For
their last morning, the girls wanted to go somewhere “pretty”, so what better
place to visit than Santa Ana NWR? I
suggested doing a nice long loop walk with regular resting intervals, and they
were game to do that (and that allowed both Pauline and myself to keep a
running eBird list), so we left the Inn a little later than the usual departure
time in order to arrive at the refuge (only a 15 minute drive from the Inn, if
that much) by sunrise.
We
took the Willow Lake Trail to start, picking up all the regulars: Couch’s Kingbirds were particularly
plentiful, and hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds wafted overhead. We got glimpses of a few members of various
feeding flocks (a titmouse here and a kinglet there), and near the turnoff to
the Cattail Lakes Trail (where that beautiful, Spanish Moss-laden forest is), a
couple of Clay-colored Thrushes sat up on a dead tree while a third one tuck-tucked near the pond next to
us! Although we heard the happy whistle
of the Altamira Oriole several times (Ginger said it reminded her of some of
the lilting Norwegian languages she’s heard), we never did spot one, although
we had a great look at one of their huge bag nests! The Chachalacas were beginning to chorus,
which was fun, but as we continued on, we suddenly heard the buzzy trill of a
parula! Knowing the Tropical Parula was
around and singing, but also knowing that their songs (at least around here)
can sound identical to a Northern Parula’s, I wanted to track this guy down for
a visual! We backtracked, getting turned
around on the Cattail Lakes Trail before finally connecting with the
continuation of the Willow Lake Trail, but we could no longer hear the
bird. We did have terrific views of various ducks (including some stunning
Cinnamon Teal) and a lone Common Gallinule at the little “viewing window” at
the culvert, though! Birding buddy Huck
Hutchins caught up with us about then, also looking for the parula, so after
exchanging pleasantries he continued on while we went back to the Chachalaca
Trail.
Clay-colored Thrush
Ginger snuck this shot of Pauline and myself on the Willow Lakes Trail (©2018 Ginger Hays)
There’s
a little trail that connects the Willow Lake Trail to the short-n-easy
Chachalaca Trail, so we took that and headed to the first Willow Lake
overlook. After enjoying Black-necked
Stilts, Least Grebes, and more ducks, we heard the parula again, and it sounded
like he was coming closer! So we hurried
back to the “window” where Pauline waited for Ginger while I went on ahead, and
the bird was singing right in front of me!
I couldn’t see the thing naturally, and Huck was just ahead, so I got
his attention, and he confirmed that it was
the Tropical as he had gotten terrific looks!
I was just about ready to go running back for the girls (my texts to
Ginger apparently hadn’t gone through L), but they had
just arrived, so as Huck continued on the three of us chased the thing as he
worked his way back the way we had come, then finally flew up into a somewhat
open tree right over the trail! Perfect
looks, and a great concert, too! That
was worth working for! J
Ginger on the Willow Lake Trail
A few shots of the Tropical Parula; the bottom picture shows his wing bars.
Returning
to the Chachalaca Trail, we took our time enjoying the rest of the birds in the
lakes: more ducks of course (including
some American Wigeon), but also Lesser Yellowlegs, and even a Nutria! A Beardless Tyrannulet sang nicely, but
started to lead us on a Wild Tyrannulet Chase back to the trailhead, so the girls
were very willing to accept a good “listen” with that one! Conversely, a Long-billed Thrasher sat right
out in the open for us for great photo ops!
An Olive Sparrow showed well for Ginger at the large blind, but Pauline
missed it… L
Cooperative Long-billed Thrasher
Blue-winged Teal
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler ©2018 Pauline Clark
Black-necked Stilt
In a circle...
Lesser Yellowlegs
Stilt and two Lesser Yellowlegs together
We
made our way to the old butterfly garden, where at the turnoff what may have
been the same Rosebelly Lizard from the last time I was there was sunning on
the same log, doing his little pushups! J At the bench along the sidewalk we rested
again and had a nice Red-shouldered Hawk circling overhead, and a Ladder-backed
Woodpecker that laughed and darted from the dead tree we were staring at. The girls were game for the Tree Tower, so up
we went (they beat me up there where they ran into Huck again, who had seen a
Broad-winged Hawk)! The view is always
stupendous, but we didn’t see much except a pair of Couch’s Kingbirds and a
Kiskadee… We also checked out the photo
blind, as some other birders I had run into somewhere else the previous week
told me they were stocking it, but it
looked pretty empty when we got there, except for a little Lincoln’s Sparrow
that was checking things out.
Our Rosebelly Lizard is back on his log!
View from the Tree Tower (looking towards Pintail Lakes)
Ginger and Pauline
From
there we headed to Pintail Lakes, where we ran into Huck again J, and he pointed
out a few things he had seen such as some lady Scaup and a Ruddy Duck. He also spotted both Greater and Lesser
Yellowlegs behind us, and as we made our way to the end of the trail we enjoyed
hooting Pied-billed Grebes and a pretty Vermilion Flycatcher high up in the
tree. Huck had heard a Ringed Kingfisher
earlier that I missed, so I was anxious to see if it might be in that last
pond, and sure enough, a nice female was perched up in plain view! (Huck failed to conjure us up a Green
Kingfisher, though… J) Several
White-faced Ibis lifted off as we approached, and a Solitary Sandpiper called
and made haste towards one of the other ponds.
After resting on the bench and trying to tally all the waterfowl we were
seeing, we finally headed back to the parking lot and ultimately back to the
Inn, with a respectable 66 species for the morning (which included some
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers seen on the way home)! Oh, and another Olive Sparrow finally did pop
up for Pauline! J
Huck and Ginger check out Pintail Lakes
White-faced Ibis
Ringed Kingfisher ©2018 Pauline Clark
Bird
List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Gadwall American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Tropical Parula
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
House Sparrow
66 SPECIES
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