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.

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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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.

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.

Da Do Wren Wren

The Canon 40D is the latest digital SLR that appeals to the advanced amateur because of its many photographer-friendly features.Of course, any self-respecting bird-photographer of my level would love to have their hands on this new toy. Of course, deep in my heart I wanted it. But I've been hemming and hawing..always telling myself that "yeah, it would be nice to own it, but hmmm, I am unemployed and I need to conserve my resources". That wavering went on and on, until…

My wife could no longer stand my wishy-washiness. "Let's go to Samy's Camera", she said last Friday. "You have an account with them and we will wangle a good bargain for your 40D!"

Your 40D!

By 5 pm that day, I was the proud owner of my 40D!
Naturally, I couldn't wait to try out my new camera. Early Saturday morning off we went to Eaton Canyon in Pasadena. With a new "investment" we decided to scrimp on gasoline and to altogether bypass the traditional breakfast at McDonalds.

The morning was cool and sunny. We were hoping to see the Oriole reported seen here the day before, but we were not so lucky with that. What we had were the usual avian residents of the canyon. There is a spot just a bit north of the Nature Center that has a few picnic tables under the shade of a huge oak tree. Cynthia had gone off chasing a calling Wrentit. I was about to follow when from out of the bushes darted a California Thrasher. It must be terribly hungry because in its foraging for food it came to about 3 feet from where I was standing. I froze like a winter snowman lest I scare the poor bird and deprive it of a well deserved breakfast. 

Eventually the bird moved on and in my excitement my shots of it were only passable (it was dark under the oak tree). As if that was not enough, soon a California Towhee approached, White-crowned Sparrows suddenly congregated under the picnic tables while Dark-eyed Juncos played on top of the tables. A Hermit Thrush went hopping by while Fox Sparrows made a brief appearance.

But it was the Wrens that probably made our day. The House Wrens were zitting as they staked their territories on the tree branches.

The Bewick's Wrens on the other hand were in the bushes bursting forth with their own serenades.

The Wrentits were always a tease, as they skulked in the dense vegetation sometimes just inches from where we were.

At the end of the day while viewing my photographs, I realized that I still need to adjust to the capabilities of the 40D. Most of my shots were still so-so. Maybe I have to read the instruction manual first?