It has been an exciting Spring.
Our seasonal, overcast skies have arrived. The June gloom now starts in May. May grey, then June gloom, followed by no-sky July, and finally Fogust. It just makes sense to sleep late.
After a big media hype, we expected floods followed by a deluge; regrettably, El Nino was a no-show.
We got three lifers this month. (middle row across) The Hooded Warbler (Thank you, Jun + Bin!!!!) The Olive Sided Flycatcher, not rare but a life bird for me, and (drum roll…) The Glossy Ibis.
The Hooded Warbler is a fantastic little bird! We checked in with the mass (or gathering) of bird paparazzi infesting the park before sitting down to eat lunch. We had picked up some yummy sandwiches. While settling in on top of the picnic table, facing the shutter bugs, with two bites into a savory sandwich, Jerry announces "I see him!" In the shadows and through a chain link fence, we could see the warbler move through the leaf litter. Completely camouflaged until he turned his face toward us. What a wonderful, magnificent face, a beam of sunshine.
We returned later that week but the little radiant yellow faced bird, with a halo of black, was nowhere to be seen.
Last weekend we drove out to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation area to see the Glossy Ibis. Another unexpected avian visitor in our patch. Do you think he got his directions from the Hooded Warbler?
Top row stars are the Pacific Loon in breeding plumage and the Pepla-guy (Phainopepla.) We were thrilled to see the Pepla- Lady (third row next to the Ibis) sitting on her nest in Los Liones Canyon. Sadly, the nest was abandoned and then disappeared. Maybe they took it apart and moved before they started a family? We still hear and see them so I hope they stay a while.
We met friends at South Coast Botanic Garden, Del Rey Lagoon, and Ballona Creek and the Freshwater Marsh.
We are getting better at bird ID though we still stumble at times.
Let's smash (or crack) our plastic cups of beer together in a toast to enjoyable birding and camaraderie.
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