Goody Woodies

Perhaps it is because it was a Saturday - and a gorgeous day at that - that our birding trip to the Irvine Regional Park wasn't that productive. The park, although harboring a pond and lots of trees, was actually a family park, complete with mini train rides and horses for rent. And families came in droves that morning. Ergo, more non-birding people, less birds.

This was also our first time to bird this place. There was no trail map available so we just sort of wandered aimlessly guessing where we could find the birds that were reported seen here. Like the Lewis Woodpecker and the Sapsuckers. Even after several hours of meandering, we still dipped on those.

On the plus side, we had good looks at the "woodies" - Acorn Woodpecker,

Nuttall's Woodpecker

and the very colorful Wood Ducks.

The Belted Kingfisher, a species that has eluded our various attempts at photographing it, continued to torment us by perching at distances that even a spotting scope would be quite inutile.

My wife's endeavours to capture the Double-crested Cormorants in flight were all in vain. It was almost noon, temperatures were uncharacteriscally high at this time of year, and we had just hiked for some distance. That is the reason, I explained to her that she did not have the steadiness in her hands to do BIF (birds in flight) shots.
11:30 and it was time to go. We drove off as the sounds of the toot-tooting of the tiny train and the clip-clopping of the horses' hooves faded in the distance.

Battle of the Buteos

The trails behind the Nature Center at Placerita Canyon was completely devoid of birds at 8:30 am last Friday. Getting bitter with disappointment and murmuring to myself "I drove over 30 miles for nothing!" I decided to try the picnic area. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that that was where the birds are! The grounds were literally hopping with sparrows (mostly Golden-crowned!) and Juncos. Some even a few feet from me totally oblivious of my presence. The creekbed alongside the picnic area still holds a few puddles of water from last week's rain. There Lesser and American Goldfinches, Golden-crowned, White-crowned and Fox Sparrows and Towhees were enjoying an early morning bath despite the low 60's temperature.

As I wandered around drinking in the apparent tameness of the feathered creatures of this place, I flushed a flock of Fox Sparrows. They all flew into a tall bush about ten feet from where I was standing. One individual clambered up the branches and gave me a long, hard look. I guess it was as curious about me as I was about him.


Then there was this couple of Nuttall's Woodpeckers. The male was working on a tree several feet away from the female. Both (unintentionally, I'm sure) played chase with me. As soon I came within photographic distance, the bird would fly off to another tree. First I would chase the male and when it would fly off, I will go after the female which would do the exact same thing. Persistence paid off eventually. I got shots of both.




At around 10:30 am, avian activity ceased completely. Where about an hour earlier, the ground was covered by birds, suddenly not a creature was stirring, not even an Oak Titmouse.

I was walking back to the parking lot when I heard a screeching noise from atop a tree. Looking up I saw first a Red-shouldered Hawk screaming its lungs off. Several branches below I saw the object of its fury; a Red-tailed Hawk was trying its best to ignore the invectives being hurled against its presence.



Occasionally, the Red-shouldered, unable to control its contempt for (what I assumed to be) the intruder, would take a swipe at the bigger hawk. Despite these brazen attacks, the Red-tailed managed to maintain its cool. Realizing that it was not making any progress in its attempts to dislodge the interloper from its perch, the smaller buteo shrugged its red-shoulders and flew off.

I almost applauded at the end of this drama I just witnessed. Too bad I didn't bring my videocamera along..and I wasn't able to take a shot of the attacks..I was just too absorbed at watching the whole scenario unfold before my amused eyes.

My 30 mile trip was worth it in the end.

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.

Flycatchers and Friends

Reports that not one, but three (2 males and a female) Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were seen at the feeders at the Big Morongo Preserve gave us a good excuse to go back there on Saturday, May 19th.

This time I purposedly left my big gun, the 500mm, at home. I wanted to give my new 100-400 zoom lens a real workout, so to speak. Cynthia thought that having a 1.4 extender attached to her 300mm slowed down the autofocusing somewhat so she went back to her original set-up

Just right after we got off the jeep we both immediately caught a glimpse of the bright red of the Summer Tanager flash overhead. And there perched on the fence by the parking area was its less gaudy but also beautiful mate giving us the eye.

We joined the bird walk led by Dee Zeller (who also gave us the bad news that the grosbeaks were gone). Just as we were entering the boardwalk at the start of the Marsh Trail, we were greeted by a very tame Gambel’s Quail doing a morning call. Soon, Margaret, a member of our group started listing names of birds heard along the trail.

