I had a lovely outing at O'Neill this morning with a group led by naturalist
Mike Clayton.  Of note, we saw a beautiful pair of Golden Eagles soaring
overhead, and a lovely male Phainopepla in the Mistletoe in a Sycamore in the
campground area.

Barbara Boethling
Huntington Beach

My husband, John, and I finally succeeded in finding the Lark Bunting this
afternoon (Wed., Feb. 1) at about 1:15. We had tried on Sunday, the 29th, but
had little luck with all the joggers and other various people entering the area
behind the Interpretive Center. Our hunch that things would be quieter and
easier on a weekday was correct. We found it about 10 feet away after about 15
minutes of looking.

Linda Renna
Mission Viejo

Not sure if this is of any interest to anyone but me?
I've got a small flock of 6-8 (that I've seen) Band-tailed Pigeons that have
become regulars in my neighborhood. They are checking out some of the old nests
in the bare trees, but generally just upsetting the crows with their presence.
I also continue seeing at least 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers on a semi-regular
basis here too, and found them right outside my front door yesterday zipping
around in the Sycamore.

Haven't been out much lately, but went to IRP last Sunday, and saw maybe a dozen
White-tailed Kites when I hiked up on one of the ridge routes.

Good birding~

Trish Gussler
Anaheim

We got over to Bolsa Chica today around 3 pm to hope to add a Lark Bunting to
the life list ... and that sure seemed to be the right bird, right behind the
little building at PCH & Warner as other people have said (thanks for the
previous postings). It was bigger than the young White-Crowned Sparrows &
Belding's Savannah Sparrows nearby and the streaking was distinctive. I put a
photo in the Sparrows file.

From the other parking lot off PCH up to the cliff area, we also saw three
Reddish Egrets & 2 Harriers, plus the many ducks (lots of beautiful Pintails,
Buffleheads, Scaups, Green-Winged Teal, Wigeon, a few Blue-Winged Teal &
Mergansers) & sandpipers.  Up on the cliffs, we saw a couple of Red-tailed
Hawks, 3 Kestrels, a Harrier in the field (could've been one we saw flying
earlier) and a Loggerhead Shrike on the fence.  And as it was starting to get
dark, we could see a coyote making its way across the fenced-in field.

Joan & Brett Rubin
Mission Viejo

I finally saw the Least Flycatcher at Edison Park yesterday.  This was my fourth
or fifth attempt, but perseverance paid off! I saw (and heard) the bird around
0830, in the "hedge" row along the dirt road just north of the public garden
area (vegetation bordering the nursery).  The bird was quite active, and showed
well, sometimes perching low.

good birding!

Nathan Moorhatch
Placentia, CA

Greetings,

I photographed the Verdin at Bolsa Chica in late December 2011. I use film and
just got the slides back from processing. I scanned the slide and posted it in
the Chickadee and Allies folder. It can be viewed temporarily in the new photos
folder.

Enjoy, Al Borodayko
Cypress, CA

The Varied Thrush, previously posted, was seen again today along the road west
of parking lot 9. It was hanging out near a large Toyon on the north side of the
road.

Donelda Warhurst
Anaheim, CA

At  noon today, Mike Mclaughlin and I saw the Lark Bunting behind the trailer at
The Interprtive Center(TIC) on Warner and PCH.  It gave us a great show. 
There were also White-crowned Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows in the area for
good comparisons.
 
 
Mark Singer

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

OC Birders,

I went to Edison Park yesterday. The Least Flycatcher was in the same spot as
described below, the hedge row along the west side of the dirt road, at the
north end of the public garden.  There was also an apparent Clay-colored
Sparrow, presumably the same one reported by Robb Hamilton.

