Hi Brian!



Leucopareia typically have a white or pale band on the breast.  I think you
have minima and leucopareia at HCP.  There is also one of each at Lincoln
Park in East L. A., and they are very similar to the birds in your photos.



Regards,

Ed



Ed Stonick

Pasadena, CA

edstonick@... <mailto:stonicks@...>





   _____

From: OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of bed900hawo
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 5:58 PM
To: OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Geese at Huntington Lake





Birders,

I've birded Huntington Lake at Huntington Central Park twice recently at
dawn. Although I've heard no "twittering" Tropical Kingbird (this is where
last year's wintering bird roosted), I found relatively large numbers of
Canada Geese on both visits. The geese are roosting here overnight,
apparently, as they leave at or before dawn and head towards the fields at
the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station (at least that's my guess). Today there
were over 300 and included 4 Cackling Geese. I've posted two photos of the
Cackling Geese in a folder I've titled "Canada and Cackling Geese." All four
were about the same size, but were easily sorted into two "types." I won't
bother with the description in this forum, but I will say these small geese
have me perplexed. Certainly the two subspecies to be expected here are
minima and leucopareia, but these birds are typically, I think, rather dark
breasted. I thought two of these birds were strikingly pale breasted. Could
the two pale breasted birds be of the subspecies taverneri? Or could they be
"small" lesser Canada Geese (parvipes)? I've also included photos in that
folder from today and, presumably of the same individual, from two years ago
of a real, or at least it's been identified as such by several experienced
observers (at least in 2007 it was)as a lesser Canada Goose at Mason
Regional Park. This small goose is very tame, perhaps has a bum leg, and its
"protector" is a Chinese domesticated goose (Swan Goose ancestry).
Unfortunately my photos today really don't allow a true appreciation of bill
length compared to "length" of side head profile. Identification of small
geese as Cackling may not be as easy as it seems.

As for birds of interest seen today at San Joaquin Marsh, I'd add to Neil's
list the pair of Wood Ducks on Pond C (could be wild birds, but the
introduced population inland at Yorba Regional Park, Irvine Regional Park,
and elsewhere has certainly made it difficult to determine the true
provenance of this species in Orange County) and Wrentit (this may be the
same individual as the one found here in October 2008 - which I believe was
the first record for the "marsh").

Good birding,

Brian Daniels





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Birders,

I've birded Huntington Lake at Huntington Central Park twice recently at dawn. 
Although I've heard no "twittering" Tropical Kingbird (this is where last year's
wintering bird roosted), I found relatively large numbers of Canada Geese on
both visits.  The geese are roosting here overnight, apparently, as they leave
at or before dawn and head towards the fields at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons
Station (at least that's my guess).  Today there were over 300 and included 4
Cackling Geese.  I've posted two photos of the Cackling Geese in a folder I've
titled "Canada and Cackling Geese."  All four were about the same size, but were
easily sorted into two "types."  I won't bother with the description in this
forum, but I will say these small geese have me perplexed.  Certainly the two
subspecies to be expected here are minima and leucopareia, but these birds are
typically, I think, rather dark breasted.  I thought two of these birds were
strikingly pale breasted.  Could the two pale breasted birds be of the
subspecies taverneri?  Or could they be "small" lesser Canada Geese (parvipes)? 
I've also included photos in that folder from today and, presumably of the same
individual, from two years ago of a real, or at least it's been identified as
such by several experienced observers (at least in 2007 it was)as a lesser
Canada Goose at Mason Regional Park.  This small goose is very tame, perhaps has
a bum leg, and its "protector" is a Chinese domesticated goose (Swan Goose
ancestry).  Unfortunately my photos today really don't allow a true appreciation
of bill length compared to "length" of side head profile.  Identification of
small geese as Cackling may not be as easy as it seems.

As for birds of interest seen today at San Joaquin Marsh, I'd add to Neil's list
the pair of Wood Ducks on Pond C (could be wild birds, but the introduced
population inland at Yorba Regional Park, Irvine Regional Park, and elsewhere
has certainly made it difficult to determine the true provenance of this species
in Orange County) and Wrentit (this may be the same individual as the one found
here in October 2008 - which I believe was the first record for the "marsh").

