Beach Birds

Today I hit the beach for non-birding purposes, but naturally I took my binoculars and camera. Gulls were common, with four species - Heerman's, Western, Ring-billed and California. The only shorebird was a Willet that tolerated being repeatedly flushed by joggers. I also saw some Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, and a Caspian Tern. The few birds I did see cooperated for photos. Here's a shot of a cooperative Heerman's Gull (well, I did have to bribe it with a bit of bread)...

The Willet was acting like a Sanderling, madly dashing about. I like how this action shot came out.

Here's another shot of the same Willet wading through deeper water. It was reasonably tame, and by lying down in the sand a short distance ahead of it I was able to get shots as it wandered by.

Peters Canyon XI

This morning I birded Peters Canyon, my eleventh visit. I walked completely around the lake on the Lakeview Trail and also walked the Cactus Point Loop, a distance of about 2.5 miles. In about two and a half hours, I saw sixty-one species of birds, two of them new for my Peters Canyon list: Green-winged Teal and Rock Pigeon. I was impressed by the variety and numbers of ducks - I had seven species: Wood Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, and Green-winged Teal. Not bad for August! The only migrant warbler I saw was Orange-crowned, thought I did not chase down every warbler chip I heard. There also seemed to be more Common Ravens than usual - here's a shot of two hot ravens hanging out at the edge of the trail:

A flock of Bushtits clued me in to the presence of this gorgeous adult Red-shouldered Hawk. It flew in and landed behind me, but I turned around to see what the Bushtits were fussing about and spotted him.

Irvine Regional Park IV

I spent several hours birding Irvine Regional Park this morning, which is close to my home. Irvine Regional Park has a fair variety habitats: open, grassy parkland with lots of old sycamores and exotic trees, oak riparian, willow riparian, chaparral, and coastal sage scrub. There were lots of birds there this morning. I started out in the park area before it got too crowded. I found a small flock of Lark Sparrows (state bird, finally!), and a few Chipping Sparrows foraging around a children's play area. Lark Sparrow has got to be one of the most beautiful sparrows! Warbler migration has really picked up too - there were Orange-crowned Warblers everywhere, along with a few Yellow Warblers and a single gorgeous Townsend's Warbler. A bout of pishing brought in this very curious Hutton's Vireo, which came within three feet of me! If those branches weren't in front of the face, this would have made a decent photograph...

I biked around the park (it is quite large), birding the whole time. I poked around a dry, rocky wash looking for rattlesnakes, but I couldn't find any. I did find this Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis), however.

Juvenile Shorebirds

Today I was reminded of one reason why I like late summer - juvenile shorebirds. After looking at worn, faded adult shorebirds all July, the first juvenile shorebirds (like the juvenile Western above) of the summer are a joy to behold. Their crisp patterns and bright colors make them truly beautiful. I got to see plenty at Upper Newport Bay this morning. There were thousands of shorebirds there - mostly common ones such as Western Sandpipers and Black-bellied Plovers, but I also picked out three Red Knots and a ghostly-looking leucistic Willet. Other interesting birds there included Pied-billed, Western, and Eared Grebes, Black Skimmers, and a couple California Gnatcatchers. On the way home I stopped at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary quickly to see what was around. There wasn't much, but the few shorebirds there put on a good show at close range. That's where I took the photo of the juvenile Western Sandpiper, and a couple Red-necked Phalaropes were nice to see as well.

Peters Canyon IX

I spent three hours at Peters Canyon (my ninth visit) this morning. The reservoir is drying up rapidly, attracting lots of ducks, herons, egrets, and a few shorebirds - the latter group being represented by singles of Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper as well as a small flock of five juvenile Least Sandpipers. When I first arrived, I found the half-tame Greater Roadrunner that terrorizes the parking lot (see my post from a few weeks ago) sitting on a block of concrete near the ranger station.

I walked around the reservoir on the Lakeview Trail and then around the Cactus Point Loop, a total of 2.5 miles. California Gnatcatchers and California Thrashers were common and obvious, and a few of the thrashers were even singing! Three Cactus Wrens were also nice to see. On the Cactus Point Loop I found two more Greater Roadrunners, one of them posing nicely on top of a fence post.

The joys of dipping...

This morning I searched for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that was found yesterday at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve - I dipped, despite my and many other birders' scouring the area. However, I got a nice consolation prize in the form of singles of Solitary and Semipalmated Sandpipers, both state birds for me. There were lots of other shorebirds there, as well as three coyotes out on the flats being dive-bombed by Caspian Terns. The above photo is a Semipalmated Sandpiper, but not the one I saw it today - I took the picture a couple years ago in Muskegon, Michigan.

Peters Canyon... again

I birded Peters Canyon Regional Park for a few hours early this morning - it is fast becoming my favorite local patch. The lake, which is rapidly drying up, is attracting lots of waterbirds, the best being a couple Caspian Terns and singles of American Wigeon, Green Heron, and Spotted Sandpiper (a new Peters Canyon bird for me). Here are a couple photos, one of a California Gnatcatcher (not a great picture, but my first photo of one so I'm happy) and the other of a cooperative Western Scrub-Jay.