the permission to chase the uncommon warblers, I opted to stay with her. For me, no bird, no matter how rare, is more important than my relationship with Cynthia. My wife needs me - that trumps any birding desires completely.

Sunday, is of course, church day. Even more important than husband-wife relationship is God-human fellowship. Attending church services on a Sunday had always been our priority, no matter where we were. Whenever we plan a vacation that would include a Sunday, we always make it a point to go to Calvary Chapel in the city that we are in (there usually is one). For me and my wife, to be close to our Creator is more important than being close to His creatures.

The Bay-breasted Warbler was seen both Saturday and Sunday by a number of birders. I'm hoping it will still be there for me on Monday.