Good birding,

Brian Daniels

birders,

I don't know about you, but I'd rather go birding on Thanksgiving instead of
lazing around on the couch watching football. I spent a good chunk of the
morning birding at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine with Brian Daniels.
We had the following highlights:

Northern Waterthrush - one calling bird in a flooded area near the Lost Trail.
This location is near where the Lost Trail comes to a "T" near a willow-lined
pond. Presumably a returning bird from the last couple winters.

Mountain Bluebird - continuing female near Pond C.

Vermilion Flycatcher - continuing AHY male on the island in Pond 1

A few other birds of minor interest included (1) Black-throated Gray, (1)
"Myrtle," and (3) Yellow Warblers.

Around midday, I poked around Aldrich Park in the middle of UCI for about half
an hour. I had one HY male SUMMER TANAGER and a male "Slate-colored" Junco.

Lastly, I saw five HOODED MERGANSERS in Irvine this morning. Two (a male and a
female) were in the Como Channel between Harvard and the Peters Canyon Creek,
and three others (one male, two females) were in the Peters Canyon Creek just
downstream from Warner.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Neil Gilbert
Orange, CA

Birding briefly at lunchtime today (24 November) at Fairhaven Memorial Park in
Santa Ana, I had an interesting mixed flock of birds come in to pishing,
squeaking etc. Amongst a decent-sized flock of Yellow-rumps and Ruby-crowned
Kinglets were at least 6 Townsend's Warblers, an Orange-crowned Warbler and two
species of "Solitary Vireos" (a fairly bright Cassin's and a Plumbeous). Both
are likely continuing birds, the Cassin's first encountered on 20 Oct.
(presumably a bird that has wintered here the two previous years), and the
Plumbeous seen once on 29 Oct. For a brief moment both the Cassin's and
Plumbeous were in the same tree (and view) at the same time. Today, this flock
was north and northwest of the mausoleum, but the main "bird party" roams
considerably at this site. Although the area around the mausoleum can be good,
the flock(or flocks) can be almost anywhere in this relatively large cemetery
"complex" (i.e., there are actually two adjacent cemeteries here, with Santa Ana
Cemetery being immediately east of Fairhaven Memorial).

Yesterday (23 Nov.), a Pacific-slope Flycatcher was seen again at Santiago Park
in Santa Ana (first encountered 30 Oct., so is presumably attempting to winter;
this bird was heard to give Pacific-slope type calls on one of the earlier
visits).

Wishing all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

We saw the female Mountain Bluebird in the same area last Sunday, late
afternoon.  It was especially nice because it was a lifer for us!

We also saw a Burrowing owl being harassed by two crows; it was sitting in the
large drain pipe at the end of the first pond.  In a few minutes it flew across
the open arrea to its burrow in the hillside.  The crows followed, but couldn't
get to it.  Next they proceeded to harass a juvenile Cooper's hawk that was
sitting on the wire just about straight up from the burrow. They didn't drive it
away, but it did jump up from the wire once.  I managed to capture a few pix of
this event, along with others from our afternoon at SJWR and our morning at the
Back Bay: 
http://nancyjune.smugmug.com/Nature/Back-Bay-and-San-Joaquin/10411108_9VhFX/1/72\
1323662_FafuA

Nancy Feagans and Dan Lee
Redondo Beach, CA




________________________________
From: naturegirlaol <naturegirlaol@...>
To: OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 8:52:02 PM
Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Birds at SJWS

 
This afternoon around 4 p.m., we saw a female Mountain Bluebird on a bluebird
box between Ponds C & D at the San Joaquin ponds in Irvine, very close to where
it was reported seen the other day. Several Western Bluebirds also landed on the
fence behind Pond D. A Peregrine Falcon showed up and perched high on the
antenna behind the path between Ponds D & E. He stayed up there the whole time
we were walking around, until it got dark. In the meantime we went over to Pond
4 to get a closer look at an Osprey perched high on a nesting platform, and also
saw a male Hooded Merganser not far away in Pond 3.

Joan & Brett Rubin
Mission Viejo




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This afternoon around 4 p.m., we saw a female Mountain Bluebird on a bluebird
box between Ponds C & D at the San Joaquin ponds in Irvine, very close to where
it was reported seen the other day.  Several Western Bluebirds also landed on
the fence behind Pond D.  A Peregrine Falcon showed up and perched high on the
antenna behind the path between Ponds D & E.  He stayed up there the whole time
we were walking around, until it got dark.  In the meantime we went over to Pond
4 to get a closer look at an Osprey perched high on a nesting platform, and also
saw a male Hooded Merganser not far away in Pond 3.

