The Old Shorebirding Grounds

White-tailed Kite. This young bird had just plummeted to earth and crushed a small rodent. Todays shots are all from my old shorebirding grounds at Point Mugu, CA, where I was lucky to bird earlier this month. It had been a long time...the birds that saturate this area helped put me on the shining path to Number 7 when I was just an awkward teenager.

Here's a closer look. You can see a couple little feet and a tail sticking out. This is a young bird, easily told by the rusty "necklace" and nape, and limited black patch under the wing. I think the eyes are a bit duller too...most birds with red eyes don't get them until they are adults.

The Point Mugu area is one of the best places in southern California for shorebirds. Pectoral Sandpipers occur in good numbers here in fall. Good numbers is an understatement actually...there is a veritable shitload of Pectoral Sandpipers. It is amazing.

This is probably one of those species that I would not be so enamored with if I lived someplace where they were common...but since I don't, I am enamored.

Juvenile Western Sandpipers bring fall with them as they migrate south. You see, they carry autumn on their rusty shoulders. Falling leaves are for suckers.

Red-necked Phalarope with a high scumline. High scumlines are in this fall.

Being a seabird at heart, phalaropes always adhere to the Economy of Style in the fall.

This Red-necked Phalarope was too close for comfort. I was terrified that I would get sucked into the circular vortex it was spinning.

Lesser Yellowlegs are another locally common shorebird here. They are drawn to the grassy impoundments like The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive is drawn to a bottle of bourbon.

This fork-tailed kingbird gave me pause, but I was able to make sure it was a juvenile Cassin's Kingbird before we parted ways (you can just make out the gape at the base of the bill in this photo). Seeing a kingbird with a tail like this on the west coast in fall will lead you to a Tropical Kingbird more often than not, but there are lots of other field marks to look out for.

Cooper's Hawk. With so many birds packed into the area, it is no wonder that a lot of raptors call the fields and marshes home as well. It is an area that birders fantasize about to no end...the potential for MEGAS is endless.

Here is the above White-tailed Kite as it stoops toward the vole it had been eyeing. I wish getting lunch could be this fun.

An Unholy Union

Cliff and Tree Swallows. Part of a flock of thousands of birds that appeared to be already migrating in early July. If I had more patience I would have sat there all morning, checking each and every bird for a Cave Swallow...but I am not that lame. Finney Lake, CA.

It's great to be back in the bay area, where people are free to act human every once in a while. I just watched 2 biologists marry each other, which most people would describe describe as "An unholy union between wannabe eco-terrorist, tree-hugging communists", which sounds like a good time to me. I try to escape from birders, but it gets harder and harder every year.

I thought I'd take a break from terns and shorebirds and show a few birds of the shrub-lurking variety today.
I hope you had a crepuscular weekend.

Bell's Vireo fledgling. Least Bell's Vireos have the unfortunate distinction of being an Endangered Species, as a result of habitat loss/degradation and being a frequent host of Brown-headed Cowbirds. This one already got banded. Old Mission Dam, San Diego CA.

Bell's Vireos follow the strict rules of The Economy of Style, but still manage to be cute.

This Blue Grosbeak fledgling could not have been out of the nest for very long. It's pretty damn ugly if you ask me. Old Mission Dam, San Diego, CA.

Cassin's Kingbird. I don't go birding as often as I should in the late afternoon...the lighting is highly conducive to photography. Lindo Lake, Lakeside, CA.

Costa's Hummingbird. She chose an artistic perch. East San Diego County, CA.

Say's Phoebe. I think this picture kind of sums up the scenery around Jacumba, CA, where San Diego birders go for some migrants and desert goodness and the whole California birding community must go if they don't have Harris' Hawk on their state list yet.

It's dry. It's hot. It's August. Bird song is not what it was a couple of months ago. Even resident birds like this Bell's Sage Sparrow have shut up. Migration looms. East San Diego County, CA.

Lesser Goldfinch. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to only handle, break down, orient and eat food with your face? A strange and disturbing concept. Mission Trails Regional Park, San Diego, CA.

Hangin' Up The Bins...Ubersocial Shorebirds...Mammologist Pity

Shorebirds. I love them deeply, and immensely. Look at this Greater Yellowlegs. It inspires me to become a better sandpip...er...er, person. Famosa Slough, San Diego, CA.

Well birders...its time to hang up the binoculars. The rigors and demands of a nonbirding life call, so I am pulling out of the whale's vagina (pun intended) for a week, to head up to northern California for a wedding. This is not the end of my reign in San Diego County however...I'll be spending the last two weeks of August here, wringing out vagrants. After that, Perpetual Weekend 2012-2013 will kick in and I will be free at last. 

What are shorebirds all about? Buddies. Unlike birders, they are really good at making friends. Same species, different species, it doesn't matter. They cannot help but team up. Like magnets. This Greater Yellowlegs and Wilson's Phalarope are a prime example.

This is what buddies do.

They stop and reflect on their short and hypothetically meaningless existences at the same time. The yellowlegs thinks it proper to scan the sky at times like these, the phalarope examines its own reflection. Two different philosophies. Neither is wrong.

I don't know what is happening here, but surely it is a sign of an enduring friendship and needle-billed comraderie. This phalarope was all about a small flock of Greater Yellowlegs, often foraging in the muddy water the yellowlegs would kick up as they walked around. The yellowlegs didn't seem to mind the phalarope's constant close proximity. Like I said...buddies.

People don't think of yellowlegs as being striking birds. This is usually true. But they look hella good for a few months of the year (front). Then they turn in to anonymous gray things (rear).

Light-footed Clapper Rail. Clapper Rails can afford to be less shy than their smaller cousins, because the terrible sounds they make would deter any predator. Famosa Slough, San Diego, CA.

This Clapper just sonically destroyed a small razor clam.


Heermann's Gull: a very nice gull. Sea World, San Diego, CA.

Is this a BB&B first? I think it is. Cassin's Kingbirds are widespread in southern California and do well in disturbed and suburban areas, especially in winter. Dairy Mart Ponds, Tijuana River Valley, CA.

This intricately colored coat of armor belongs to a Western Fence Lizard (I have no idea what subspecies). Pretty cool though. San Elijo Lagoon, CA.

Pretty amazing patterning for such a common (and small) beast. I feel bad for mammal enthusiasts. Fur doesn't come in many patterns...scales and feathers > hair.