Wild Bird Wednesday: Costa's Hummingbird

Love getting to travel outside of my normal stomping grounds to see different birds.  Last fall, I had a work conference in Palm Desert and since the last session ended at mid-day, I was able to sneak in a visit to The Living Desert - one of the best small zoos I've ever been to.  Seriously, it is WELL worth it if you are in the area to stop by.  Not expensive and in addition to all the exotic zoo animals, the place is a mecca for wild hummingbirds of all varieties. 

One type that I don't get to see near my home on the coast is the Costa's Hummingbird, but they were sure putting on a show during my time at the zoo.  I think I spent more time photographing them than I did looking at the giraffes, cheetahs, etc.

 

 

This is a young male - his purple throat feathers are just starting to come in.

 

 

 

The energy output of a hummingbird is truly astounding to watch.  No wonder this little guy is trying to catch a few ZZZs...

 

 

 

 

This mature male has the full complement of purple head feathers.  I just couldn't get the right angle of light to make them all appear, but you can see a few.  There's an amazing hummingbird documentary on PBS that shows how these birds use these feathers in mating displays.  The head and throat feathers flare out and make it look like the bird's entire head is a glistening purple flower as he hovers in front of a female. 

 

 

 

Here are few more looks at this pretty little bird.

 

 

 

 

Does anyone else ever silently chant in their heads "C'mon, just look over here" while photographing birds?  Or is it just me?

 

 

Because...sometimes it works!!  Finally got him to turn and show off those gorgeous feathers!

 

 

 

 

If it works...you can't call me crazy, right?

 

 

KJ

 

 

 

 

Wild Bird Wednesday - Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I was introduced to this sweet little bird last fall when I caught a quick flash of blue out of the corner of my eye.  Realizing it was too small to be either of our other local "blue" birds (Western Bluebird or California Scrub Jay),  I thought I might be on to something new.  Once I got home and compared the photos to my birding guide...yep, new bird for me:  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

 

 

They are more blue than our endangered California Gnatcatcher (still hoping to see one of those!) and have that distinct white eye-ring.

 

 

 

He was definitely keeping an eye out for the local Cooper's Hawk who flew over while I was taking these photos.

 

 

 

Such a pretty little bird.

 

 

 

 

And feisty, too!

 

 

 

 

Woops!  Gotta watch out for that hawk again!

 

These little guys are back in town now that it's fall again, but I have yet to get shots any nicer than these from last year.  I must've had a little bit of beginner's luck going!

 

KJ

 

 



Wild Bird Wednesday - Ridgway's Rail

Well, that turned into an unintentional blog hiatus.  Wow...can't believe my last post was in July!  I guess I've been busy!  The summer seemed particularly short (thanks new school starting date that takes away 3 weeks of our summer vacation)...because...it was!  We took a fantastic vacation to Santa Barbara and Morro Bay in early August (from which I'm STILL processing the photos! Hope to have them in a future post).  Then school started and the reality of 8th grade homework (geez there's a lot) hit us and then Ryan got sick and missed almost the entire second week of school...which required a LOT of catch up time (see previous comment about massive amounts of homework) and work was crazy that whole time (of course). 

 

This all left me with no time for birding and even less time to process photos or write blog posts.  Hopefully, I can get back on the horse now!

 

 

 

 

This is my one and only encounter (thus far) with a Ridgway's Rail.  Found this shy, secretive bird poking around the mussel beds below the bridge at the Bolsa Chica wetlands.

 

 

 

Only got a few shots before it disappeared into the vegetation...

 

 

 

...this is my favorite one...look at that foot!

 

 

KJ



Wild Bird Wednesday - Black Oystercatcher

Had some great birding this weekend thanks to the holiday allowing me some extra time.  Am still processing all the photos so thought I'd share something from last fall.  This was my first sight of a Black Oystercatcher on a Southern California beach (had previously seen them up north).  Shots were taken at Crystal Cove, CA on 10/10/15:

 

 

 

With their pink legs, orange/red beaks and yellow eyes, these birds are quite dramatic-looking.

 

 

 

Here he is patrolling one of the tide pools...with lots of barnacles on the rocks.

 

 

 

Love that beak color!

 

 

 

Catching some spray!

 

 

 

Stopping to pose...

 

 

 

...and then grabbing a snack.

 

 

 

Somebody needs to work on their leg tan.

 

 

KJ

 

 



Wild Bird Wednesday: Northern Red Bishop

This past fall, I was pulling out of the parking lot at my regular birding spot in Irvine when a brilliant flash of orange caught my eye.  Due to other commitments, I was unable to turn around to see what it might have been and wondered all the way home what I'd missed.

A week later, I discovered that a small flock of unusual birds had made a temporary home at this spot.  Northern Red Bishops (also known as Orange Bishops) are actually from Africa!  However, they are one of a multitude of non-native species that has escaped and taken hold in the Southern California environment.

The males are a brilliant orange/red with black faces and chests.

This small flock hung around for about 2 months on this same grouping of dead branches.

