03_29 to 04_01_2012 Rancho Palos Verdes - Birds! Part I
Dave recently switched to a condensed work week meaning he gets a three day weekend every other weekend. Yay! Immediately then, trips got planned. The first one was to Rancho Palos Verdes to visit with Kenny and Deb - Dave's very long time friends. Both of their kids (Amy and Luke) were around so we got to spend some nice time with them too.
Aside from visiting, we planned to bird and shoot photos. We got to meet an online friend - Steve Wolfe - in person and go birding with him. Dave first found Steve online while looking at photographs. He came upon some really beautiful photos that Steve had taken. They started corresponding and now, we got to meet, bird and photograph.
Steve brought a couple of his birding friends - David and Jose. Great fun hanging out with them all! So, for this trip, there will first be a couple of bird-focused entries, then the people-focused entry.
If you've not been to Ranchos Palos Verdes - well go! It's really beautiful. Birds everywhere. Trees. Flowers. Dreamy. Thought I'd just go in order of the photographs posted here. Enjoy this first batch of birds...
The first bird pictured here is a male Western Bluebird. Not sure why but I was surprised to see him! We found this good-looking boy at Harbor Park. Next up is not a bird, but rather a surfer (duh). Kenny and Deb live just above the Trump Golf Course which has great birding, beaches and surfing. Dave got a nice photo of this guy catching some waves.
There were an endless stream of Brown Pelicans in breeding plumage along the shore. Dave was enamored by them. Such awkward birds on the ground. But in flight - so elegant! The third photo is of three pelicans (there were more) and the surfer. Neat combo.
Next photographed is the ubiquitous Song Sparrow. These boys were singing like mad trying to attract a mate and alert as to their territory. Beautiful singers. The next pictured bird is a female Western Bluebird. She was also at Harbor Park. Crazy place in that there is a stark contrast of urban, spewing smoke stacks, litter, noise and beautiful birds! Had a great time there.
The next three photos are of soaring Brown Pelicans. Again, these guys were along the shore by the Trump Golf Course. I saw that a few of them had very white bellies. Most others had brown bellies. I need to read and figure out why that is. They definitely were NOT White Pelicans. Bird Trivia: Brown Pelicans dive into the water for fish. White Pelicans do not.
The next bird - the pretty yellowish one with a black mask is the Common Yellow Throat. This rascal evaded us for two days. Finally on the last day, while walking on the Trump property, we saw several of them. One as especially cooperative and allowed a lot of nice photos (see below). This guy was a bit more shy and skulking in the shadows.
Okay, this blog isn't all birds. The next photo is of Dave (left) and Steve Wolfe (right). Many of Steve's beautiful photos can be viewed at: http://www.lonewolfephotos.com/. We have plans to meet up with Steve, David and Jose very soon. Can't wait!
And next is the star of the trip: The posing, singing, loving-being-the-center-of-attention Common Yellow Throat. This pesky little warbler sat in the open for so long that Dave actually stopped taking photos!
This bird was so cute and I think must have been a 1st year male. I think that because he kept trying to sing, but just never quite pulled it off. He'd opened his mouth and "wichity wich..." and stop. Never did he belt out the 'WICHITY WICHITY WICHITY" that they birds generally offer. Thank goodness for their distinct song or one would never find where they are hiding in the bushes.
Our second rascal bird of the trip is pictured next: The California Gnatcatcher. Dave chased this bird last year when he was out in Rancho Palos Verdes. No luck getting a good photo though. This year, we saw many, and watched many - heck we even found one building a nest - great fun. But photographing him continued to be difficult. The one pictured here was the little guy building his nest (Steve et al. will update us as to the progress of the nest and young). I think it's a mighty fine photo. Dave wants a better one. Guess we'll have to return.
And finally, for this first installment, we have the Least Sandpiper. I think. Peeps (i.e., little shore birds) are hard to ID. I feel pretty good about this ID, but won't be surprised if I get corrected either.