I found this to be a confusing bird, so comments on the ID would be welcome. 
Photos and description are in eBird checklist here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S9743214

The Clay-colored Sparrow was in the tree in the extreme NE corner of ballfield
along the fence with the nursery. Over a 40 minute period, it was only seen
feeding in the tree with AUWAs, gleaning in the folliage and on branches like a
warbler. Silent and not very active, it would have been very easy to overlook
this bird. Twice it flew across the drainage ditch and came back. I never saw it
on or near the ground. The approximate spot is: 33.7788, -118.0958

Dave Bell
Pasadena, CA


On Feb 2, 2012, at 8:18 AM, Bunky wrote:

> I finally saw the Least Flycatcher at Edison Park yesterday. This was my
fourth or fifth attempt, but perseverance paid off! I saw (and heard) the bird
around 0830, in the "hedge" row along the dirt road just north of the public
garden area (vegetation bordering the nursery). The bird was quite active, and
showed well, sometimes perching low.
>
> Nathan Moorhatch
> Placentia, CA .
>
>
>

David Bell
d@...





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

I googled Edison Park in Orange Cty and found at least 3 different addresses.
Which is the correct one for the Least Fllycatcher?

21377 Magnolia Street, Huntington Beach, CA

99 College Drive
College Park West, Seal Beach, CA 90740

5431 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA

Thank You,

Monte Taylor
OC, CA

Had a number of you who answered and the verdict is the College Park address in
Seal Beach.
You're all appreciated and thanks so much for taking time to respond.
M. Taylor
OC, CA

Was at the park today about 11Am and spotted this Townsend's Warbler west of the
Boy Scout Rd on the west side of the park.  It was on the north side of the
road.  Took several pic's and added one to the Warbler section.  Enjoy as I did.

Mike Straub
Orange, Ca

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Sea & Sage Audubon held their annual winter pelagic trip out of Dana Point this
morning (Feb 4) aboard the Ocean Institute's Sea Explorer. We were out from 8 AM
to 2 PM, during which time Captain Mike and the Ocean Institute staff did an
excellent job of getting us to the birds efficiently, safely, and comfortably.
Leaders on board today included Jon Dunn, Brian Daniels, Robert McNab, Curtis
Marantz, and myself. We started out from the Ocean Institute cruising slowly
along the jetty for rocky shorebirds, then paralleling the coastline within
about a mile of shore northwest to around Laguna Beach, then headed out to the
Lausen Sea Mount, and back to Dana Point (54 miles total). A pair of Black
Oystercatchers were on the harbor side of the jetty as we departed in the
morning. We had excellent numbers of alcids throughout the day, including good
looks at Xantus's Murrelets (10+), Rhinocerous Auklets (75+), Common Murres
(30+), and no so good looks at Cassin's Auklets (30+). Black-vented Shearwaters
were encountered in small numbers throughout the day, a distant
Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater was seen over the sea mount, and two Parasitic
Jaegers and one Pomarine Jaeger were seen relatively close to shore. We also had
a relatively good showing of marine mammals, with a very cooperative pod of 15
Risso's Dolphins, as well as Bottlenose Dolphins, Common Dolphins, California
Sea Lions, and two Elephant Seals.

Afterwards, Curtis and I saw the continuing Lark Bunting at the Bolsa Chica
Interpretive Center foraging at the edge of the dirt/grass near the base of the
footbridge.

Tom Benson
San Bernardino, CA


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

Today (4 Feb.) checked a few local spots including Burris Basin (BB), the Santa
Ana River (SAR) at the Lincoln Ave. crossing, the Santa Ana River Lakes complex
(SARL; s. of La Palma Ave., e. of Tustin Ave.) and Anaheim Lake (AL; s. of
Orangethorpe, e. of Miller Street). Water levels at BB remain very low, but
fairly large numbers of fish eating species continue (e.g., 125 Common
Mergansers, 1000+ Double-crested Cormorants, 100 American White Pelicans, etc.).
I again could not find the male "Common" (Eurasian Green-winged) Teal that was
here in mid January.  In the SAR, up and downstream of Lincoln, there were very
large numbers of gulls (between a 1,000 to 1,500 birds during a one hour period
in the afternoon, with a steady stream of birds coming in and others leaving
during this time). Although it was not possible to work through all the gulls
(many just flying on by, continuing on to the south), there seemed to be very
few species of interest, with only a few Herrings and one first-year Thayer's
Gull being of note. The Thayer's had a damaged bill (the outer half of the upper
mandible broken off), but seemed to be doing ok otherwise; this was presumably
the same individual I saw here back on 15 Jan.  At the SARL, approximately
another 750 gulls were present on the largest lake; most were quite distant, but
there were at least a few Herrings and a single first-year Glaucous-winged Gull.
Lastly, at AL (viewed from Miller Street) waterfowl was plentiful (e.g., 250+
Northern Shovelers, and 9 other species present), with 12 Canvasbacks being the
main highlight noted here.

