Good Eaton

Think of it as going back to a restaurant where you've dined before and where you enjoyed the good food and the ambience each time you've been there. That was the same feeling we had as we visited Eaton Canyon Nature Park in Pasadena. Just like good eating at a favorite restaurant, it is always good birding at Eaton.

And so the very next day after we arrived, jet lag notwithstanding, we started our birding USA at good ol' Eaton Canyon. As we got off our vehicle, we met another bird photographer who told us he was looking for the quails. We wished him luck and we proceeded to the area next to the nature center. Guess what was the first bird we saw. California Quails! A pair of them! Here is the more colorful male.

Aside from the quails, we encountered the usual species that call this park their home. The migrant Audubon's Warblers were still here albeit already in their breeding plumages.

House finches were into nesting mode and this brightly colored male was keeping a wary eye on a lizard with a blue throat. Or vice versa.

House Wrens were even more audacious as they sang just a few feet away from us.

A surprise was a Band-tailed Pigeon. This was the first time we've seen this species here. We suspected that they were also building a nest nearby.

Quite common here in Eaton Canyon is the mysterious Wrentit. It is a species that is only found in western North America - from Oregon to the northern Baja Peninsula. It belongs to its own taxonomical family and despite looking like a Wren and a Tit (hence it's name) it is not scientifically related to either one. Although a skulker, it is also a curious bird and would often pop-up close by to look at human passersby.

Another surprise was when we saw a pair of coyotes walking near the edge of the park boundary. Although Eaton Canyon is quite huge, it also abuts several subdivisions. To see coyotes so close to civilization is intriguing.

Walking back to the parking lot, we were rewarded with good looks at a pair of Red-crowned Parrots checking out a possible nesting site on top of an electrical pole. Natives of northeastern Mexico, there are now several feral populations here in southern California, very likely descendants of escaped caged birds.

It was a relatively short sortie at Eaton Canyon but we were happy that our first birding day was good. Very good.

I think I'm right but what if Tamron?

As in previous years I purposely did not bring my 500 lens on our trip to the US - for the simple reason that it is huge and heavy. Another thing is that birds are generally tamer in America than in the Philippines. Having a long lens is not really an advantage if the subjects could be photographed from just a few feet away. However this time, I wanted to try a long lens but lighter in weight. Our friends in the Philippines had been giving good reviews of the Tamron 150-600 zoom lens. After consulting with my wife/CFO, I was given the go signal to purchase one. I promptly ordered from B&H Photo in New York to be delivered to my daughter's house in Arcadia, California. On the day of our arrival, we met up with Michelle and finally got my hands on my brand new lens.

Early the following day, I gave the Tamron a field test. The place was Eaton Canyon in Pasadena - one of my favorite birding haunts. As in any new equipment, it took some getting used to before I was able to truly appreciate the 150-600 lens.

Here are a few sample photos:

Northern Mockingbird - one of the early shots, still in learning mode

Western Scrub Jay - getting better

Golden-crowned Sparrow - should've gotten more depth of field

American Bushtit - was able to nail this hyperactive tiny skulker

Swainson's Hawk - also tried some BIF but the subject was just too high up

Aside from birds, I also photographed a ground squirrel

maybe I should shift to mammal photography

and a California Poppy

a Poppy is also a flower (to borrow from a film title)

All in all I give a 4 stars out of 5 rating. The lens sometimes was quite slow in focusing, particularly on fast moving birds. Also, in my observation, a higher shutter speed was necessary to obtain sharper images which means setting higher ISOs. I am happy with the Tamron and I was right in getting one.

Wrentit for a Day

Once in a while I write paeans to a certain species of bird. This time I chose the quaint Wrentit. Quaint, because it is neither a Wren nor a Tit - although it exhibits certain characteristics of both species. Quaint, because it is the only member of the Babbler family (Timaliidae) to be found in the New World. Not only that, its range is confined to the Pacific coast - from southern Washington State to northern Baja California.

It is a pretty nondescript bird decked in browish plumage and it is more often heard -with its "bouncing-ball" song - than seen as it hunts for insects in dense underbrush. Its long tail is almost always cocked and the pale iris gives the bird a fierce look. Which is indicative of its audacity and apparent fearlessness of human beings. I had many encounters with Wrentits where they would come to within an arms length and seemed unperturbed by my presence even while pointing a menacing looking object like a camera with a long lens at them.

The bold, out-of-place, drab Wrentit is definitely worthy of being my bird of the day.