Dave recently switched to a condensed work week meaning he gets a three day weekend every other weekend. Yay! Immediately then, trips got planned. The first one was to Rancho Palos Verdes to visit with Kenny and Deb - Dave's very long time friends. Both of their kids (Amy and Luke) were around so we got to spend some nice time with them too.
Aside from visiting, we planned to bird and shoot photos. We got to meet an online friend - Steve Wolfe - in person and go birding with him. Dave first found Steve online while looking at photographs. He came upon some really beautiful photos that Steve had taken. They started corresponding and now, we got to meet, bird and photograph.
Steve brought a couple of his birding friends - David and Jose. Great fun hanging out with them all! So, for this trip, there will first be a couple of bird-focused entries, then the people-focused entry.
If you've not been to Ranchos Palos Verdes - well go! It's really beautiful. Birds everywhere. Trees. Flowers. Dreamy. Thought I'd just go in order of the photographs posted here. Enjoy this first batch of birds...
The first bird pictured here is a male Western Bluebird. Not sure why but I was surprised to see him! We found this good-looking boy at Harbor Park. Next up is not a bird, but rather a surfer (duh). Kenny and Deb live just above the Trump Golf Course which has great birding, beaches and surfing. Dave got a nice photo of this guy catching some waves.
There were an endless stream of Brown Pelicans in breeding plumage along the shore. Dave was enamored by them. Such awkward birds on the ground. But in flight - so elegant! The third photo is of three pelicans (there were more) and the surfer. Neat combo.
Next photographed is the ubiquitous Song Sparrow. These boys were singing like mad trying to attract a mate and alert as to their territory. Beautiful singers. The next pictured bird is a female Western Bluebird. She was also at Harbor Park. Crazy place in that there is a stark contrast of urban, spewing smoke stacks, litter, noise and beautiful birds! Had a great time there.
The next three photos are of soaring Brown Pelicans. Again, these guys were along the shore by the Trump Golf Course. I saw that a few of them had very white bellies. Most others had brown bellies. I need to read and figure out why that is. They definitely were NOT White Pelicans. Bird Trivia: Brown Pelicans dive into the water for fish. White Pelicans do not.
The next bird - the pretty yellowish one with a black mask is the Common Yellow Throat. This rascal evaded us for two days. Finally on the last day, while walking on the Trump property, we saw several of them. One as especially cooperative and allowed a lot of nice photos (see below). This guy was a bit more shy and skulking in the shadows.
Okay, this blog isn't all birds. The next photo is of Dave (left) and Steve Wolfe (right). Many of Steve's beautiful photos can be viewed at: http://www.lonewolfephotos.com/. We have plans to meet up with Steve, David and Jose very soon. Can't wait!
And next is the star of the trip: The posing, singing, loving-being-the-center-of-attention Common Yellow Throat. This pesky little warbler sat in the open for so long that Dave actually stopped taking photos!
This bird was so cute and I think must have been a 1st year male. I think that because he kept trying to sing, but just never quite pulled it off. He'd opened his mouth and "wichity wich..." and stop. Never did he belt out the 'WICHITY WICHITY WICHITY" that they birds generally offer. Thank goodness for their distinct song or one would never find where they are hiding in the bushes.
Our second rascal bird of the trip is pictured next: The California Gnatcatcher. Dave chased this bird last year when he was out in Rancho Palos Verdes. No luck getting a good photo though. This year, we saw many, and watched many - heck we even found one building a nest - great fun. But photographing him continued to be difficult. The one pictured here was the little guy building his nest (Steve et al. will update us as to the progress of the nest and young). I think it's a mighty fine photo. Dave wants a better one. Guess we'll have to return.
And finally, for this first installment, we have the Least Sandpiper. I think. Peeps (i.e., little shore birds) are hard to ID. I feel pretty good about this ID, but won't be surprised if I get corrected either.
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