Birding with Trude

Hey guys, I finally got out birding again, and boy did it feel good. I started in Laguna for the Black Oystercatchers being seen at Crescent Bay Pointe. I walked out to the point, and there they were! About 8 of them on the rocks below. They were just a bit too far away, so my photos are pretty cruddy (I attached one at the end of the post).

From there, I decided to switch directions and head inland to Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, where I ran into my adopted mother and birding mentor, Trude Hurd =) We birded around the sanctuary, then walked up the path that leads over the hillside and into Harding Canyon. We walked to the top, then turned around and walked back down. I was hoping to re-find the Rufous-crowned Sparrow I saw with Caity when she was visiting. Just before the last switchback in the trail, I caught movement on the hillside. One, two, then three RCSPs were moving around in the brush. I was thrilled, these little birds are fast becoming my favorite sparrow species. Despite this being my second photo session with these guys, I still don't have a clean shot! I'll have to go back again, but in the meantime, look how well that rufous crown blends with the reddish cast of the soil behind it.

One last stop, to Black Star Canyon with Trude to see the Lewis's Woodpeckers, named after Meriwether Lewis from the Lewis & Clark expeditions. The gorgeous woodpeckers were there, and put on an aerial show for us, flying back and forth from sycamores to oaks and back again. Make sure to click on that photo of the LEWO in flight, because the thumbnail does not do the bird justice.

We had two species of squirrel on our walk =)