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Tanager Angst

So my BFF asked me if I wanna join her to go like, birdwatching, and I said, ‘whatever!’ We go to this place where there’s a lotta trees, and you know, stuff. We were walking and walking and I was kinda, like, bored, ya know? Then my BFF was like jumping and pointing to a like, whatever bird. So I looked and like, whoaaa! There’s this bird and it was like yellow and the head was like awesome red!!! I said, “Dude, that bird is like, way hot!” Later as we got ready to like, go home, my BFF asked if I enjoyed the walk, and I’m like, Duh! Totally, Dude.

August brings out the worst in me by way of humor. I just can't explain it. So I thought I'd describe our birding last Saturday through the words of a present day teenager (teenager/tanager - whatever, dude!)

Our original plan was to bird Santa Fe Dam but when we got there we were informed that there was an entrance fee of $8, and no they don't give senior discounts on weekends anymore. And I was even willing to pay the $4 senior fee. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I watch my wallet with the same ardor as I watch birds. So I did a quick u-turn and decided to go Eaton Canyon instead where the entrance is freeee! And as in any place that doesn't charge anything to get in, the place was packed with people. (Midmorning, Saturday, Summer, like, duh!) We spent the next couple of hours without seeing much. Thankfully (and curiously) the area behind the Nature Center was relatively quiet and almost devoid of people. My wife and I were trying hard to locate the Hooded Oriole(s?) that kept vocalizing but were frustratingly difficult to get a visual of. Then we saw a yellow bird fly into a low bush. Cynthia screamed, "There's the oriole! There's the oriole!" I pointed my big lens at the general vicinity and hoped, no, prayed that the bird would show itself. And it did. I quietly informed my wife that what we're looking at is not an oriole but a, hold your breath now, Western Tanager! I say that because we have birded this place quite regularly for the past five years and not once have we seen a Western Tanager here.
Oh, we eventually did see the Hooded Orioles - a whole family of them! Cynthia even got a shot of the young 'un.


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The Long and Short of It

Days after our trip to Florida, I was afflicted by a certain amount of lassitude. These bouts with sluggishness have been happening with alarming frequency lately. Thank heavens my wife would, without fail, wake me up from these moments of languor by these loving words: Go out and bird!

Spurred by Cynthia's encouraging "suggestion" I prepared my camera gear, albeit a tad wearily, when a brilliant thought flashed in my stupefied brain. I have not been using my 500mm lens lately - it's weight a factor that more often than not precluded it from being used in the field - so why not take it out and give my flabs a much needed work-out.

Of course, my destination shouldn't be far and should not require extensive use of a pair of legs that had been in action for more than 60 years. I chose Eaton Canyon in Pasadena where there are birds within a hundred yards radius from the parking lot. I wasn't disappointed. By simply plopping my gear near the drips I was able to capture in digital media the private lives of some lovely birds. At home after processing my photos, I was amazed at the quality that my long lens produced. Like these Nashville Warbler and Black-headed Grosbeak photos:



That was a complete contrast to the pictures I took two days later from basically the same spot, but this time using my short (and light) 300mm lens. Although some of the pictures turned out well, the images were, of course, a lot smaller and needed more tweaking during post-processing. The California Quail was the look-out as its mate and progeny fed nearby, and Bewick's Wrens were always oblivious of people around them so I was able to get some close-up shots of this one.

Now it was as if two tiny "Bobs" were sitting on my shoulders: the one on the left, the tiny, aesthetic Bob whispers to me, "use the 500 more often and get better photos"; while the one on the right, the wee yet physical Bob says, "use the shorter lens, walk around a lot and get pictures of more species".

Life is full of dilemmas, isn't it?

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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.

A Bird Too Far

I returned to the Eaton Canyon wash a few days after my disastrous encounter with the birds of the area. This time I was resolute in my purpose to redeem myself. Heck, I even brought a tripod so that my shots will be as steady as can be.
As expected, my target birds were once again there. But they were just a bit too far for my 420mm lens. So even though my photographs were technically OK, the images were tiny and did not do justice to the gaudy plumages of my subjects.

The Red Bishop

At least my two conflicting personalities have now reconciled.

Ratty Towhee (et autres jeunes oiseaux)

"Don't you miss birding?" my wife asked as I was driving her to work. "The last time we did was in Arizona - and that was a week-and-a-half ago."

I gave her all sorts of excuses - it's too hot, high gas prices, plain old laziness. But when I got home, I thought, what the heck, why not give Eaton Canyon a visit today.