Joan & Brett Rubin
Mission Viejo

birders,

I stopped by the Orange Lakes Apartment Complex along Chapman Avenue for five
minutes late this afternoon. In the row of ornamental trees along Solana Drive,
I had a PLUMBEOUS VIREO. Also present were 3-4 WESTERN TANAGERS and two
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.

cheers,

Neil Gilbert
Orange, CA

Today I got in an hour of birding the Back Bay near the intersection of Irvine
and Santiago Drive. A White-tailed Kite put on a nice show of hovering over prey
but, never captured anything.

I will attempt to post photos.

BJ Donald
Costa Mesa

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Monday morning at 10:00, the BLUEBIRD was still on the hawk perch at Pond C.  I
too hastily dismissed it as a Western Bluebird, paying more attention to an
American Pipit that landed between it and myself.
-- Jim Roe, Seal Beach

Someone posted on the San Juan Wildlife Sanctuary (SJWS)bulletin board on 11/15
that they saw 3 Mountain Bluebirds at Pond C.  Yesterday, 11/22 I believe I
found one (never seen one before).  It was quite grey in front with blue on the
tail feathers and wings.  It didn't have any reddish color of a Western.  When
it flew and the sun's rays shone on its back it was a beautiful sort of metallic
blue.  Per the birding books I've looked at since it was probably a female
Mountain Bluebird.  It was at Pond C.  It was sitting on the hawk perch where
the pond has the elbow.  It moved around as I got close but it always returned
to the hawk perch.  A couple of hours later as I was finishing my hike I spied
it still keeping to the hawk perch.  That was about 1 PM Sunday.

Rick Shearer
Fountain Valley

The Bar-tailed Godwit was there Sunday morning, 8:30 to 9:00 a.m.  Watched it
rest on a sandbar near where the creek empties into the bay, same spot I assume
as where most of you have seen it.  Left side of the creek if you have your back
to Jamboree.  On the same sandbar an Eurasian Wigeon was also resting as well as
a Whimbrel, Blue-winged Teal and other more common shorebirds.

Rick Shearer
Fountain Valley

--- In OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com, "short_eared_owl12"
<prairiemerlin@...> wrote:
>
> birders,
>
> The BAR-TAILED GODWIT continued at Upper Newport Bay this morning. It has now
been present for at least three weeks. I saw it at high tide with a large flock
of shorebirds on the west side of the bay, about a half-mile from the Jamboree
Road bridge area that if favors at low tide.
>
> A few other birds of note today:
>
> Green-tailed Towhee - (1) again at Castaway Park in Newport Beach. Park in the
parking lot for the church at the corner of Dover and Castaways (16th) and walk
in. The bird was at the edge of the houses near the flagpole.
>
> Mew Gull - (1) adult-cycle with other gulls on the beach in Newport Dunes.
>
> Loggerhead Shrike - (1) Shellmaker Island, Upper Newport Bay
>
> American x Eurasian Wigeon - (1) drake at the foot of San Joaquin Hills Road,
Upper Newport Bay
>
> Costa's Hummingbird - (1) male along the San Diego Creek near the Irvine Civic
Center
>
> Yellow Warbler - (5) Decent count. Three along the San Diego Creek between the
405 and Campus, one at SJWS, and one near the Peters Canyon Creek at Walnut.
>
> cheers
>
> Neil Gilbert
> Orange, CA
>

Hello birders,

Today (Nov 22,) at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, I
observed at least 4 American White Pelicans, 1 Reddish Egret, at least 2 Belted
Kingfishers and at least 2 Downy Woodpeckers plus to all usual [at this
location] birds.
You may view some of my today's photos on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33691985@N08/sets/72157622734526391/detail/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33691985@N08/sets/72157622734526391/show/

I posted a photo of one duck that I labeled as a "Lesser Scaup."
I'm not sure that I ID-ed it right.
All comments and corrections will be greatly appreciated.

I used a Canon 40D and a Sigma lens 300mm/f2.8 + 1.4 TC on a monopod.

