Birding on Memorial Weekend

Well I was supposed to be spending this weekend in the desert, as is an unofficial tradition by many California birders, and from what I hear: scissor-tailed flycatcher, prothonotory warbler, and ruby-throated hummingbird, so far- its a good year. Instead, because of work, lack of a ride, and other reasons, I am here in Orange County. So when I read about the Bay-breasted Warbler in Huntington Beach, which would be a lifer, I was definitely going to go try for it.

I found the park with no trouble, and ran into some other birders also looking for the BBWA, one of whom was Sandy Koonce, who I knew by name only since he had given me directions to the Painted Redstarts that showed up in Big Bear a few years back. I successfully chased and saw the redstarts which was a life bird for me.
After being there only a few minutes, Sandy called that he had seen the bird, and we hurried over to the willows to see it. The bird was foraging, quite oblivious to our excitement and clicking camera lenses. It fed for a few minutes, giving me, Bob and Cynthia, Sandy and three others, including my non-birder friend Peter, a great look at it, before it worked its way farther into the willows. Time allowing, I may try and go back this week in the morning to get better shots since the lighting was pretty crumby.

Crickets Working Overtime

I'm sorry I haven't been posting more, with classes coming down to the wire, and now finals week, all that's been happening around this blog are crickets churping loud and clear. So here's a quick article about crickets to ease the silence, and I should be out birding next week after finals have ended =)