April 27, Huntington Beach birding with Harriet and YES to Nutmet Mannikin !! YES to Ridgeway Rail!!! Lifers plus supper with Ed & Sandy !!

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. 

April 26, 2016 - Lifers with WES - White-headed Woodpeckers!!! Red-breasted Sapsuckers!!Tricoloured Blackbirds & Bell's Sparrow!!

April 26, 2016

Photo of us in the snow Today

We had another great day with Wes today.  We started out at 7 am to head north to the Sierra Madre Mountains.  Along the way in the prairie and oil country area we saw the Tricoloured Blackbirds.  These stunning birds were already on their nest in the swamp and we saw them fly in and fly out, no doubt bringing food for their young.   In the scrub and sand area of the first drilling rig oil leak in 1910, Wes located Bell's Sparrow, a very pretty mostly grey sparrow.  We also tried for the Le Conte's Thrasher but did not have success.

 From there we drove up to 8,000 feet to Mount Pines area.  We looked for the California Condor here and the girls had a look at four of them in the far distance.  The day was beautiful and  these flying birds are surprisingly fast.  There one second and gone the next.  So we hoped for better looks and we really tried following them from pull-out to pull-out.  We did see other raptors such are the Red-tailed Hawk.  Wes has seen this group of Condors many many times.

From here we went to the top of Mount Pinas which still had snow on the ground to try for the White-headed Woodpeckers which have a special significance to us as we tried for these birds in Washington State 7 years ago.  This time we were successful and had great looks at the pretty clownish-looking birds.  It was a sweet moment and we had big smiles on our faces.  Wes also found the Red-breasted Sapsucker for us and this is a beautifully coloured woodpecker.  Wes is a great birding guide and enjoyable to travel with and the day went so quickly.

Here is the Red-breasted Sapsucker

Here are some of our photos taken today, thanks to Jane again.  There is the delicate looking Black-necked Stilt, the Sage Sparrow and the White-headed Woodpecker pair.  All are spectacular birds.  The last one is the Tri-coloured Blackbird

After we finished birding with Wes we bid Buellton and Wes a fond goodbye and drove south to Long Beach where we will bird the Huntington Beach area with our birdingpal Harriet tomorrow.  The drive was fine and we arrived at the motel around 10 pm.  So a late night and an early start tomorrow, so just a short blog tonight.

On the home front, no baby yet for J and Ashley.  Any day now, like tomorrow maybe.  We are so excited for them!

April 25, 2016 Buellton Birding with Wes and Lifers

April 25, 2016

It was a beautiful "fresh" (cool) day today in the mountains around here and at the ocean the wind was blowing from the east pushing the waves in the ocean away from shore.   This wind is unusual and it was really brisk.  We had to hold on to our scopes when we were birding at Ventura Beach.  In the mountains it was too windy to hear the birds.   But it was bright and sunny and lovely for us nevertheless.

This was our first day with Wes and he picked us up at 7 am and we stopped at a Danish bakery in nearby Solvant which is the Danish style town.  Of course if one is in a Danish town, one must have a Danish in the Danish bakery.  Connie and I did and the pastries were great.  Salvang is really beautiful and looks like a town in Europe.  We did some birding here and then off we went into the foothills and up into the hill country.  On the way we had lovely views of a pair of California Quail and Western Kingbirds.   We stopped at a private ranch which belongs to friends of Wes where we saw had the great view of over 50 Band-tailed Pigeons flying around the front yard of the ranch house.  We saw many birds here and two lifers for us; the Lawrence's Goldfinch and the Yellow-billed Magpie!   We had great looks at these birds and many photos were taken.  We also had the Acorn Woodpecker again and its markings are such that the bird looks comical.  Something a child would draw.  We also met the ranch's dogs which included a Black Lab-type dog, an Australian Sheepdog and a small 17 year-old terrier.  They were all friendly.  There were also horses on this ranch.

From here we drove up Mount Figueroa to 5,000 feet and part of the San Rafael Mountain Range.   It was windy so it was hard to hear the birds but we did manage to get great views of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow. up the mountain.  Wes tried for the Mountain Quail but were not successful at the top of the mountain.  The view from the top was spectacular and the photo was taken at the summit.


You can tell we were thrilled by mid-morning.  We drove down the mountain making a couple of stops and ended up at the gates of Michael Jackson's Never Neverland Ranch.  People have written messages on the stone walls.  Apparently it has been emptied but the ownership may still be with the estate of MJ.

We had lunch at a nice grocery store/delie gourmet store.  This area in the hill country is where many famous people have ranches and this is probably where they shop, there was all kinds of expensive food items like $400 olive oil and $200 bottles of wine on the shelves.  But it was a good lunch.

