A Pleasant Day With a Few Good Sightings-9/28/12

A pleasant day for birding. Not too many warblers but a nice mix of birds. After taking some shots of what I thought were House Finches, I have to go back and check for Purple Finches. The Red-Breasted Nuthatch stopped for a moment, unusual. The Vireo cooperated but my camera wanted to focus on the branches and not the bird. Work on the unidentified bird. The Red-shouldered Hawk made an appearance as well as a Cooper's Hawk.

Red-breasted Nuthatch in an unusual pose-9/29/12-HC

Philadelphia Vireo-9/29/12-HC

Mystery Bird-Try your luck at ID-9/29/12-HC

A Very Birdie Day-September 26, 2012

What a great day for birding. There was action most of the morning. Below is a Red-tailed Hawk in a very awkward stance. Magnolia's were everywhere. We estimated more than 30 Mags. The Mourning Cloak showed off in Bobolink Meadow. The totals included: Canada Geese, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Monk Parakeet, Chimney Swift (hundreds), Belted Kingfisher (2), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Empidonax sp, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Tennessee Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Palm Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Fox Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow. Over 50 species, a nice day. Seventeen species of warblers.

Okay! What in the World!-9/26/12-HC

Magnolia in Motion 1-9/26/12-HC

Magnolia Warbler in Motion 2-9/26/12-HC

Mourning Cloak in Bobolink Meadow-9/26/12-HC

Cold, windy and rainy with sun coming out later 9/22/12

Although it was very cold (50's), windy and rainy at times, we had some nice birds. Both a Redtailed and Red-shouldered Hawk gave us some nice views. A Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Cooper's Hawk were also observed. The mystery bird from last week was named by Frank Sterret. It was a Magnolia Warbler. We had several mags today. He wins a guided day of hawkwatching in Borrego Springs, California. Lots of warblers today but not a lot of species. Today's quiz bird is a bit more difficult.

Walking in the Rain 9/22/12-HC

Osaka Garden in the rain-9/22/12-HC

Chestnut-sided Warbler-9/22/12-HC

Mystery bird 9/22/12-HC

Catbird 9/22/12-HC

Great day, not overwhelming, just the right number of birds September 19,2012

Today we weren't overwhelmed with numbers but had some great looks at several species including 12 warbler species. To end the day, we watched a Kingfisher being chased by a Cooper's Hawk and then a Sharp-shinned Hawk went after the Cooper's. The Juvenile Red-shouldered was not too easy to identify, correct me if I am mistaken. See what you can do with the last shot-our first quiz bird. The Heron in the Japanese Garden was very tame.

Black-crowned Night Heron Stepping out-9/19/12-HC

Nice spiritual spot to select-9/19/12-HC 

Male Flicker in our favorite dead tree-9/19/12-HC

Downy upside down-9/19/12-HC

Tough one-Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk-9/19/12-HC

Quiz Bird-Try your luck-9/19/12-HC

A Pleasant Day/No Sun With a Few Good Warblers-9/1/12

A great day for people watching. Our best bird of the day was found by Demetri, a mere 9 months of age. We did get a Black-throated Blue, a few Wilson's, a colorful Blackburnian, several Redstarts, some Swainson's Thurshes and of course the Green Herons. 

Leo and Carolyn working the birds-9/1/12-HC

Jennette with an article from 1984-She hasn't changed much in 28 years.-9/1/12-HC

Demetri trying out a pair of binocs-9/1/12-HC

"I got this one mom, no problems-9/1/12-HC

Pine Warbler-9/1/12-HC

No problem, I got this one covered-A nice male Pine in a pine-9/1/12-HC