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

A Reddish Egret was wading in the shallows at Bola Chica near the West
end of the northernmost marsh; south of the heron palm trees. Sat 2/4 at
about 8 am.

   [192]

   [148]

John Ehrenfeld
Hermosa Beach


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

Same area as reported earlier, in a low spreading oak tree on the east side of
the upper lake (~0930).   We did not find the Varied Thrush.
Cheers!
Steve & Marian Alter

A pair of Black Oystercatchers were at the N. end of Doheny Beach today at noon.
Tide was exteremley low and they were at waters edge amongst a bunch of gulls.
Very cool, thanks for the tip!

Rich Encinas
Lag. Niguel

Both today, Feb. 5 and yesterday, I saw a male Vermillion Flycatcher flying from
bare tree to bare tree near picnic shelter #2 at Mason Regional Park.

I wonder how many are in O.C. this winter?

Carolyn Noble
Santa Ana

A Common Loon was present in the Dana Point Harbor channel around 11am-12pm and
a smaller(different species) dead loon was found on Dana Point's Baby Beach on
Feb.5.
Sachiko V Fukuman
San Clemente

Hi Carolyn,

Presumably your Mason Regional Park (MRP) bird was an adult male (first year
males would typically not be completely red throughout the underparts quite
yet). If so I would not at all be surprised that your bird is the male that's
been wintering at, and wandering about, the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary
(SJSWS) and also crossing Campus Drive over to the UCI's "San Joaquin Freshwater
Marsh Reserve". In years' past we've also had a Vermilion Flycatcher or two that
appeared to be "commuting" back and forth between MRP and SJWS during the winter
(this situation also strongly suspected one winter with an Eastern Phoebe as
well). The two areas are fairly close together (for this type of bird), with
plenty of good foraging areas in between (San Diego Creek and the Rancho San
Joaquin Golf Course). Like several other flycatcher species that winter in So
Cal, Vermilions can cover quite a bit of territory during winter. We do have
others wintering in OC this year (can recall at least two that have been at Mile
Square Regional Park, and one at El Modena Park, and maybe forgetting one
somewhere), but with all the birder coverage we typically get in the SJWS and
MRP area, I suspect there's just one adult male wandering about the area (unless
of course we can document two males present at both locations at the same time).

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

--- In OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com, "carolynnoble90" <nobility@...>
wrote:
>
> Both today, Feb. 5 and yesterday, I saw a male Vermillion Flycatcher flying
from bare tree to bare tree near picnic shelter #2 at Mason Regional Park.
>
> I wonder how many are in O.C. this winter?
>
> Carolyn Noble
> Santa Ana
>

On January 11, there were two adult male VERMILION FLYCATCHERS at
San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.  Both were visible at the same time
from the same spot by moving my binocs left and right by a few degrees.

There was one Vermilion Flycatcher, also adult male, on January 25th
at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley.  Theis is possibly
one of the Vermilions from SJWS, as I have seen none since at SJWS.
-- Jim Roe, Seal Beach

During the lunch hour today (6 February), two Clay-colored Sparrows were again
present in the Fairhaven Memorial Park/Santa Ana Cemetery complex, in the
extreme northeast corner of Santa Ana. As has been the case most of the winter,
the largest concentration of birds has been in the eastern half of this complex
(i.e., the Santa Ana Cemetery portion). Among the very active flocks feeding on
the ground here (Chipping Sparrows, juncos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, finches,
etc.), for a few minutes both Clay-colored Sparrows were seen foraging together.
The flocks rarely stay put for long, however, before something usually spooks
them up into the trees, or they begin flying off to another part of the
cemetery.

