OC Birder Girl

Sunday, January 18, 2009

A Little Bit of Scotland in Huntington Central Park

Wooded area with toyon bushes beneath the trees on the Gothard side of the park.

I parked on a side that I don't go to much. The Gothard side. There is a very small parking lot on that side of the park. I was hoping to see Cedar Waxwings because the woods and "wetland" area are full of berries. As I walked into the sun-dappled path that wound through the trees, I heard Scottish bagpipes. It was surreal. As I walked along through the trees with the Audubon Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting from branch to branch, and butterflies lazily fluttering along the trails and through the trees. The bagpipes gave me a feeling of walking in the woods in Scotland. It was like a soundtrack.

Berries were everywhere.

I followed the music down along the winding path and came to the lawn where a real, live band was practicing with bagpipes and Scottish drums. No kilts though--just normal American clothes. I walked over and asked a man with the group who they were. He identified them as the LA Scots Pipe Band. Definitely worth going to a performance.

A Bit of Scotland in Huntington Central Park from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

Below a real performance.

Check out an actual performance on YouTube above

Imagine walking through Huntington Central Park birding to wonderful music and bird songs.

Monarch Butterfly on dry twig.

Beautiful orange and black Monarch Butterflies were everywhere accented here and there by dark Mourning Cloak Butterflies. When the Monarchs flew overhead with the sunlight lighting up their wings they looked like flying stained glass. It was such a peaceful and calming day.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

Black Phoebes are one of the most common birds in the park.

I saw numerous Black Phoebes.

The park was beautiful. So many shades of green mixed with leafless trees.

I spotted a group of Cedar Waxwings in some Toyons near the wetlands area, but could not get a good look at them since I was staring into the sun and they were some distance away. By the time I worked my way over there, they were gone. I got in my car and drove to the Edwards entrance near Alice's Breakfast in the park. No more Highlands seranade, but nice birding nonetheless.

Red-tailed Hawk--probably a light immature. Looks like the Red-tail in Sibley that is in its first year. The Redtail looked white without my binoculars or camera. I thought it was a gull. Hope you can see the "windows" near the wingtips, the black marks near the shoulders and the belly band? Those are diagnostic red tail or no.

Double-crested Cormorants. One drying its wings.

Great Egret.

At high noon the sun threw shadows of trees on the grass and paths throughout the park.

Think this is a Cassin's Kingbird.

Red-tailed Hawk inside Shipley Nature Center--taken from outside the fence. A darker, mature Red-tailed Hawk.

Hard to see but there is a Great Blue Heron in the lower left corner in the tree and two Great blue Herons flying in front of it. It was a bit of a skirmish. This group of eucalyptus trees on the Edwards side of the lake is a favorite roost for Great Blue Herons.

All in all, it was not a steller day as far as birding, but a pleasant, relaxing day with sun and shade. Birds, bagpipes, and drums make for a really nice day of birding in the OC.

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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Birding at Work

Audubon Yellow-Rumped Warbler in a tree near in the parking lot at my work.

Okay so any birder worth his or her salt birds just about all the time. A wandering eye of a different kind that follows anything that flies through. An American Robin behind your boss as he leads a team meeting? Cedar Waxwings outside the window by the snacks? What is that moving through the trees outside during the annual company state of business meeting? A birder is always birding. Alert for any flutter or movement outside that could be a bird.

Cedar Waxwing taken in December through the window at my work in a liquid amber tree.

During my break, I birded out the window when a flock of Cedar Waxwings converged on the trees in our parking lot. About 15 minutes of shooting pictures out of the window by the toaster. I knew that if I went outside I would not get as good a view as I was getting on the third floor. They were pretty high up. My co-workers asked what I was doing and some even enjoyed seeing the Cedar Waxwings.

Heermann's Gull at Shoreline Village not far from my old office. A mature Heermann's gull in winter plumage.

There are Audubon Yellow-rumped Warblers that flit from branch to branch in our company's parking lot. They land on the ground. I walk at breaks with my eyes checking out the trees, the lawn, the hedges, and the flowers. I stop for birds.

Heermann's Gull in winter plumage at Shoreline Village not far from my old work.

Birding at work can get you in trouble. I remember one time when I was a fairly new birder in my twenties. I was in a committee meeting with another co-worker or two being distracted by the fact that a Black Phoebe couple and their two fledglings were outside the window. Finally, Dana, my co-worker, said, "What are you looking at out there?"