Then we drove to the Stow House in Santa Barbara where we tried again for the Scale-breasted Munia with no luck.  From here we drove to Ventura to the lake estuary where we had many nice ducks and wading birds and the Savannah (Beldings form).  Then we went in the very strong winds to the Surfers Cove and Channel Island Visitor Center/Marina Park.  Here we saw the Surf Bird, the Wandering Tatler, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone and Marbled Godwit.  These were lifers for some of us.  So in the sand whipped wind we viewed these in our scopes.  None of us took photos because of the sand winds. It would be too hard to get the sand out of our cameras, so no photos.  The above photo is a poor one from my Iphone.  It is the Wanderting Tatler on a rock if you can find it.  If we talked we got sand in our mouth!  We had to hold on to our scopes and our hats.  It was wild and the surf was wild, there was one windsurfer fellow out in the cove.  It was really brisk and it was great.

When we got back to Buellton, we felt sand in our hair and clothes.  We enjoyed the birds that Wes showed us and we really enjoyed Wes' humour and stories.   Another great day to add to the list.  It is almost midnight and we have to get up in five hours to start our day at 6 am

This group of  Band-tailed Pigeons had an interesting resting stop.

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The photos below are from this day`s birding. The stunning California Quail, Western Kingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon and the Yellow-billed Magpie.  The Acorn Woodpecker is spectacular even the female in the photo below.  The two yellow birds are the Altamira Oriole and the Lawrence's Goldfinch both spectacular birds!

April 22, 23 and 24 - had no internet for two days and catching up

April 22

 April 22, 2016 - Denver to John Wayne Airport in Orange Country California to VenturaDenver to California – 

We had no internet for two days in this place, so will send it when I get internet access.  This post is the catch-up. 

This is was a travel day flying on the 8 am flight from Denver to California and then getting the rental car, organizing our bags, bags, and more bags in to car and then driving to Ventura.   We were settled into the Motel 6 in Ventura (recommendation is to never stay in this place but it is clean).  Then we went to check into the boat trip to Santa Cruz Island tomorrow (Saturday).  Everything was organized. 

We then found a place to bird just by the Ventura Water Reclamation plant and saw our first California Towhee, Bushtit and Western Gulls.  There were many more ducks and other birds too.  The place was covered with flowers such as Coreopsis and succulents too.  It was beautiful.  Also someone had put out tape to stay away from the poison oak.  I now know what poison oak looks like.

 When we got back to the motel, we met up with Jeff who had flown into California in the afternoon for supper and we went to a fish place, Lure, which was excellent.  I had the Idaho Lake Trout with pineapple coleslaw and corn with coriander.  Everyone had a great dinner.

Ventura is a nice place with plenty of history and it has a very nice downtown restaurant area which was close to the hotel.

April 23 – Island Packers boat ride to Santa Cruz Island  for the day

There were lots of birds including the lifer Island Scrub Jay, Orange crowned Warblers, and humming birds, Allen’s and Broad-tailed.  The island was very interesting with various habitats.   WE were thrilled to see the new birds.   Connie and Jane and Jeff stood at the front/aft of the catamaran for the whole 1.5 hours of the boat trip to the island.  On the way back to the mainland Jane and Jeff stood for the whole boat trip again and Connie joined me on the chairs long enough for a nap and then went to stand.  I was amazed at their ease in standing there.  I last about 5 minutes at the start, ended up on my knees crawling for the seats, the boat was so tippy with the big waves.  It was a rough crossing.  During this time I was also starting to feel nauseated despite taking two Gravol pills and some ginger.  I knew this was not going to be a good trip.  Once I got on the chair, I was still in the cool strong wind and felt better but not good enough to stand.   I enjoyed the island.  It really is a great place with lots of different habitats.   Everyone enjoyed the place.

Here is the Island Scrub Jay along with its colour bands.

On the return trip, the water was a bit better with fewer up and downs but more rocking side to side.  There were many whitecaps on the water.  The highlight of the trip was the Island Scrub Jay and the Island Foxes which were visible during the day, wandering around  the arrivals area.  The foxes were chubby and more like a dog than a fox. 

We came back and had supper at another restaurant in Ventura, this time a Thai place which was very good.  It was a another early morning rising at 4 am for the next day.

Here is a photo from today

April 24, 2016 - from Ventura to Zuma Canyon to Maronna Marsh in Torrance to Buellton north east in the hill/mountain country.

