Well I Can

The Southern California June gloom continued until Saturday, the 13th. Since I have not gone birding due the inclement weather, my wife insisted that we try for the Little Blue Heron at Playa del Rey, dark skies notwithstanding.

After a couple of hours of searching and waiting, the rare wader was still nowhere to be found. It appeared that the dark clouds of disappointment will also descend upon us. Not to see a hoped-for rarity after a week long hiatus from birding would break the heart of any staunch birder. But as in quite a few occasions before, a redeeming event happens. A young Brown Pelican flew in out of nowhere and landed on the Del Rey lagoon. Its antics as it tried to bathe in the shallow waters alleviated the depressing mood that was beginning to creep in on me.

Will I be able to overcome this dark state of my birding soul? Thanks to my encouraging wife who always "stands by her man" and to the bathing attempts of a young pelican, well, I can.




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I for an Eye

Henderson, Nevada. November 25, 2005
Our family was celebrating Thanksgiving at Las Vegas. My wife and I decided to do some morning birding at the Henderson Water Treatment Plant. It was here that we got our first, albeit quite distant, glimpse of the Common Goldeneye.

San Dimas, California. November 25, 2008
As a birder/photographer there are certain species of birds that would lay dormant in the inner recesses of my mind. That vision would remain unperturbed until certain news that involved that particular species would awake that memory from its heretofore undisturbed slumber. The Common Goldeneye was one such species.

Three years later on the exact same date, I was at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park (my wife was at work at the time) to look for the Common Goldeneye that was reported seen here just the day before. But as luck (or in this case, bad luck) would have it, the Goldeneyes - there were supposed to be a pair - were nowhere to be found.

Playa del Rey, California. December 6, 2008
Once again spurred by reports of Common Goldeneyes (again, a pair) sightings at the Del Rey Lagoon, my wife and I were at that place bright and early. It was a beautiful day, the sun smiling gaily on a nippy morning. We saw a couple of photographers by the lagoon's edge firing away at a raft of ducks at the west end. We were on the other side from where they were but we couldn't contain our curiosity and decided to investigate. As we moved closer to the shoreline, I immediately noticed a duck slightly different from the male and female Buffleheads swimming closely together. The male Common Goldeneye! I managed to get off a few shots at it before it flew off towards the Ballona Channel. We took off after it but failed to relocate the bird.

It was still early so Cynthia and I went to the southernmost jetty where we encountered a bunch of Surfbirds and Least Sandpipers. Then there was a lone Black Turnstone and a Wandering Tattler that allowed me some real close shots. My wife and I decided earlier that she will not do any photography this time and that I will be the one using "her" usual gear - the 30D with the 100-400 zoom combo. She will just be my "morale-booster" in case we dipped on the Goldeneye.

We were returning to our Jeep when we met our birding pal, Tom Starcic. We were talking shop when a couple of birders informed us that the Common Goldeneye was seen again at the Channel, "just five feet from the rocky shore". All three of us hurriedly went to the trail above the Channel and after a few hits and misses we were able to relocate it.
Cynthia and I still have some chores and errands to do and since we have gotten some pretty good shots of the Goldeneye, we bade Tom farewell.

The Solitary Sandpiper has taken the Goldeneye's place in hibernating at the back of my mind.

Signs of the Tams

My short hiatus from birding was over! I finally announced to my bosses at work that I am accepting the "voluntary severance program". Officially, I will be out of work by Oct. 16. Inasmuch as that onus was now out of my system, I can focus (pun intended) on the activities that are near and dear to my heart: birding and bird photography!

It had been established as some sort of tradition (by quite a few birders, I presume) to visit the tamarisk trees lining Laguna Road in Camarillo (commonly referred to as Laguna Tams) during fall migration. Despite its small area - about 50 trees along the road, it has been known to harbor vast quantities and quite a diversity in species of warblers. A rarity or two had been known to visit these pine-like trees from time-to-time.

So that was our destination Saturday morning. Sure enough, as soon as we got there, warblers of various kinds were popping in and out of the needle-like leaves. There were Townsends, tons of Wilsons, Black-throated Grays, and Orange-crowned (including the gray-headed subspecies). Warbling Vireos were also represented in great numbers. We didn't see the Blackburnian Warbler that was reported a week ago though.

For me and my wife, deprived of good birding photo ops for a forthnight, experiencing this bonanza was a thrill touched with a little frustration. The birds, of course, were constantly in motion, oftentimes in the darker parts of the trees making photography a little difficult. Sometimes, they would be too close for our big lenses to focus on! Then again, stalking flitting warblers and at the same time keeping a wary eye on oncoming vehicles hurtling at 70 mph a few inches from where we were was an exercise in sheer, heart-pounding adventure.

Noonish, bird activity quieted down somewhat. Reluctantly we left the Tams and had lunch at Wendy's - that was after obliging to my wife's wishes to shop at nearby Target (for household items she assured me).

After lunch we decided to go to Ballona Creek to try for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper reported seen the day before. We dipped on that, but still had a great time shooting Surfbirds, both species of Turnstones and a few peeps.

At the end of the day, Cynthia and I were both happy at the results of our return-to-birding jaunt. Portent of days to come? We hope so.

We Came to Playa

The gloomy skies of the past week gave way to the bright sunny Saturday of October 29. We dropped off Cynthia’s nephew and niece at Universal Studios around 9:30 am and from there proceeded to Playa de Rey. Surprisingly, traffic was light (the 405 is notorious for its nerve-wracking traffic jams) and we arrived at the Playa del Rey lagoon just about 10 am. Despite the drizzles we had the past week, the water at the lagoon was low and there were only a few birds around – most of them Snowy Egrets and Mallard Ducks. Or so we thought.