Western Gull at Shoreline near my old work location.

"Oh, sorry," I said. I pointed to the Black Phoebes outside the window. "See the little birds with the pointed heads? Look they have babies." Dana was not enthralled. She said, "I am going to whack you on top of your little pointed head if you don't stop looking out that window at those dumb birds!" Luckily, she was not my supervisor. A birder's love of birds and birding is not always appreciated by the other people in their lives.

House Sparrow at Shoreline Village near my old Work location.

But more and more lately people ask about birds when they find out I am a birder. When I worked near the ocean, I had a lot of people come up asking about this bird or that bird that they had seen. Wanting to know the name and more about it. So I started an email called "Bird of the Day" about birds we could see on our walks along the ocean and the nearby river. It became very popular with some people. This blog grew out of the "Bird of the Day" emails I sent to my co-workers.

Pied-billed Grebe near Golden Shores Marine Preserve.

I even had the director of the department ask me to stop my work and go outside to check out a Brown Pelican that appeared to be sick. The location was ideal for birding and I went birding every day at breaks and lunch. In my new work location, it is a lot harder to see the birds, but there are lots of birds there, too. I still go birding at lunch and breaks on occasion.

Western Gull on the nest in the Catalina Express boat docking area near my old work. Every year they built a nest in this risky open platform at the end of a dock that had no space for little gulls learning to fly and at least one year they lost all their chicks.

Rock Dove aka Pigeon near the Catalina Express.

So what have I seen as I walk near my Orange County industrial complex work?

Audubon Yellow-Rumped Warblers

Hermit Thrush

American Crows

Cedar Waxwings

Starlings near my work location in Long Beach.

Ring-billed Gull at the Rainbow Lagoon neat my Long Beach work location.

The company I work for was located for years in Long Beach by the Catalina Express and by the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was located at the junction of the Los Angeles River and the Pacific Ocean. There is a parking lot with lots of trees and paths. At the far end of the parking lot was the Golden Shore Marine Preserve, a small wetlands area. Very small. Herons roosted in the trees and perched on the docks in the same protected area where the Catalina Express came in. Gulls, pigeons, and House Sparrows begged for food. It was great to walk or just sit on the benches overlooking the water.

Wherever you are, be assured that you, too can bird at work. A birder birds. Have fun birding at work in the OC or in LA if you commute. Just try not to bird and drive.

At my previous work in Long Beach near the ocean and Golden Shore Marine Preserve I hit the mother lode:

Mature Heerman's Gull in breeding plumage at the Aquarium of the Pacific

Snowy Egrets at Golden Shores Marine Preserve in Long Beach. At the end of the parking lot at my old work location.

Snowy Egrets

Green Herons

Black-crowned Night Heron

Heermann's Gulls

Western Gulls

Ring-billed Gulls

Rock Doves (Pigeons)

Audubon Yellow-Rumped Warblers

Wilson's Warblers

Orange-crowned Warblers

Bufflehead Ducks

Horned Grebes

Scaups

Red-breasted Mergansers

Double-crested Cormorants

Starlings

Brewers Black Birds

Belted King Fishers

House Sparrows

Ground Doves

Forester's Terns

Caspian Terns

White-crowned Sparrows

(Note: If you decide to go and bird at Golden Shore Marine Preserve, be cautious early in the morning and late near sunset. Homeless live down the banks near the paths and there are gangs that frequent the area at night.)

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

White-crowned Sparrows at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary

Near the Butterfly Garden

I went birding on Sunday at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County. I saw White-crowned Sparrows foraging on the ground near the Butterfly Garden and also near the ponds. As I took video and pictures of the swirling group of Northern Shovelers (Northern Shovelers Feeding Cooperatively), I also took pictures of the White-crowned Sparrows on the ground in front of me. I was still for so long, they got quite bold.

In the shadows near the Butterfly Garden

By the Ponds

Near the Ponds, getting closer.

Don't seem to notice me most of the time.

The White-crowned Sparrows near the ponds were quite oblivious and seemed to know I was harmless. Could it be they have learned that people are usually looking at the birds in the ponds? Or perhaps people with cameras are harmless? For whatever reason, they came very close and seemed to have no fear of me whatsoever.

White-crowned Sparrow Feeding on the Ground from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

I always like White-crowned Sparrows. Love their song. White Sparrows are everywhere now. Local parks, wildlife areas, wetlands. They come here in the Fall and Winter. Enjoy them. These little birds are not always here in Orange County.

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