Other continuing birds of note today at the cemetery included a calling Western
Tanager (on the far east side) and the "White-winged" Acorn Woodpecker (a
leucistic bird with bold white wing patches).

Doug Willick
Orange, CA

Forgot to mention, on Saturday Feb. 4 late in the afternoon, the Peregrine
Falcon was seen again near the lake at Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

Joan Rubin
Mission Viejo

Last week I saw this egret at Bolsa Chica.  Leaving Bolsa Chica St and following
the trail behind the houses until you drop off to the left and down to the
bridge.  It was just before and to the west of the bridge in the marshy area. 
Its coloring just doesn't look to me like the other Great, Cattle or Snowies I
have seen. There are 2 pics in the Mystery Bird Folder. Sorry the outspread wing
one is so blurry.

Dwight Reed
Costa Mesa

Looks like a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.

Trish Gussler
Anaheim












All good things are wild, and free.
  Henry David Thoreau




________________________________
From: DwightR <reeds@...>
To: OrangeCountyBirding@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, February 7, 2012 2:13:05 PM
Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Odd colored Egret


Last week I saw this egret at Bolsa Chica.  Leaving Bolsa Chica St and following
the trail behind the houses until you drop off to the left and down to the
bridge.  It was just before and to the west of the bridge in the marshy area.
Its coloring just doesn't look to me like the other Great, Cattle or Snowies I
have seen. There are 2 pics in the Mystery Bird Folder. Sorry the outspread wing
one is so blurry.

Dwight Reed
Costa Mesa




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Just saw an eBird report of 30 White-winged Crossbill's - I'm assuming
this was an error - or is the world really coming to an end?

http://ebird.org/ebird/ca/view/checklist?subID=S9793200


--
Christopher Taylor
Marina del Rey, CA
http://kiwifoto.com

I assume this is an input error - I've heard these are not infrequent.  Andy
probably intended on 30 American Goldfinch.

Brian Daniels
Pasadena, Los Angeles County







-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Taylor <calbird@...>
To: orangecountybirding <orangecountybirding@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 12:07 pm
Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] White-winged Crossbills @ Clark Regional Park?





Just saw an eBird report of 30 White-winged Crossbill's - I'm assuming
this was an error - or is the world really coming to an end?

http://ebird.org/ebird/ca/view/checklist?subID=S9793200

--
Christopher Taylor
Marina del Rey, CA
http://kiwifoto.com









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

Data entry error. House finches. Sorry folks. Nice to see everyone being
attentive.    Andy Lazere



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

(2/10/12) This afternoon, I searched for the Hooded Warbler and Varied Thrush at
Irvine Regional Park.  First, I searched for the Varied Thrush on the road/trial
above parking lot 9, but had no luck.  There was a HERMIT THRUSH in the area
though.  Next, I saw a PEREGRINE FALCON circling high over the center of the
park.  Then I searched for the Hooded Warbler at its usual spot, and although
there were several times I thought I heard him, I never saw anything.  Crowds in
the area may have been to blame.  On the lake there were at least five
RING-NECKED DUCKS.  As I circled back to my car, I passed lot 9 again and heard
a peculiar, low, whirring whistling up near the road/trail.  After listening to
several online recordings, I'm convinced that I heard the VARIED THRUSH. 
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to locate it visually.

At Laguna Niguel Regional Park last Friday, I found a WHITE-FACED IBIS at the
playground pond and the continuing MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE at the far end of the
park.  Several LESSER SCAUP were on the lake.  That same day, I visited Dana
Point Harbor and saw one RED-THROATED and two PACIFIC LOONS.

Happy Birding,
Zachary Perry
Ladera Ranch

This morning there were a lot of Surfbirds on the beach, easily viewed from
above, at the point with the sculptural benches. I'd never seen that many
together. Also, a flock of sanderlings, Willets, some Godwits, and a few Black
and Ruddy Turnstones, along with some Black-bellied Plovers. I'll put a few pics
in the shorebird/sandpiper folder.

Barbara Harley, Laguna Beach