We decided to head for the beach which was just across the steet from the lagoon. At this point, I purposely did not bring my camera gear yet as we wanted to survey the area first and see if we would be able to find our target bird for the day – the Black Oystercatcher. About a month ago, famous bird photographer Bob Steele posted a picture of this bird that he took from the very same location that we are now. Although the Black Oystercatcher is not an uncommon bird in winter along California beaches, I still wanted to get a picture of this enchanting shorebird.

We walked along the sandy beach and saw nothing but Willets and the usual gulls. We moved on to the area where the Los Angeles river flowed into the Pacific Ocean. Slowly we traversed an elevated breakwater that separates the river from a cove. There were a lot of birds here – huddled and most of them asleep close to the water’s edge making them quite difficult to observe from our lookout point. There were Willets again (hundreds of them!), some Marbled Godwits, and a smattering of Gulls (mostly Western), but no Oystercatchers.

Finally, having explored the area for more than an hour, we grudgingly walked back to the parking area by the lagoon and re-draw our birding plans. We walked over to the restrooms and while waiting for Cynthia, a lady who was getting out of her car asked me if am a birder (with a pair of binoculars hanging from my neck, I thought that was quite obvious).

I said, “Yes, I am”.

“Are you getting ready to leave?”, she asked.

“We are about to”, I replied. Then I asked, “Why?”

“Because I will be going over to the breakwater and do some birding. Maybe I can help you find some birds.”

My face lit up as if a huge spotlight was suddenly shone upon it. As soon as Cynthia emerged from the restroom, I relayed to her the good news. I immediately hauled out my camera equipment while Cynthia engaged the lady (her name is Barbara Johnson) in a very intense avian conversation. Even before we left that morning, Cynthia and I prayed that we will be able to see our target bird for today. And now, just as we are about to give up, the Lord answered our prayers by sending us Barbara who turned out to be the guide who will be leading a birding tour here at Playa del Rey tomorrow.

First, Barbara led us around the lagoon and pointed to several gray birds feeding on the murky water’s edge. “Dunlins”, she said, “among the Short-billed Dowitchers”.  Now Cynthia and I had seen this group before and I even identified the dowitcher’s correctly, but for the life of me, I never noticed the Dunlins despite the obvious difference in size. After showing us two pairs of Greater Scaups she then asked us if we saw the White-fronted Goose. I said we saw a group of geese earlier and I just thought they were just the very common Graylags. She scoped the banks on the other side of the lagoon and as she pointed to the smaller of the four geese sleeping there, she said, “That small one is the White-fronted. It has been with us since last year.”  Since the geese were all taking their siesta which means their heads were tucked under their wings, I couldn’t confirm the information that Barbara just told us. Then, as if on cue, the small goose looked up and showed the tell-tale mark that gave it its name.  I just got a lifer that very moment.

The three of us then proceeded to the breakwater in the opposite direction of where we originally went. Cynthia and I didn’t think of going that way because we saw several fishermen there and we thought there couldn’t be any birds where there are people. Even as we approached the breakwater, Barbara was already pointing out birds – “There’s a Black-bellied Plover, that is a Western Gull, those are Double-crested Cormorants.”

A few feet into the breakwater, and not too far down were a flock of Surfbirds. This was the first time we’ve seen them this close and this many. 

At the other side of the jetty were some Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, more Surfbirds and Black Turnstones (alas, no Ruddy Turnstones). Barbara Johnson exclaimed that we were looking at 4 species of birds in just one tiny spot. Whimbrels were in there, too, watching us warily. All of a sudden, Barbara started yelling, “Black..uh..mm…O-o-oys…mm..uh, Ah..ah…” I knew right away what she meant and true enough, the black bird with the red bill stood prominently among the drab gray of the Surfbirds. Such is the striking beauty of this species that it made even a seasoned veteran like Barbara stutter.

Satisfied that she had done her job, Barbara bade goodbye. We tarried for a while enjoying the Oystercatcher and other shorebirds up close. Soon it was time for lunch. We purposed to go the Ballona Creek after eating but our search for a place to dine brought us to Burger King in Van Nuys which was quite a distance away. We tried the MacDonalds near Playa del Rey but when we saw some unsavory looking characters hanging near the parking lot and with about $10,000.00 worth of camera equipment in the trunk of the car, we decided to look for a “safer” place. We also tried the Westwood/UCLA area but couldn’t find a place to park despite our numerous attempts!

From Burger King we went to one of our favorite birding grounds, the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve. We have always good sightings here and today was not going to be an exception. Almost as soon as we entered the reserve I spotted a raptor perched on a tree close to the lake. It looked like a Kestrel but had darker plumage. I smiled as I came closer (while taking photographs) and discovered that it was a Merlin, a somewhat uncommon bird in Southern California. 

The reeds along the lake had its usual denizens of egrets (Snowy and Great), herons (Great Blue and Black-crowned Night), Mallards, Coots and Pied-billed Grebes. There were even a couple of Ospreys and a Belted Kingfisher flew by. By the meadows we saw the dark-colored Merlin again this time actively competing against the glorious white of the White-tailed Kite. Two beautiful raptors hovering, gliding against the backdrop of the setting sun. This was an image that is etched into the heart of every birder.

The sun started its slow descent to the horizon and as we were basking in its warm glow and relishing the beautiful birds that we saw today, our semi rapturous state was interrupted by the ring from my cellphone. Cynthia’s nephew and niece finished their adventure at Universal Studios and are ready to go home. And so were we.