I got there around 8:30 am and right away the absence of the Nutmeg Mannikins by the parking lot was noticeable. So I hit the trail by the ampitheater and saw a young Black Phoebe jumping at insects.

Not too far from it another young bird, a Bewick's Wren was itself hunting for food.

That sort of set the trend for my morning's birding. Most of the birds I saw were young, probably just recently fledged. They were generally unkempt-looking, feathers sticking out at odd places, attesting to the fact that they were beginning their molt into adult plumages. Like this ratty California Towhee:

a California Thrasher


and Wrentits - the scraggly looking young one below and the more svelte adult above it.

Other than these young ones, the few species that I saw were just the usual suspects of Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches and Mourning Doves. At 10 am, I called it a day to seek some shelter from the sweltering heat.

A Few Good Mannikins

Last Friday I visited Eaton Canyon once more. This place had become my favorite birding grounds lately due to its proximity to my home. It was not quite birdy that morning except for the usual Scrub Jays and House Finches. As I approached the Nature Center I met my friend and fellow birder-photographer, Kevin. He also expressed disappointment at the obvious lack of birdlife. So I asked him if he already saw the Nutmeg Mannikins. When he said no, I promptly invited him to the place where the mannikins play.

We stood beneath the pine tree craning our necks looking for any kind of movement. Alas, not even a single pine needle quivered. Thankfully, diverting our attention and relieving our growing anxieties, some Lesser Goldfinches fed on the thistles nearby.


After about 20 minutes, Kevin decided to give up. I was about to eat crow when a pair of mannikins flew in. "There they are! There they are!", I shouted. Kevin did a quick 180 and for the next fifteen minutes or so, we took as many pictures as the Nutmeg Mannikins would allow us. The birds would often hide behind the branches or duck into their nest. I told Kevin that I'd probably return the following day and bring my big lens along so I can get closer looks. At about 9 am, the temperature was already in three digits. We both agreed that it was time to leave the mannikins to their own antics.

Saturday, Cynthia finished earlier than expected from her doctor's appointment. I told her what I told Kevin the day before that I wanted to get pictures of the mannikins with my 500mm lens. She agreed. She also wanted to see the birds that I kept telling her about.

At 9 am, the Eaton Canyon parking lot was already full. Luckily we managed to get a spot not far from the mannikins' pine tree. We first staked out the tree and when the little brown birds flew in, I hastily set up my camera gear. So single-minded was my purpose to capture the images of these birds that I used up all 1 GB of my compact flash card shooting nothing but Nutmeg Mannikins.

Except for a gratuituous shot of a young Scrub Jay eating bread from the steaming road.

Close Encounters of the Bird Kind

Riding on the good fortune we had last Saturday, I thought I'd do another quickie birding at Eaton Canyon this morning. Besides, there was a report that Nutmeg Mannikins are nesting near the parking lot.

Nutmeg Mannikins aka Spice Finches aka Scaly-breasted Munias are natives of Southeast Asia. Several populations, descendants of escaped caged birds, have become established around the Los Angeles and Houston areas. I tried looking for them at the Mile Square Park in Anaheim and also at nearby Hahamongna Watershed, all to no avail. I was hoping that my luck with this specie would change this morning.

Not far from the southmost parking lot, there is a small storage structure maintained by the park. I decided to explore the vegetation behind it which looked promising (and also to have some shade from the already blistering sun). I was standing still when a Bewick's Wren came to within an arm's length and gave me a curious look. Satisfied with what it saw (perhaps I look harmless enough), it moved on and flitted beneath a forest of twigs. I was too stunned to get its picture. Then I heard some fluttering and I turned just in time to see a California Thrasher land on top of the bush where the Wren was. It gave me a look and then flew off chattering. This happened so fast that I didn't have time once again to raise my camera to my eyes.

Going back to the parking lot, I looked up to the pine tree where the Mannikins are supposed to be nesting. There was some movement, but I can't determine what bird it was. Using my binoculars, I finally saw what I came here for. I'm not sure if I could claim this as a lifer because most likely I have seen these birds in the Philippines. Still it was a thrill to finally see one perched incongruously on a pine tree branch.


Satisfied, I moved on and proceeded northward toward the nature center. A House Wren with a lot of chutzpah, sang a few feet from where I stood (too close for my 300mm lens). A California Towhee with something in its beak sat on a telephone wire trying to figure out what to do with its catch.

A very young Black Phoebe was already making a living on its own,

while a young Anna's Hummingbird rested in the shade.

