Today was a very good day with respect to birding. I didn't see any new birds, but boy did I see some cool ones, and all in an hour or two at La Mirada Park!

This afternoon, after work, I decided to drop by the park to see if an oriole I've been watching was still there. It's such a pretty bird that I go look at it at least once a week.

But, when I was walking towards the trees that it hangs out in (near the gym) I saw a giant white bird circling the lake in the park. I hot footed it over there to find out what it was, just in time to see it setting its enormous bulk into a sycamore on the far shore. My suspicions were growing, but when I reached the bottom of the tree, and gazed up, I was sure. It was an osprey! In La Mirada Park! Awesome!



Crows were unhappy about it, they kept dive bombing it, and anywhere it flew they followed. Some older gentlemen at the park say that they do see it from time to time fishing there. But I'm still flabergasted.

Other birds that Libby and I saw at the park (and most of them you can see, too, if you drop by) plus I'm updating this list as I see more:
1. Western Bluebird (there are some nest boxes in the park, so there are at least two pairs)
2. Cassin's Kingbird
3. Cedar Waxwing (spring)
4. Barn Swallow
5. Black-crowned Night Heron (We saw one of these eat a baby duck!)
6. Double-crested cormorant
7. Mallard ducks
8. Muscovy-mallard hybrid duck, plus other unique hybrids
9. Domestic Geese and ducks:
10. Chinese Domestic Goose
11. Greylag Goose
12. Mourning dove
13. Great-tailed grackle
14. Brewer's blackbird
15. House Sparrow
16. European Starling (rumor has it the Romans taught these starlings to speak like humans.
17. American Crow
18. American Coot
19. Rock Dove (feral domestic pigeons)
20. Band-tailed Pigeon (the largest pigeon in North America, a game bird with tasty flesh)
21. Sharp-shinned Hawk
22. Townsend's warbler
23. Wilson's Warbler
24. Ash-throated Flycatcher
25. Western tanager! (5.06.05)
26. Great blue heron
27. Green heron
28. Snowy Egret
29. Great Egret
30. That ol' Bullocks Oriole (spring)
31. That ol' Osprey
32. Black Pheobe
33. Ring necked Duck (a week in April)
34. White fronted goose (April, 05)
35. American Wigeon (Winter)



Other times we've gone we've seen lesser goldfinches and house finches (of course) plus mockingbirds, etc.

In the winter, there are a lot more ducks and geese in the lake: The wigeon, the ring-necked duck, a white-fronted goose, and chocolate runner at least.

You can also find, at varying times, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets.



La Mirada Park is cool!

(for image credits, right click on the images to see their source page)