Alex Viduetsky
Valley Village, CA




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

Doug Willick and I birded a few spots over the weekend. In Fullerton yesterday,
there were three Hooded Mergansers (including two adult males) at Craig Regional
Park and a Bullock's Oriole at Hillcrest Park. More interesting was the
repeatedly singing Yellow-rumped Warbler at Hillcrest. Neither Doug nor I had
ever heard one sing during the fall/winter period (before their hormones start
kicking in around mid-March). Today, it was nice to see a roost consisting of
nine White-tailed Kites in the 'wilder' east end of Mason Regional Park in
Irvine. At nearby Dave Robins Park, a hatch-year male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
was working a liquid amber tree at the southeast corner of the tennis courts. At
least five Bullock's Orioles were favoring the alder trees and red-flowering
eucalyptus trees in the park. An orangy oriole in the group was difficult to
classify as either a Bullock's or a Baltimore and may have been a hybrid.
Finally, a frequently-calling adult male Summer Tanager arrived at the
red-flowering eucs at day's end.

Jim Pike
Huntington Beach

This morning I went to the Greater White-fronted Goose location in Mile Square
Park - entrance road across from Denny's on Brookhurst by the Tennis courts. 
The location was over run with golfers went I arrived, 7:30AM (Sunday). 
However, on the parking lot side of the fence was a small group of Lark
Sparrows.

I will attempt to post photos.

Richard Thunen.

Birders,

I refound the Painted Redstart originally discovered by Neil Gilbert
yesterday (Friday 11/20/09).  I saw it this morning in the same location,
8:30am.  It was calling a lot.  It then flew maybe 30 meters "up" the
canyon, though lower in elevation.  It stopped vocalizing, and after another
45 minutes of casually birding the area, I did not see it again.  In the
same area I had one California Thrasher, and one Townsend's Warbler.  A
Lewis' Woodpecker also made a fly-by.  Plenty of Hermit Thrushes and
Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, no Goldens.

When coming back down at 11:30am, two birders were looking for the Redstart,
but had not yet seen it.


Jeff Ritterson
Aliso Viejo


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The three (2 adults, one young) Greater White-fronted Geese previously found by
Neil Gilbert, were in place at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley this
afternoon 11/21.

To find them, go north on Brookhurst along the west side of Mile Square Park,
and a small road that goes east into the park off of Brookhurst, directly
adjacent to a Denny's restaurant on the west side of Brookhurst, turn right into
the park and park at the first parking spot on your right (only 50 feet in),
look for the small pond on the golf course, which is north of where you parked.

The three geese are in amongst many waterfowl and the White-faced Ibis.

I'll post pics of the Geese and Ibis shortly.

Monte Taylor
http://www.tsuru-bird.net
Orange County, CA

birders,

The BAR-TAILED GODWIT continued at Upper Newport Bay this morning. It has now
been present for at least three weeks. I saw it at high tide with a large flock
of shorebirds on the west side of the bay, about a half-mile from the Jamboree
Road bridge area that if favors at low tide.

A few other birds of note today:

Green-tailed Towhee - (1) again at Castaway Park in Newport Beach. Park in the
parking lot for the church at the corner of Dover and Castaways (16th) and walk
in. The bird was at the edge of the houses near the flagpole.

Mew Gull - (1) adult-cycle with other gulls on the beach in Newport Dunes.

Loggerhead Shrike - (1) Shellmaker Island, Upper Newport Bay

American x Eurasian Wigeon - (1) drake at the foot of San Joaquin Hills Road,
Upper Newport Bay

Costa's Hummingbird - (1) male along the San Diego Creek near the Irvine Civic
Center

Yellow Warbler - (5) Decent count. Three along the San Diego Creek between the
405 and Campus, one at SJWS, and one near the Peters Canyon Creek at Walnut.

cheers

Neil Gilbert
Orange, CA

Hello, Today, Nov. 21st at around noon, we saw a Golden Eagle feed on a Coot at
the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine. It caught the coot by Pond C and
then flew over to the top of the second electrical pole from the sanctuary
entrance. After finishing off the coot, it flew over the San Diego Creek and
then towards the golf course.

A photo can be seen here: http://www.pbase.com/ornithographyplus/image/119593321

Bob & Cynthia Kaufman
South Pasadena, CA

birders,

Today I birded a pretty big swath of the county. Here are the highlights:

Upper Silverado Canyon:

PAINTED REDSTART - one along Maple Springs Road, perhaps a mile or two past the
end of the pavement? It was in the second cluster of conifers close to the road,
where the road turns to the left. Just past the location there is a large dirt
pullout on the left. It was quite obvious, calling frequently. At this date, a
wintering bird seems likely, but it gets cold up there (it was in the
mid-thirties this morning.)