At 10:30, I went back behind the storage structure. This time a Wrentit flew in and looked at me from almost the same spot where the Bewick's Wren did the same thing earlier. This time I was ready.

The pine tree next to the parking lot was already pretty quiet that time of day. The Mannikins were probably in their nest, taking refuge from the rising temperature.
I took the hint and headed to the comforts of home.

Birding Pasadena (With Lowered Expectations)

We did not go birding until about 3 pm on Saturday. For one thing, the skies were overcast the whole morning. And of course, I was still trying to get over my grumpiness regarding my (perceived) bad birding experiences lately.
When the sun finally broke through, my wife insisted that we go out "just here in Pasadena" so that I won't have to worry about gasoline expenses. "And, remember, don't expect to find any rare birds, OK?" she warned.

We started off at Hahamongna (a weird name for a park, but it had American Indian origins). The oak groves were quite abuzz with Bewick's Wrens all of which stayed well away from any photographic venues. "What bird is that with a white eyebrow?" Cynthia asked. "Bewick's Wren", I replied. "No, the feathers of this one are black and white." I asked her where she saw this mysterious bird and after a few misses, I finally located a Black-throated Gray Warbler flitting directly above us.

We then explored the lower trails where the "pi-PIT-kan" of a California Quail intrigued us. As we rounded a bend, I was surprised to find the calling quail high up in a eucalyptus tree. Normally these are birds that skulk in the underbrush so finding one in a tree and not flying off as we approached was quite unusual.

Other than House Finches we did not find anything else. On the way back, Cynthia saw a flash of yellow and black landing on a sycamore. We hoped that it would be our FOS (First of Season) Hooded Oriole. Patient waiting revealed it to be a Western Tanager instead which was still a thrill.

To our joy, not far from it a female Black-headed Grosbeak was enjoying a snack.

At around 5pm we proceeded to Eaton Canyon where we saw the usual suspects. An Acorn Woodpecker posed beautifully for us.

As we approached the "drip" another birder/photographer was already there taking pictures of Bushtits taking a bath. "I know this guy", I told my wife. Just then he turned and gave us a big smile. Kevin Kao is a regular visitor at Eaton Canyon. We met him last year when there was a proliferation of migrants here. We spent the next half hour or so discussing birds and birding. He bade goodbye soon after and Cynthia and I then tried to look for the Canyon Wren. We dipped on that. On the return trail, I saw a dark bird with white spots on the underwings flutter nearby. "Phainopepla!" I yelled. It turned out to be our last bird of the day, as dusk was soon upon us.

"How do you feel now?" Cynthia asked as we drove home.
"Much better," I replied.
"We got lucky on the quail, didn't we?"
"Yes, we did."
"The Western Tanager and the Grosbeak were nice, too."
"Yes, they were."
"C'mon, admit it. It's a lot better if you don't have high expectations, right?"
"Right", I said smiling.

Sparrows the Eye Can See

Birding on April Fools Day - what an idea! Actually I wanted to test my new 40D with my 500mm lens plus a 1.4 extender to see how sharp it can get and how fast it can focus. Inasmuch as I will be lugging this heavy combo, I decided to just go to Eaton Canyon. There I can find birds without going through an energy-sapping hike.

It is still that odd spring day where some of the winter residents have flown north while those that migrated to the warmer climes of Central and South America have not yet arrived. Nevertheless I had quite a good harvest. The House Wrens were a can't-miss because they were filling the whole area with song. The California Thrashers were quite bold - scampering a few paces from my feet.

But the morning belonged to the sparrows. The White-crowns were a given. They were everywhere.

Uncharacteristically tame were the Golden-crowns. They would feed on the ground oftentimes too close for my big lens to focus at.

A surprise was the White-throated Sparrow. I was trying to get a shot at a Spotted Towhee when from out of nowhere this rare sparrow popped in my line of vision. That got me excited because this is a very shy and secretive bird.

Later on I was looking at some White-crowns chasing each other. One would perch on a branch, then another would suddenly dart from the bushes and start harassing the perched one. Then a new bird would perch on the branch and it would be chased once again by another bird. This went on for some time. But then after a pause in the action, I noticed that the new bird perching on the branch looked different. Instead of having white color on the top of the head (the telltale sign of a White-crowned), this one had a ruddy crown. Chipping Sparrows!! Although not a lifer for me this was the first time I've seen it at Eaton Canyon. And of course its bright head is always a thrill to watch.

The photos of the four sparrows turned out quite good. I am very pleased with my morning session.

No fooling.