I spent five days on a trip to southern California, largely in the Orange
County area last week. I'd like to thank Steve Sosensky, John Bradley,
Joseph Morlan, and Joel Weintraub for their advise of where to go, and to my
friend Steve Sher for loaning me his copy of the update Lane guide. The 1998
version offered significant details not available in my 1990 copy, and made
finding several of my target birds much easier.
Highlights of the trip:
We fly into LAX and find our way to our bed & breakfast in Seal Beach. The
owner is giving us the grand tour when I hear a dove call with an unusual
trill in it. Spotted Dove is on my "hit list", and I know that they are seen
in the area. I also know my non-birding spouse will not take kindly to my
excusing myself abruptly in the middle of our tour. I restrain myself
admirably until she is done, then run outside and find a Spotted Dove on the
roof of an adjacent building. First life bird and the bags aren't even
unpacked yet! I take this as a good omen.
The next morning I get up early and head to Harbor Park in Wilmington. The
Lane guide tells me that Machado Lake is a good place for Least Bittern,
"Look for them in the tules along the east shore or flying across the lake."
I figure this is a long shot, but at least worth a try. At daybreak I am on
the shores of the lake scanning the "usual suspects"; I see Mallard,
Pied-billed Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Least Bittern, Red-winged Blackbird.....LEAST
BITTERN! I get a distant but clear look at a bittern flying across the
water, looking for all the world like a Green Heron but with buffy wings,
and I get the scope on him as he is clambering through the reeds on the near
side of the lake.
By now I am feeling pretty cocky, and stopping by Bolsa Chica later that day
only made matters worse. Within minutes of arrival I had spotted my first
Elegant Tern, with its long, slightly drooped, orange bill contrasting well
with the Caspian Terns nearby. The scope soon found several Snowy Plovers,
(a long-standing nemesis bird for me) in the sandy beaches beyond the
boardwalk.
I figured I would be humbled soon, and I was right. At Huntington Beach Park
I found the California Towhee, but missed Allen's Hummingbird. In addition,
the empids were out in force and put the hurt to me. I am fairly sure one
was a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, the others will have to wait for my skills
to improve. I did manage to find the Allen's Hummingbird on a subsequent
day. I had missed the Shipley Nature Center on my first visit, a big
mistake. It is a wonderful patch of wildness in the middle of suburbia; when
I returned I found its trails loaded with Allen's hummers along with many
other species.
Moving further down the coast, at Crystal Cove State Park I did find the
California Gnatcatcher, but only after a lesson in patience. I spent some
time trying to scout out each bird I heard, and finally stooped running
around and waited. After 20 minutes or so singing males started popping up,
offering satisfying (but brief!) looks before they would disappear. A
Wrentit failed to cooperate however, and stayed hidden despite my persistent
pishing. Like the hummingbird, I had to return the next day. The east side
of the park yielded a nice male singing, finishing my life birds for the
trip.
On the last day of the trip, we drove up into the hills and hiked around
Casper Park. No lifers up there, but a great place and had several nice
looks at Black-shouldered Kite. That's one bird I would never get tired of
seeing.
Here is complete list of species seen with birds seen in one location only
indicated as below:
SB=Seal Beach, HP=Harbor Park, BC=Bolsa Chica, HBP= Huntington Beach Park,
CC=Crystal Cove, DP=Dana Point, CP=Casper Park


GREBES
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe SB
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant HP
PELICANS
Brown Pelican
DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Ruddy Duck
Gadwall HBP
Mallard
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Great Egret BC
Green Heron HBP
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Least Bittern HP
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
White-tailed Kite CP
Northern Harrier CC
Sharp-shinned Hawk DP
Cooper's Hawk HBP
Red-shouldered Hawk CC
Red-tailed Hawk
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
American Kestrel
WOOD-PARTRIDGES
California Quail
RAILS AND COOTS
American Coot
SANDPIPERS
Marbled Godwit BC
Western Sandpiper BC
AVOCETS AND STILTS
Black-necked Stilt BC
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Black-bellied Plover BC
Semipalmated Plover BC
Killdeer
Snowy Plover BC
GULLS AND TERNS
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Bonaparte's Gull BC
Caspian Tern
Elegant Tern BC
Common Tern BC
Forster's Tern BC
SKIMMERS
Black Skimmer BC
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Dove
Spotted Dove SB
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
HUMMINGBIRDS
Black-chinned Hummingbird CC
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird HBP
WOODPECKERS
Acorn Woodpecker CP
Nuttall's Woodpecker CP
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Western Wood-Pewee
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
CROWS AND JAYS
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
VIREOS AND ALLIES
Warbling Vireo
THRUSHES
American Robin
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
STARLINGS
European Starling
WRENS
Cactus Wren CP
Marsh Wren
House Wren
GNATCATCHERS
California Gnatcatcher CC
LONG-TAILED TITS
Bushtit
SWALLOWS
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow CP
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
OLD WORLD WARBLERS
Wrentit CC
CHICKADEES, TITS
Oak Titmouse
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
SISKINS, CROSSBILLS AND ALLIES
American Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Finch
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Yellow Warbler
Hermit Warbler HBP
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Rufous-crowned Sparrow CC
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Western Tanager
Lazuli Bunting DP
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Hooded Oriole HBP
Bullock's Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle HP
Brewer's Blackbird
////---- STATISTICS ----/////
Species seen - 89

Jack Stephens
jsteph02 at sprynet.com
Edmonds, WA