LEWIS'S WOODPECKER - two. One was close to the road, in a clump of
partially-burned pines about a quarter-mile below the redstart spot. Later, I
had a much more distant bird in a burned area near Main Divide.

HAIRY WOODPECKER - one at the redstart place. Lower than I usually see them.

Other interesting birds were (1) Pine Siskin and Purple Finches, Fox Sparrows,
and Hermit Thrushes aplenty.

Castaway Park (Dover and Castaway in Newport Beach):

GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE - apparently wintering. First reported on 10/31/09. Today it
was in the corner of the park near the condos.

Tewinkle Park (Costa Mesa):

-Hermit Warbler - one (probably the same one Robert McNab reported a while
back?) An adult-male type with extensive black on the throat.

Mile Square Regional Park (Fountain Valley):

Greater White-fronted Goose - three (two adults, one hatch-year) on the adjacent
golf course, accessed from a small road off Brookhurst.

"Myrtle" Warbler - two in the nature center

Twin Lakes Park (Garden Grove):

Ross's Goose - continuing resident bird.

To my surprise, this little park had a lot of interesting birds given its
setting: (2) Caspian Terns, (1) Western Gull, (30+) Black-necked Stilts, (5)
Long-billed Dowitchers, (1) Spotted Sandpiper, (8) Killdeer, (80+) Northern
Shoveler, (1) Green-winged Teal.

cheers,

Neil Gilbert
Orange, CA
http://ocbirding.blogspot.com/

I just had a call from Neil Gilbert, who was birding this morning (20 Nov.) in
the Santa Ana Mountains of east-central Orange County, and will briefly relay
some of his highlights (Neil will undoubtedly post later, with more details). 
Most interesting, he had a Painted Redstart in mid to upper Silverado Canyon. A
pretty unexpected bird for this area at this date (getting a bit chilly for a
warbler up there now). He also had a few Lewis's Woodpeckers in mid/upper
Silverado Canyon. He mentioned a few other highlights which I'll let him discuss
when he gets a chance to send a post to OC Birding.

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

It's that time of year again, and in about a month we are going to start one of
the 3 Christmas Bird Counts in the county.

See:  http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/BirdInfo/BirdCounts/CBC/CBCbirdcounts.htm

for dates and areas.  It's not too early or too late to make plans to
participate, and contact your area leaders.

Each year I run the below essay:

CBC Counts: We need everyone's help

My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?" When it
comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
Counts, those categories seem to fit well.

There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year. These birders not only
get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
the occasion as a learning and social experience. There is always
something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.

A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
thoughts on the matter include: by force of numbers we make our
presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
and thus represent a political force; publicity generated by such
counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
awareness of conservation problems and land preservation; we show
that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
weather on bird populations; as urbanization increases, the
information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
introduced species; it continues a tradition started on 25 December
1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
our mental and physical health; and everyone who participates
probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
(and good species and friendships found).

So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
coverage teams. It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
extra pair of eyes and data-takers.

Last year the coastal count came in ***4th*** in total species (over 200) of ANY
count north of the Mexican border...... two Texas counts and the Santa Barbara
count beat us out.  The other two counts typically have over 150 species of
birds that day.

Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, CA

We just returned from Upper Back-Bay where the bar-tailed godwit has been
observed.  The godwit was resting with six long-billed curlews on an exposed
spit west of the Jamboree Bridge. The tide was high. No other godwits were
present. The bird was present from 9:00 am to 9:30 am.

Jeff Ahrens
Irvine

I am correcting my previous post about the bright Red-breasted Sapsucker at
Huntington Central Park.  I should have done research that the ruber subspecies
would be an Orange County first.  This bird is bright, but not yellow in front,
nor is his white mustache mark very long.  The bird is likely a daggetti and I
hope that anyone who sees it will try to get pictures.  This is still a fairly
rare bird for sea level as it prefers the mountains.

I want to make very clear that Brian Daniels, who found the bird, did NOT call
it a ruber subspecies.  And that my husband Dick did not see my post to which I
attached both of our names.  Mea culpa.