 We left Ventura early so that we could be at Zuma Canyon Park at first light to see the Nanday Parakeets and the other parrots come by before they dispersefor the day.  And we saw the Nanday Parakeets, the Lilac-crowned Parrots and the Red-lored Parrots!  Each species was beautiful.  We also saw the Anna's, Allan's and Rufous Hummingbirds and the California Thrasher to name a few birds.  We also had a coyote follow us on the trail  Zuma is the perfect place to bird for us.  It has picnic benches, bathrooms/johnny on the spot and great birding.  We could be happy here birding all day.  It is a super spot.  We had Jeff with us here and so Jeff identified the birds which was great.  If we didn't have Jeff with us we would have had  to take photos  of the birds then discuss each bird and agree on the ID, which would take up the evening or more.  We have been known to discuss one bird for three hours.  So we were so lucky to have Jeff with us.  This is a Black Phoebe.

From there we traveled to Torrance, to the Maronna Marsh in hopes of viewing the Scaled-breast Munia or Nutmeg Manekin.  We walked around this place for 3.5 hours and we did not see the bird.  It got hot and it was sunny so it felt like a long time.  We met up with several locals who gave us advice but we had no luck.  We finally had to leave to travel north so we could meet up with Wes our guide for the next two days.   On the drive we followed the PCH for a long time and so we had the view of the ocean and the coast and the lovely beaches on a Sunday.  We saw surfers, wind surfers and also something that looked like cliff jumpers with parachutes.  After all this is California.  We saw many beautiful homes and cars and people out at the beach on Sunday.  It was beautiful.  We left the PCH and then headed into wine/hill country to Buellton.  We went through the top Danish town in the US just before Buelton and it looked like a Danish town.   There were quaint homes and restaurants made to look like those one would see in Denmark.  We will find out from Wes tomorrow why there is such a Danish influence there.  The drive through the San Marco Canyon Pass is stunning in the sunlight and the views were really impressive. 

Here is a Green Heron and several ducklings that we saw.  

Once we arrived at Buellton, Wes came over to meet us, find out what birds we had seen to date and to plan the next two days.  Wes is a character and once he saw our scopes on the shelf in our room, he commented that the Kowas were all stacked like logs in a woodpile!  We start out with Wes tomorrow at 7 am which is really sleeping in for us.  He also commented on our large motel room and told us we did well with our huge room which is costing us $59.95 per night!   Wes is an all-round naturalist expert in addition to be being a birder so we are looking forward to asking our questions tomorrow.

So the adventure continues and we figure we have picked up several lifers just in our trip into Zuma Canyon  today which would be a perfect location for us to explore and bird the canyon longer, but that would have to be for another trip.  I am going to keep this one on the wish list, it is just a super place.

April 21, 2016 Eaton to Denver

April 21

Today we got up early again to try again for the Chestnut-collared Longspur.  We had a Long-billed Curlew instead and very pretty looks at it.  It was windy the whole time at  Pawnee Grasslands and we left at noon for the trip back to Denver.  We had a picnic lunch on  a residential street and headed off to Denver.  This was not a long drive and the day was so clear we could see the Rocky Mountains and the full moon this morning and this evening.  It was beautiful.  The day was clear all day.

Once we got into Denver we visited Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, as we had the time to visit again.  We had been there two weeks ago and we wanted to see what birds came in the last two weeks during migration.   We enjoyed the many duck species and also the sparrow: Lincoln's and Brewers which we don't have at home.  The two owlets we saw two weeks ago, have turned from fuzzy white down chicks into mature looking brown plumage.  Also it turns out there are three of them.  So that was a big family for the Great Horned Owl to raise.
Tonight for supper we had a celebratory splash and ate an Italian restaurant that had booths for three floors along its walls just like an opera house.  There was a big screen that played opera shows/videos  It was really different and quite nice.  The food was excellent and the lovely music really added to the atmosphere.
We are packing up now and trying to get everything to fit back into our suitcases and it is tough.  We are purging some stuff we bought such as gallon thermos, cutting board and some kitchen supplies and will have to buy these all over again tomorrow in California.
Each of us is packing and talking to ourselves to make sure we have packed well and not forgotten anything.  One turns around and there is more stuff to pack.  The room looks like a disaster zone!!  I am not taking a picture of it. 

That is for today.

Here is the Great Horned Owl Juvenile

April 20 - Pawnee National Grasslands

April 20

After spending the night in Eaton we traveled about 30 minutes in the early cool morning to Pawnee National Grasslands.
This is a huge "big country" grassland that extends to the horizon.  There are many many Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks and Swainson's Hawks.  We were successful in seeing the McCowan's Longspur which was another lifer for most of us.  It is a beautiful bird with striking markings.  It is also very elusive and favours the flat parts of the prairie.  Jeff spotted several and we have several great looks (and photos) of the bird.  We also looked hard and long for the Chestnut-collared Longspur but did not have any luck, so we are planning to go back tomorrow morning to try again.  We had great looks at a huge White-tailed Jackrabbit.  He was took off very quickly once he noticed us.  We also saw the Pronghorn Antelope up close.  Connie also started a stampede of the Pronghorn when she accidentally coughed while trying to get a photo of them.  They took off running and all we could see were their white butts in the distance!  We also saw two coyotes running and it was amazing how fast they were running.  They did not notice us.

