Black Skimmer (ZC)
The Forster's Terns, as always, were very outgoing and not shy of the people passing by on the walk bridge. They would land on the bridge and comb their feathers, unconcerned about everybody only a couple of feet from them. Since Zander and Deven are both so tall, they each had a Forster's that nearly crashed into their heads, only inches away! It was exciting to say the least. Forster's Terns are very common, but they have a lot of character and they're really fun to watch. I had seen the Forster's nesting in the vegetation two weeks ago, but today there was something extra in their nests...chicks! I spotted a mother sitting on two of her chicks; heads trying to stick out from under her breast. They were really cute, and I was lucky to have my scope to get a good look. We also watched the Least Tern nesting sites, where a Horned Lark evaded both Deven and Zander's camera. There was a brilliant display of gift giving (and possible copulation) between a male and female Least Tern. Zander got a good shot of the form, but another photographer nearby got an incredibly clear shot of the same instance. There was also another two chicks unattended in a nest, but occasionally the mother would come by and feed them what she had caught.
I wasn't expecting to see any new species for the year today, much more for my life. I just went to enjoy all of the terns. But, the Clapper Rails of Bolsa Chica were still on my mind, and I still wanted to find them. We had looked once we got there, and didn't had any luck. But I did see the sketchy bearded guy that I had seen three times the last time I was in the OC...weird. There were a couple of photographers waiting for the rails as well, having as much luck as we were. After spending a good amount of time by the Forster's Tern chicks, we decided to head over to Huntington Central Park. We saw a photographer taking pictures of something by the parking lot. Hey Zander, it may be that stilt you wanted pictures of. But it wasn't...
It was the Clapper Rails. I couldn't move. Eyes wide open, breath-taken, the only thing I could manage to whisper to Zander and Deven as they followed behind me was shhhh. The rail was right next to the bridge, oblivious to us. Picking through the marsh plants, it was the most silent bird I had ever seen. Then, one, two chicks popped out of the reeds, following their parent. It was amazing. I'm really glad that Zander got pictures. We watched the adult and two chicks for about ten minutes, and then they slipped into some small reeds and completely vanished. You knew they were there, but you had no way to prove that they were; the rails were that stealthy. After a minute, they reappeared, and then not too far, the other parent and another chick showed up. It was the whole family, and I was in shock. Of the most amazing sightings I have had, this made the top three, only behind the Great Gray Owl I had seen in Yosemite, and the two Bald Eagles I had seen in Oregon, holding each others talons while spinning down in a death dive. I think I watched the rails for thirty minutes, before they finally retreated into the larger reeds, not to make an another appearance for the rest of the day.
We had agreed that the rails were the best part of the day as we headed to the park. There was a lot of spring action today. On top of the tern and rail chicks, we also saw a fledgling Western Bluebird and Nuttall's Woodpecker, both with their mothers. Egyptian Geese were roaming the dried up pond with their two goslings. The Western Tanager we were looking for made an appearance, but not one for Zander to get a really good picture of the bird. However, he did get a great photo of two Nutmeg Manikins, as well as an American Avocet. (a life bird for him) We had a lot of good sightings at the park, including three species of empidonax flycatchers. (Willow, Hammond's, and Pacific Slope)
Nuttall's Woodpecker fledgling (ZC)
We were done in the OC, but we decided to check out the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. It was in the afternoon, so there wasn't much action. We saw a Bullock's Oriole and some more flycatchers (Western-wood Peewee and Black Phoebe) The highlight of that area though was the Zebra Finch. I found it in the trees, and then Zander got a shot of it. It's a popular pet, and is native to Africa. It was obviously an escapee, but it was still a nice sight. We finished the day with a Greeh Heron striking at something in the water, neck totally outstretched.
If you want to see the full checklist of what we saw that day, then check out Deven's blog. He also has some other photos up.
http://roamingfro.blogspot.com/2014/05/clapper-rail.html
And remember, If you want to find out more about any of the birds that I mentioned, check out the Cornell site.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search
ZC denotes picture was taken by Zander Clarke, and DK respectively to Deven Kammerichs-Berke
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