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THE WINGED RAINBOW OF SUMMER
Summer in Southern California means vibrant reds, pretty yellows, and beautiful blues to birders. Here are seven common colorful visitors from the tropics that can be seen here.
Western Tanager (backyard)
Fast fact: Western Tanagers obtain their red-colored head from rhodoxathin, without their specialized diet they'd lose it.
Black-headed Grosbeak (backyard)
Fast Fact: Black-headed Grosbeaks are one of the few birds that are immune to monarch butterfly toxin and often feed on them.
Yellow-breasted Chat (Golf course)
Fast fact: Chats mimic other birds in their rattling, loud songs.
Yellow Warbler (park)
Fast fact: The oldest Yellow Wabler recorded in the wild lived to be 11, which is longer than the longest recorded life span of a Western Tanager by five years.
Orange-crowned Warbler (outside bushes of a building)
Fast fact: The Orange-crowned Warbler is one of the most geographically diverse warblers in North America.
Blue Grosbeak (Aliso Woods)
Fast Fact: Blue Grosbeaks seen in Orange County and other areas in the West Coast migrate directly over the Gulf of Mexico!
Costa's Hummingbird (campground area)
Fast Fact: The heart rate of Costa's Hummingbirds vary from 50 times for minute when the bird is torpid to 900 times a minute when the bird is fully active (Soruce: Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
I woke up in the tent to the sound of Wild Turkeys gobbling and Acorn Woodpeckers' raucous waka-waka-waka-WAKA! The turkeys just keptgobbling and gobbling and wouldn't stop, so I accepted the fact that I wouldn't get any more sleep and rose up to eat breakfast at 6 AM.
First up, we went to a highish elevation sagebrush trail.
Most of the birding I did on this trail was accomplished by peering through my 'nocs at the distant canyon whenever I saw flickers of movement, whether they turned out to be birds, moving branches, or volcanic eruptions. Black-chinned Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows were barely identifiable through the thick brambles.
I began to see sprinklings of spring migrants coming through far off in the distance. There were several gorgeous Western Tanagers (yearbird!) chirruping among the crags.
The next thing I knew, Western Kingbirds (yearbird!) were all over the place, emitting silly squeaks. Their pitiful calls are nothing like the hearty belches of the Cassin's Kingbirds I had grown used to over the winter.
There was nothing more to see and hear on the trail but dead, dry mountains and the shrill, neverending wind so we headed back down.
Our next trail turned out to be much more productive. Almost immediately, I spied a Black-chinned Sparrow, a Lark Sparrow, a White-crowned Sparrow, and a Spotted Towhee, making the record for "Most Sparrows Spotted in a Second on Laguna Mountain While Eating a Kit-kat." Mountain Quail calls echoed through the shallow valley. I saw a particularly fat one strolling along the opposite side of the hills and providing good photograph opportunities. Of course, every time I clicked the shutter, it hurriedly ran behind a tree. I changed my strategy, waiting for the quail to come to the camera. It realized my efforts and decided to walk into a bush.
After five minutes, we arrived at the spring, our destination for the trail. Singing warblers overflowed the trails. Black-headed Grosbeaks joined in the mixed, rambling chorus.
I could have sat at the oasis for hours, but unfortunately we had to leave after a exciting ten minutes. Here's what I saw. Yeah, I'm not too happy about the pictures either. I was running out of camera battery and honestly a lot more focused on the warblers than getting any photos at all. Spoken like a true warbler fanatic!
First Lazuli Bunting (yearbird) of Spring!
As you can see, Mr. Lazuli was very far away. At closer range, male Lazulis are beautiful birds. The females are much more dull and brown.
Black-throated Gray Warbler (yearbird)
Orange-crowned Warbler (yearbird)
Nashville Warbler
Wilson's Warbler (yearbird)
Beautiful male Wilson's Warblers. I was so excited about the warblers coming in at the oasis. I wonder what it must be like to be in the East Coast during warbler migration!
Black-headed Grosbeak
Warbling Vireo
Rock Wren (yearbird)
We hiked two other short trails, none of the particularly interesting, save Hermit Warblers (yearbird) and a singing California Thrasher too far off for decent views. I was pretty blown out anyway, so I don't think I would have the energy to keep up with a ton of cool birds. Birding takes a lot of energy!
Wrapping up this trip report with a last video. Shaky, as I don't own a tripod:
