April 27
We had another super day birding today in Huntington Beach. We met up with Harriet in Long Beach and we went off to Huntington Beach Central Park. The first birds we heard were American Crows mobbing the Great Horned Owl at the Public Library Building. There was the adult Great Horned Owl along with 4 owlets (we only saw 3). One of the owlets was still white and fuzzy and the other two had more adult plumage. We walked around the lakes and saw California specialties such as the Bushtit, the California Thrasher and several warblers. We stopped to have a drink as it was warm until the wind started up and it cooled off. I looked over at a bird at the top of a bush and it was the Scaly-breasted Munia, also known as the Nutmeg Mannikin which is a much nicer name for the handsome bird. This was the bird we really tried for last Sunday without success. We were thrilled to see it and we all had time to take photos.
With Harriet with us we looked for the Pintail Whydah bird, but no luck. We decided to have a picnic lunch at Bolsa Chica Wetlands which is an estuary on the north end of Hungtington Beach. This place is shorebird and wading bird and duck heaven. We had Least Terns, Elegant Terns, White-faced Ibis, Caspian Terns, Short-billed Dowwitchers, Willets, and Horned, Eared and Pied Grebes. We started looking for the Ridgeway Rail where Harriet said to look and it was THERE!! We had great looks at the bird and we took photos. It is a large rail. We enjoyed this lifer and kept looking at the large groups of birds. There were Great Blue Herons and babies in a rookery in the palm trees, so a bit different from home.
Here are some of the birds we saw today, Cinnamon Teal, Red-shouldered Hawk, Scaly-breasted Munia and an anole.
For supper we went to visit with Barb's friends who live in Huntington Beach where we had a Salmon BBQ and some splash for the evening (photo above). Thank you, it was a lovely evening. We even got to do all of our laundry at their house so we were set for the next couple of days. From here we drove the 1 1/2 hours to San Diego to bird there tomorrow. We are staying at the Best Western on San Ysidro. We have a reasonable starting time tomorrow of 7:15 am, so we are looking forward to that.
Two lifers today were sweet and we were really lucky to see them.
We had another super day birding today in Huntington Beach. We met up with Harriet in Long Beach and we went off to Huntington Beach Central Park. The first birds we heard were American Crows mobbing the Great Horned Owl at the Public Library Building. There was the adult Great Horned Owl along with 4 owlets (we only saw 3). One of the owlets was still white and fuzzy and the other two had more adult plumage. We walked around the lakes and saw California specialties such as the Bushtit, the California Thrasher and several warblers. We stopped to have a drink as it was warm until the wind started up and it cooled off. I looked over at a bird at the top of a bush and it was the Scaly-breasted Munia, also known as the Nutmeg Mannikin which is a much nicer name for the handsome bird. This was the bird we really tried for last Sunday without success. We were thrilled to see it and we all had time to take photos.
With Harriet with us we looked for the Pintail Whydah bird, but no luck. We decided to have a picnic lunch at Bolsa Chica Wetlands which is an estuary on the north end of Hungtington Beach. This place is shorebird and wading bird and duck heaven. We had Least Terns, Elegant Terns, White-faced Ibis, Caspian Terns, Short-billed Dowwitchers, Willets, and Horned, Eared and Pied Grebes. We started looking for the Ridgeway Rail where Harriet said to look and it was THERE!! We had great looks at the bird and we took photos. It is a large rail. We enjoyed this lifer and kept looking at the large groups of birds. There were Great Blue Herons and babies in a rookery in the palm trees, so a bit different from home.
Here are some of the birds we saw today, Cinnamon Teal, Red-shouldered Hawk, Scaly-breasted Munia and an anole.
For supper we went to visit with Barb's friends who live in Huntington Beach where we had a Salmon BBQ and some splash for the evening (photo above). Thank you, it was a lovely evening. We even got to do all of our laundry at their house so we were set for the next couple of days. From here we drove the 1 1/2 hours to San Diego to bird there tomorrow. We are staying at the Best Western on San Ysidro. We have a reasonable starting time tomorrow of 7:15 am, so we are looking forward to that.
Two lifers today were sweet and we were really lucky to see them.
I had to look up Ridgeway Rail. I missed that split. You've been getting great birds.
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