“That’s a Verdin.” There’s a Bell’s Vireo, and another one on the opposite side”, she would announce to the group. It was quite frustrating for us photographers since these birds were all hidden among the foliage around us. The highlight of the walk was an Olive-sided Flycatcher (also located by Margaret) which was a lifer for us. We eventually tallied 38 species, but unfortunately, only a few good shots. Throughout our walk on the Marsh Trail we were accompanied by a pair of Western Scrub Jays staying close to us that you could almost touch them. They are having their own people-walk, seems like.

Still being early, we decided to go to Luckie Park in Twentynine Palms to try to locate the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher recently sighted there. We parked at the northwestern side of the recreation area close to the ballfields. There were lots of birds; Great-tailed Grackles, Brewer’s Blackbirds and tons of Horned Larks, even a pair of White-winged Doves, but no Scissor-tail. In our perambulations, we met Matthew Baker who has been scouring the area looking for the same quarry but have not had any luck either. We whiled away the time shooting at the Horned Larks. It was almost noon and we were beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. Visions of McDonalds soon began dancing before our eyes. Our reveries were suddenly interrupted by shouts of “There it is! There it is!” Matthew finally spotted the long-tailed bird and we all rushed to where it was perched. This was one of those moments when I wished I brought along my 500mm lens. Nevertheless, our mission was accomplished and we now proceeded to satisfy one of man’s basic needs. An Angus third pounder never tasted this good!

Back at Morongo, after a well deserved repast, we settled into a more sedentary activity. We sat by the feeders watching and photographing the comings and goings of various avian species which included a Mountain Chickadee, Bullocks and Hooded Orioles, Costa’s Hummingbirds, a Nuttall’s Woodpecker and the usual denizens of House Finches, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Lesser Goldfinches.

Around 2:30 pm, we decided to give the Marsh Trail one more look-see. By the spillway, we discovered the Bell’s Vireo and its nest. Along the route, we bumped into several kinds of Flycatchers whose identities completely buffled us, particularly those darn empidonax species! Near the end of the loop, several birds were playing king of the hill, or in this instance, king of the bare limb. A Western Kingbird, a Brown-crested Flycatcher, an intrepid young Western Tanager and a feisty Western Wood Pewee would perch into this bare limb after hawking some unfortunate insect, only to be dislodged by the next species. Once in a while a Black Phoebe would even join the fray. Warbling Vireos and Wilson’s Warblers, on the other hand, were busy working the surrounding greenery.

We hated to leave such interesting antics but we still have some 120-odd miles to drive. It was a fun day, made even more enjoyable by finding new friends who share our passion for birds.

And by the way, this was one session where my wife had the better shots.

Hansen and Good-looking

Gas prices continued to soar, limiting our sorties into places closer to home. Hansen Dam was such a place - about 15 minutes away (driving at 80 mph ). Our target species was the Calliope Hummingbird - the smallest hummingbird to occur in the United States. Perhaps it was the dry spring season that we were having because the yellow flowers that these birds adore were not yet in bloom. No yellow flowers, ergo no Calliopes. Nevertheless, it was still quite birdy at the dam even if the avian population were the usual suspects. The Scrub Jays and California Towhees were darting back and forth right next to the parking area. There were hummingbirds,too - Anna's and Allen's were well represented as well as a few Black-chinneds.

Red-winged Blackbirds were competing with Great-tailed Grackles for prime real estate to serenade the opposite sex. We even saw a silky black Phainopepla.

After doing our rounds of the place, and it being close to 10 am, we decided to pack up and get ready for our next destination, Placerita Canyon. On the way to the Jeep, Cynthia suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my, God!" Concerned that something happened to my wife, I turned and found her shooting eargerly at the Red-tailed Hawk elegantly perched at the top the tree in front of her. Needless to say I joined in the fray, ocassionally shifting my camera at the Kingbirds frolicking on the grass below. Eventually the hawk flew off and before we reached our vehicle, we were granted good views by an uncommon Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Placerita Canyon was quieter than when we last visited the place. No Rock Wrens this time, but we did get a glimpse (but not a photo) of our first Black-headed Grosbeak of the season. One of the highlights of the day was that we got some good shots of the furtive Pacific Slope Flycatcher.

It was, once again, on the way back and passing through the picnic area that we were treated to a bird buffet, as it were. Feeding on the ground were Juncos, Towhees, Oak Titmice and Sparrows. As Cynthia was crouched trying to get an up close and personal view of a Golden-crown, I gently called her attention and directed her to her left at the base of the tree a few feet away, There, a Nuttall's Woodpecker was patiently trying to crack an acorn, oblivious of the people around. (There were picnickers with young children not too far from it.)

Who says you have to drive far to get good-looking birds?