Pat Cabe,
Huntington Beach, Nov. 17, 2009

Hi All,

    Just returned to work from an excellent hour (09:45 to 10:45) spent studying
the BTGO.  It was resting with a small flock of Marbled Godwits, American
Avocets, etc. on a small spit of land that projects westward into the bay very
close to the north end of the Jamboree bridge.  The Google Earth coordinates
are:
Lat:   33.651013
Lon: -117.867753

    As instructed by earlier posts, I arrived one hour after the predicted high
tide at Corona del Mar. I immediately found the bird and scoped it carefully
from just north of the bridge.  I got to see essentially every aspect (including
its tail) as it stretched and shifted its resting position from time to time. 
It also stationed itself next to a Marbled Godwit which allowed for excellent
comparison opportunities.  I congratulate and thank the people of the OC for
maintaining such well-behaved and cooperative rare birds!

Ed Griffin
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

The bar-tailed godwit was still present yesterday 11/16/09 below the Jamboree
bridge at Upper Newport Back Bay foraging along the rocks and bridge pilings.  I
watched it from about 1115-1230.  It briefly flew to the mud bank to the west
but after about 10 minutes returned to the rocks.  Seems to forage alone, not
intermixed with the marbled godwits nearby.  The white on the belly and vent is
pretty distinct.
 
Cheers,
Karly Moore
Huntington Beach




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This morning, 11/17, we birded the east side of Huntington Central Park, and
along with Lloyd Wright, saw a bright ruber Red-breasted Sapsucker.  That bird,
along with a duller RB Sapsucker and the immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were
at HCP two days ago, Sunday.  That day Brian Daniels saw the duller RBSA near
the Slater parking lot, as well as a tan-stripe White-throated Sparrow, and all
3 of us later saw the bright ruber and the imm. Yellow-bellied in between the
fenced garden and the cement bandstand.  That's also where the bright ruber was
today, but we didn't re-find the YBSA or the WTSP.

Pat & Dick Cabe,
Huntington Beach

Monday morning (11-16-09) I saw a male Hermit Warbler at HB Central Park in the
area above the ampitheater in the trees by the fence near the restroom.

Earlier in a short walk at Bolsa Chica (high tide), saw 1 Reddish Egret resting
just south of the walkbridge and 1 Large-billed Savannah Sparrow in the "usual"
spot.

Terry Hill

Finally getting to a few highlights from the weekend. On Saturday (14 Nov.),
birding adjacent to some private land in Costa Mesa, I was surprised to see a
Vesper Sparrow associating with a flock of White-crowneds; also associating with
this group were singles of Lark Sparrow and Fox Sparrow.

Yesterday (15 Nov.), birding at the California State University Fullerton
Arboretum, a female type Black-and-white Warbler was working a small clump of
mesquite-like trees in the southeastern section of the grounds. This area is
about a couple hundred feet east of the arboretum's south lake, where there is a
pedestrian entrance from the CSUF campus (this area appears to be a thorn-scrub
type habitat). The bird gave very close views for a few minutes, but I couldn't
refind it when it appeared to just fly a short distance to an adjacent tree.
Also at the Arboretum yesterday was at least two Wilson's Warblers, which were
together in the same mixed flock of warblers & kinglets (southeast of the south
lake). Earlier, presumably one of these same two Wilson's was seen in Ficus
trees in the south-central part of the arboretum. Over the years the arboretum
seems to consistently attract one or two wintering Wilson's Warblers. Lastly, of
minor note were one to two Hutton's Vireos at the arboretum.

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

Greetings Birders--On Sat., 11-14, at about 200 yds east of the Tidal Gate, just
eastward from where the Herons nest, perched atop some shrubbery, we saw a Sage
Thrasher. Ruled out an immature Northern Mockingbird.  Will attempt to post
picture of it.

Joyce Waterman
Santa Monica

birders,

This morning, Doug Willick's GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continued along the
Upper Santa Ana River at the Orange-Olive Railroad crossing. Other highlights
along the river included two Black-throated Gray Warblers (likely will winter)
and a Western Grebe in the basin just east of Lakeview (my first for the river.)
I did not see the Mountain Bluebirds reported by the Alters in the riverbed near
the 91 freeway. However, there were a couple hundred American Pipits in the
adjacent (dry) basin.

Carbon Canyon Regional Park was pretty slow this afternoon. I did not see the
Hairy Woodpecker reported on 10/31 despite three hours of scouring the park. Two
Red-breasted Sapsuckers and a few California Gnatcatchers in the burned creek
bed (seemed out of place) were the only interesting birds.

cheers,

Neil Gilbert
Orange, CA