Their brown wings look almost like a sparrow's wings have been grafted on - I always thought they don't match the rest of the bird.

As I watched them over time, it was easy to pick out their dominance games...always trying to be in the "top spot" on the branch.

The orange feathers on the backs of their heads can ruffle up to appear almost like a hood.

This set of photos was taken two weeks later than the ones above...and the birds were still on that same group of branches!

This time, I was able to get a few shots of the females...who really do look like sparrows! 

I had to do some research at home to make sure these weren't just sparrows hanging out with the Bishops.

There's quite a lot of controversy regarding these non-native species (especially those that are nest parasites like the Whydahs) and whether they should be allowed to proliferate.  I'm a little on the fence - would not want to see a native species displaced by these birds, but on the other hand, if there are enough resources for them to co-exist, then maybe it's okay.  We've lost so many species and so much habitat...if something can manage to survive, maybe it's Nature's way of moving a new game piece onto the board.  In any event, I'll be interested to see if this flock returns this fall or if this was a one-time deal.

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday: Northern Harrier

These pictures are not of the best quality, but this was such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime encounter that I decided to share them anyway.  While I saw Northern Harriers several times over the course of fall and winter (the only time they are present in Southern California), it was always at a distance or while they were in flight.  However, one day, as I was walking down a path, I was amazed to see a female Northern Harrier pounce on something in the reeds just in front of me. 

 

 

She graciously allowed me to snap 3 shots and then she was off with her prey and disappeared in the distance.  I had no time to maneuver for a clean shot so there are a few reeds in front of her, but the owl-like facial disk that is unique to this raptor is clearly visible.

 

 

 

Maybe if I can just sneak a teeny bit around I can get those reeds out of the shot...

 

Yep - she saw me.  Bye-bye!

 

And that was it.  The end of my surprise close encounter with this amazing raptor.  I did at least manage to get a shot of those cool facial markings, though.  I saw her a few times after this, but always in flight.  Never saw a male at this location, but did see one in April at location much farther inland - the males are smaller and much more gray in coloration.  In fact, their nickname is the "Gray Ghost".

 

Next fall...I'll definitely be looking out for the return of this stunning bird.

 

KJ

Wild Bird Wednesday: Snowy Plovers

In late 2015, Ryan and I participated in the OC Snowy Plover survey.  After a day of training, we were assigned a particular beach and went out on two occasions to survey it.  Unfortunately, our beach was an unlikely location and, as expected, we didn't find any Plovers.  However, a few weeks later, the Sea and Sage Audubon Society (who sponsored the survey) also had a Snowy Plover field trip which we attended in the hopes of finally spotting this bird.  While numerous in other parts of the country, Snowy's are listed as threatened in Southern California due to habitat loss.  Work is being done to restore native sand dune ecologies and to set aside some roosting/breeding areas for these birds.  Following are some of the photos from that day:

This shot (looking north towards the pier) shows some of the very small area of remaining native dune plants.

This shot looks south towards Balboa Harbor and shows the fenced off Plover area.

These are some close-ups of some of the native/endangered plants...

...Beach Primrose...

...and Sand Verbena

Hopes were high in the week leading up to the trip as the biologist/guide reported that the Plovers were in the expected location every day.  We arrived at the meeting location south of Balboa Pier on the morning of October 17th...only to be met with the news that the Plovers had apparently just moved to a new location that day.  As we expressed our disappointment and tried to decide what to do next, one possible reason for their departure became immediately apparent:

This adult Cooper's Hawk flew right in and settled on the fence of the roosting area...clearly he wanted a nice plump Plover for breakfast!  Just as clearly, the Plovers weren't coming back to this area any time soon :-(

After much discussion, the group agreed it was worth heading up the coast another 20 minutes or so to Huntington Beach to check out another potential location.  This time...the Plovers didn't disappoint!

Now you see why we couldn't give up on finding them...they are quite arguably the world's cutest bird!

For comparison, here's a shot of Snowy's mixed with Sanderlings.  You think Sanderlings are tiny little birds until you see them next to Snowy's!

Here's an example of what our guide referred to as the "egg carton effect."  Snowy's like to roost in divots in the sand...think a speeding lifeguard vehicle is going to notice them in time?

Speaking of vehicles...guess where the nicest "sand divots" are?  Yep...vehicle tracks!  You can see a track running right through the bottom section of this photo...and a Snowy standing right in it!

These guys are just so cute that I couldn't stop taking photos.  I took well over 1,000 shots that day which is why it's taken me 6 months to go through them all.  Truly, it was a bit excessive LOL!

On the day we were there, I seemed to see mostly females or males in non-breeding plumage, but I was looking for that one male who would be showing the nice dark shoulder bars...

Here's a wing stretch in progress, but the shoulder marks were still a little fuzzy...

...and then this handsome specimen showed up with his nice dark shoulder marks.  If there was a complete single dark ring...this would be a Semipalmated Plover.  If larger and 2 rings...a Killdeer.

Another example of the "egg carton" effect.

Just for fun...see if you can guess how many Snowy's are in this photo!

KJ