A "song" for the holidays

Nuthatch posing on an open pine

Pipit bobbing on a stone

Say's Phoebe taking its time

And a Sandpiper looking so alone

Everybody knows that herons like to hunt for fish

And berries the bluebirds take

The trees have a kingbird and a finch

While buffleheads swim on the lake

Happy Holidays, everyone!

(Note: All of these pictures were taken in one morning's outing at Bonelli Regional Park using a Canon 5D Mk II with a 500mm lens plus a 1.4X extender.)

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Bee Minus

It was a feast day at Bonelli when I visited last Wednesday. Ripe berries attracted American Robins and Cedar Waxwings. Even Western Bluebirds momentarily ceased chasing insects to join in the berry-eating frenzy. All that commotion resulted in partly eaten fruits, juices oozing tantalizingly attracting myriads of bees.

Which in turn got the attention of bee-eating birds. I watched the amazing providence of nature unfold before me and noticed something interesting: birds that prey on bees do so by catching the insects at their behinds - where the stingers are - and not grabbing them by the head as I expected. Which brought about even more questions to ponder...Wouldn't it be a quicker death to the bee if the birds bit the head? Isn't the sting of the bees poisonous..wouldn't that hurt the tongue of the bird?

Answers, anyone?

Black Phoebe

Cassin's Kingbird

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Loonstuck *

My good friend, Tom Starcic suggested that I visit the lake at the Huntington Central Park (HCP) in Orange County if I wanted to add a couple of species to my year (and life) lists. The Red-throated Loon and the Tropical Kingbird can both be seen there, he said.

So, despite a pounding headache that would stay with me most of the day, I was at HCP bright and early on Wednesday morning. Finding the loon was a piece of cake. It was just sitting at the edge of the lake.

It didn't move even as I approached to about fifteen feet from where the bird was. I dared not come any closer as I had this uneasy feeling that something was wrong. The loon looked quite alert but another friend, Glenn Price, has posted a picture of this same bird in this same spot in basically the same position. That picture was taken last Sunday. If the bird hasn't moved in four days, something's got to be wrong. I fear for it's life since there were unleashed dogs occasionally running about. As a matter of fact, a little bit earlier I saw such a dog kill an unfortunate Coot who got tangled in the reeds. A lady birder, who I believe is associated with the Sea and Sage Audubon Society came by and when I told her of the poor loon's predicament, she said she will notify the bird rescue group of Orange County.

The Tropical Kingbird was not as easy because there were a couple of Cassin's Kingbirds associating with it. There's some degree of difficulty separating the two similar-looking species since they usually stayed high up at the top of the trees and most of the time against the morning sun. So I did what every bird photographer would do in such a situation... take photos of all three birds and then study them at home with the help of various field guides. Looking over the results of my "shotgun" approach, there was indeed a kingbird that had much more yellow on the undersides that extends almost up to the throat. And the notched tail also was a giveaway.



As I drove home, my headache was a bit exacerbated by my concern for that hapless loon that seemed to be stuck at the edge of a small lake in Orange County.

* Moonstruck, 1987

Thick Take Two

Hoping to rack up a few more lifers before the year ends, Cynthia and I visited the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes. Our target was the Thick-billed Kingbird that has been reported there. We were concerned that the rain and cold spell just two days ago would drive the Kingbird to more pleasant weather conditions.

As we approached the small pond, Cynthia's outstanding hearing prowess immediately located the bird puffed up high in a sycamore (it was very cold that Saturday morning). It was a bit too high for our camera lenses but we tried to take its picture nonetheless. We both agreed that if we hiked to the berm we might be able to get a better look at our quarry. As soon as we got to the berm, the kingbird flew off, destination unknown. The LACounty birding listserv reported that the Thick-bill would occasionally visit the trees close to the bridge over the stream. I suggested to Cynthia that we go look for that bridge and maybe we might be able to relocate our lifer.

Descending towards the bridge we spotted another birder/photographer who was already aiming his camera at the tree tops. Just as we approached, the Kingbird flew off. The birder/photographer turned out to be Steve Wolfe whom we met before when the Mississippi Kite was sighted (by him originally) here. We told Steve where we first saw the bird and all three of us went back there hoping it had returned to its original perch. Apparently it didn't and after several minutes of waiting, Steve said he would go back to the bridge while Cynthia and I would go around the lake to scout the area.

We eventually got back to the bridge where once again Cynthia's ears picked up the bird further east. Just like before it was way up at the top of another sycamore. Steve showed up and as we were pointing the bird to him, it flew. This time it landed much closer to us. And while all three of us were taking advantage of the kingbird's proximity, another bird landed just beneath the Thick-billed Kingbird. At that time we dismissed it as either a goldfinch or one the more common species that calls the garden home. It was when I was uploading our pictures that I noticed that it was actually a young Bullock's Oriole. Though not as rare as the Thick-billed, it is also not a very common species particularly this time of year.




Having had some satisfactory shots of our 88th lifer of the year, we bade goodbye to Steve. On the way home visions of Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) danced above our heads. Guess what we had for lunch?