Today, I woke up at 4:30am just so that I could drive all the way to Orange County to go bird watching for the day. It probably sounds pretty stupid to just about anyone, they're just birds right? Yes and no, but I'll have to rant about my passion for birds some other time. Anyway, I woke up, got my stuff ready, ate some banana bread and drank about 213456 glasses of milk, and I was off before 5:00am. Driving there was a sinch; it only took me an hour to reach the parking lot of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. That's expected, due to the lack of traffic early in the morning.
Getting out of my car, I was immediately reminded of the last time I had visited the reserve: May 26, 2007. This was 12 days after I got my Nikon binoculars for my birthday (the ones I still use to this day) and Bolsa Chica was probably the best place to try them out. I distinctly remember my first sighting of a Pacific Loon here (in May? yea that's right, in May) as well as the Black Skimmers that dominated the shallow waters. Walking onto the walk bridge, my memory of this place definitely held its position as a wonderful place for the birds. Forster's Terns and Black Skimmer's were flying low over the walk bridge. Least Terns were nearby diving into the salt marsh.
After watching all of the terns and skimmers from the bridge, I moved on past the fenced off nesting site (not yet in full gear) and headed up the little service road. Snowy Egrets were plentiful along the edge of the marsh. Something else caught my eye though; it was a Reddish Egret. This species of Egret is very uncommon in California (although it seems that they are common to Bolsa Chica) so I was excited to see it. He/She foraged for fish differently than the common white egrets seen. He would hop around a couple of times and then use his wings to shadow over his head. His method was to scare the fish out of their hiding spots, rather than wait stealthily for them to come out. It was quite amusing, and after watching it I spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched in one of the small trees behind the egret. Sweet! I Haven't seen one since January! I pointed it out to a bearded photographer, but he wasn't very interested.
I had done a large loop and was now back at the walk bridge taking notes and sketching some of the nearby Forster's Terns diving. I had one lady ask me about the terns carrying fish to give to other terns. I explained that it's a courtship offer, part of the male showing the female that he is a skilled fisherman and that their offspring would be very fit as well. She then asked me about hummingbirds, so I just talked about the Anna's Hummingbird for a couple of minutes until she was satisfied with what I had informed her. Still sketching, another lady (this time a birder, not a photographer) asked me if I had seen any Common Terns. Unfortunately I hadn't, but at least someone else was looking for them! I guess I had missed the news that there was a Gull-billed Tern at the reserve the day before as well. She was with her husband (their names were Joyce and Doug) and they were going up to a pond to search for the two species of terns. I asked if I could join them, and she said "Of course, we're just birding." They were probably in their fifties, a cute couple, and pretty good birders. Joyce asked me about differentiating the Forster's, Common, and Gull-billed apart, so I informed them about all of the little features that were different in the three species as we headed up to the pond. We spent quite a bit of time watching all of the Forster's Terns, just to make sure they weren't another species. Once we reached the pond, we were greeted with...no terns. Oh well, it was nice to talk to some fellow birders. We went our separate ways; they went up a trail, and I headed back to the parking lot. I'll probably never see them again, which is kind of sad; They were really nice.
It was 10:00am, and I wasn't ready to go home yet. Not. At. All. I decided to head up to Huntington Central Park. According to eBird, it's the best spot in Orange County. I went into the library first to use the restroom, but I stayed in the library for a while since there was a used book sale. After spending $1.25 on three small books, I went out into the park. I started at Huntington Lake, where I saw nesting Double Crested Cormorants and quite a few Yellow Warblers. I also checked out the designated wildlife area, where there were little trails, and a Hammond's Flycatcher! Hahaha you silly tyrant flycatcher, can't hide from me! I also found the photographer to which I had pointed out the Peregrine. Back at the ponds near the library, I saw another birding couple (I forgot their names) looking at something in the trees. Casually I slid over and asked If there was anything interesting. Of course it was interesting; they were watching Townsend's and Hermit Warblers. It took me about two minutes to spot a Hermit, which was a little embarrassing, but no big deal. There were some Western Tanagers present as well, which are arguably the most beautiful birds of western (ornithological) North America. There was also a Swainson's Thrush, which looked exactly like a Hermit Thrush in the light, but it was a Swainson's, as dictated by its call. Another birding couple joined the warbler party. A walker came up to us and asked, "What are you looking at? An Owl or a Bird?" to which one of the couple replied, "Either way it's a bird. We are watching warblers." It was obvious the walker wasn't interested when she said "Oh. Cool." and walked along.
Once I was satisfied with my sightings at the park, I wanted to go back to Bolsa Chica for a little bit longer, just to see the Black Skimmers again. I was back on the walk bridge watching skimmers and terns again, and I saw the photographer that I had seen twice before. It's kind of weird that we both went to Bolsa Chica, then to the park, and the back to the reserve around the same time. I also met a very elderly woman who told me how she used to be a bird photographer and that she got her pictures published. She was really sweet and complimented me on my sketches.
A long day in Orange County was followed by a long time in LA traffic, but all of the birds were definitely worth the two and a half hour drive back home.
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