Bird-day Birding.

I turned __ty-three last Saturday, Oct. 24th. I'm one of those people who prefers a quiet celebration..no surprises, no fuss, no whoop-de-doo-dah. My wife was well aware of these conditions that I imposed even before we decided to get married. My version of a pre-nup agreement, if you will. One thing I will definitely acquiesce to do on my birthday is go birding. That is almost a given.

So off to Legg Lake we went unaware that there were picnics being held by SEIU and the Immanuel Korean Baptist Church there - separately, of course. Thankfully, the area southeast of Restroom 7 where sightings of interesting birds happens every year was spared of all the commotion by the picnickers. There we met three birders with binoculars trained at the towering sycamore tree. We quickly joined them and asked the inevitable question, "Anything interesting?" Lots of Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Gray Warblers was the answer. 




Indeed the sycamore was a beehive of activity (I wonder if that is an appropriate analogy..but then a "bird's nest of activity" doesn't quite cut it.). Warblers were practically dripping off the branches. It became a Herculean effort to look at everyone of these flitting, constantly moving little birds with the hope that one of them would turn out to be neither Yellow-rumped nor Black-throated Gray. It was luck that I saw a Townsend's and happily informed the other three birders my discovery. 




It was serendipity -which made my heart do a little jig - when I then saw (and even photographed..woohoo!) a Hermit Warbler! Which I proudly pointed out to my now admiring fans.



I have mentioned in my previous blogs of those birders, whom my wife lovingly refers to as "angels", who would really go out of their way to show us the uncommon birds or the species that we came to that place to see. Most birders follow the "pay-it-forward" rule. This time we were so glad to be the "angels" to this less-experienced-than-us birding trio.

We continued to play the role of angels as we pointed out the single Ring-necked Duck associating with a flock of Ruddys. Then there was the lone Gadwall, swimming in the distance trying to look like a female Mallard.

At the end of about three hours, we have already tallied 38 species and for me that was how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I'm very happy with that. We had a quick lunch and I looked forward to have this ___ty-three year old body take an afternoon nap.


For more birding blogs and photos, please check out:

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.

Upper Texas Coast - April 18, 2008 - Derailed at Anahuac

Rain was coming down hard on Friday morning. Rain is good, the birders at High Island told us. That means there will be birds coming in. But first, we have to wait for the rain to stop, right? Not! Neither rain nor sleet nor snow would stop a dedicated birder from pursuing his target bird.

After about a couple of hours the rain did stop. Still there were a few birds to be seen. Nothing unusual has made an appearance yet.

So we decided to visit Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge where "at least four kinds of rail can be seen". There we got good looks at Cattle Egrets and an American Bittern that decided to show itself.

We did an auto tour around Shoveler Pond where we picked up lifer # 21 - a Mottled Duck.

Spending close to an hour at the boardwalk hoping to find a rail - any rail -became an exercise in fulility. Thankfully, we got lifer # 22 when we caught a glimpse of a Least Bittern flying across the road. We tried the other routes but all we saw were alligators.

Back at High Island, things were still slow at 3 pm. The only thing of interest was a Little Blue Heron devouring a huge orange-colored fish.

By 4 pm, bird activity started to pick up. Colorful tanagers raided the mulberry tree above the "grandstand". By the "cathedral" we picked up three species of vireo, two of which were lifers 23 and 24, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated, respectively. The third was a Blue-headed which we have already seen two days ago.

A commotion at the grandstand indicated that warblers were coming in. We joined about a hundred other enthusiasts as the local experts started calling out the names of the warblers that showed up. Tennesee Warbler (lifer #25),

Black and White Warbler! (#26)

Blue-winged Warbler and finally Golden-winged Warbler (#27). Eventually, the excitement died down as evening approached. As a last hurrah, I spotted a Rose-breasted Grosbeak preening itself above us. It was our 28th and final lifer of the trip.

Upper Texas Coast - April 17, 2008 - Out of the Woods

Today we revisited Sabine Woods. But first we went to Willow Pond about 6 miles down the road. It was pretty quiet except for the incessant calling of the local grackle population. At first I thought they were just Great-taileds which was very common in California. However, upon closer look, I realized that they were Boat-taileds and therefore a lifer for us! (#14).

A Green Heron was hunting close to the boardwalk. Suddenly a brightly-colored Summer Tanager played hide-and-seek with us. I also managed to track down a young Ruby-throated Hummingbird and chalked up lifer #15.

As we were about to leave, flashes of chestnut and black appeared among the green willow leaves. Soon a flock of Orchard orioles were cavorting among the trees, flying back and forth across the boardwalk. Occasionally, one of them would burst into song. These gaudy serenaders were our 16th lifer.

Saying goodbye to the morning chorus, we drove back to Sabine Woods. Along the way we encountered a flock of White Ibises flying along the highway. We've seen these birds before in the Valley but they were at quite a distance. So we stopped and enjoyed a closer look at a squadron of these white waders with black-tipped red bills.

Mid-morning at the Woods was pretty slow (it's that darn south winds again, one birder reminded us). It wasn't a total disaster though for we encountered a Great-crested Flycatcher by listening for it's "tit-syew" call. It was lifer # 17.

Nothing exciting happened from noon until about 3 pm. We were tired from perambulating the wooded area so we decided to rest by the drip. Soon lifer #18 in the form of a Brown Thrasher popped into view.

Then once again the Orchard Orioles stole the show. It was while watching them that I caught a glimpse of red in the underbrush. With my binoculars, my heart leapt for joy as I saw our target bird - the Painted Bunting. Our 19th lifer is arguably the most colorful bird in the United States. Red underparts, blue head and greenish yellow back made it nature's grand masterpiece. It was just so heartbreaking that they (there were more than one) kept their distance and therefore not allowing for good photographs.

As if the parade of colors were not enough, the bright orange and black of the Baltimore Oriole (#20) shone from atop a tree. When the Painted Buntings left, they were replaced by a gorgeous male American Redstart. Although not a lifer (we've seen a female in California) we were still awed by its black and yellow-orange plumage.

We ended our day watching a spectacle of colors brought in by the Scarlet Tanagers and a Yellow Warbler.

When we took our shower that evening we were dismayed to discover that we've been the victims of chigger attack. Both of my legs were peppered with red (and itchy) polka dots caused by the microscopic insects. Cynthia had her share, too, though not as worse as mine.

And the misery continues..