As far as the eye can see, these Grasslands have only a few shrubs and really almost no trees.  There is the odd treed area where the landowners live.  There are a couple of small ponds and that's it.  Nothing like we have seen before.   There are cattle guards to cross often as there are several pastures where the cattle roam freely.  We had this happen this morning when there was a herd of cattle up on the road ahead.  We started slowly and they cattle gradually moved off the road but kept moving with us.  There were several calves who ran around with the cattle. 

On one road, we went up a secondary trail with the vehicles so we could look over the side of the ridge.  A local rancher came up to see what we were up to.  We talked with him for quite a while and we got to ask questions that we had been wondering about.  The fellow told us how many cattle his ranch had, how they grazed their cattle and told us the short grass was better for the cattle.  He also told us how the ranch operated and that there were people who took care of the cattle at night.  It was really interesting.  He told us further birding spots where we may find some birds.

We had a good day today and it was the last day for the Richard and Alexander and Neil.  They will leave for their long drive back to Ontario tomorrow morning.  Jeff is going on to work in California and leaves Denver the same day we do.  So we had a last dinner with everyone this evening at the local Country Club which is open to the public in Eaton.  It was the best meal we had yet and it was reasonably priced.  We had a group photo taken also.  We will miss Richard, Alexander and Neil and Jeff too once we get to California.  It has been a wonderful Colorado birding trip.  We can't believe that two weeks have gone so quickly and we have one more day left here.  Colorado is an amazing place with many diverse habitats, animals and especially birds.  Connie is packing right now and Jane is on her Ipod and I am just completing this and will have to get organized as we have another early morning start which has become the norm on this trip.

Here are some of the birds today along with the Pronghorn.  Loggerhead Shrike, Western Meadowlark and our lifer McCowan's Longspur

 

April 19, 2016 - Our morning with approximately 400 Rosy Finches!!!

April 19

We left Fresco at 7:30 am and drove north on I70 on snowy and icy roads for an hour to visit Margery's feeders about 27 miles west of Vail.  Thank you to Jane for driving today, it was her turn and she managed the Behemoth on the icy roads very well.  We met the gracious lady who has the feeders.  Margery is a welcoming birder who lives on an acreage in a lovely log home with Isin her dog. She has feeders outside that attract approximately 400 Rosy Finches all day.  Along with the finches, there are Stellar Jays, Juncos, Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees.  We spent several hours here watching this fantastic group of birds.  There were Brown-capped Rosy Finches, Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and Black Rosy Finches.  They filled the pine trees by the feeders when the Stellar Jays came down to feed.  It was a super morning for each of us.  After hearing about Rosy Finces for so long, it was great just to spend some time watching them up close.  It was hard to leave.  Everyone took many photos and likely there were many twig photos as these birds do not stay still long, but there are likely a few good photos.  Alexander reviewed some of his photos and they were awesome.  The trees had fresh snow on them and it was beautiful but cold outside.  Margery was gracious and let us warm up inside her beautiful log home and even baked some cookies.  We appreciated her hospitality immensely.  She is one gracious lady.

From here  we drove south on I70 to just north of Denver to Genese Park for the Williamson's Sapsucker.  We walked a long trail that had melting snow and lots of mud and water for over an hour and a half.  The afternoon was nice and warming up but we had no luck with this Sapsucker.  The trail went down down down for quite a ways and then on the way back we had to go up and up and up.  It was a slow walk back but at least we were not smeared with mud like we usually are.  Our vehicle is turning into the mudmobile again though.

We then drove east to Eaton and are staying at the Cobblestone Inn for our outing tomorrow at Paunee Park.

The drive was fine as we had left the snow belt and we are now on the prairies again. Colorado has many surprising environments with sage/desert areas, prairie, mountains and foothills.   We had some good laughs about Connie's Parmeson Ptarmigan yesterday and how amazing that in the thousands of acres of land that comprise the Loveland Pass and mountain, our group drove up the mountain and ski hill area, went to three parking lots to look over the mountain and at the third stop, Jeff heard the Ptarmigan call and told us where to look and in the whiteness of the fresh snow and overcast conditions with the odd flake falling, there was the Ptarmigan.  How lucky is that!!

Here are some photos of today`s birds.  Black Rosy-Finch, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, (the photo of the the third Rosy-Finch was in yesterday`s post at the feeder, the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch), the Dark-eyed Junco (Red-backed), the Pine Grosbeaks male and female and the spectacular Stellar`s Jay.

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