Spring Fever

Spring has hit really hard and fast here in Southern California. The last couple of days, temperatures have been in the 90s, and that's way above average for March. The result?

Every tree is budding. Flowers are blooming, pollen is thick in the air, and the birds are coming. Spring is my favorite season for birding, and Libby and I have been struck with the particular form of Spring Fever that affects Birders.

We're not so bad, really, we went to Santa Barbara the weekend before last, and the only interesting bird we saw was a California Thrasher. This weekend we're not planning on birding, either. But in the last few weeks, we've seen a lot of really fun birds!

Four weekends ago we went to Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary and had two new birds: Fox Sparrow and Lewis Woodpeckers (the woodpeckers were actually at the gate to Black Star Canyon).

The weekend after that, we went to Bonnelli Regional Park and had a more than 50 bird day. Our new species were Painted Redstart and Swamp Sparrow, and the Painted Redstart was really neat. It's a strikingly beautiful little bird, well worth the trip to San Dimas and the entrance fee to the Park. Click on the link to see somebody else's really nice pictures. The Redstart is a Mexican species that extends into New Mexico and Arizona, so it's a pretty rare bird around here.

Last weekend we had a great time birding with Biola's ornithology class. They went to Tucker, so we went back, too, and we had a great day for Sparrows. There were Lincoln's, Fox, and Song all at the same feeders (that was a really helpful lesson for me on striped sparrows) plus white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows, too. The Lincoln's was a new bird for us, but the highlight of the trip was when Rafe Payne saw a Lawrence's Goldfinch across Modjeska Creek from the feeders. We would never have seen that without him, and we were so grateful and really excited by it. The Lawrence's is a bird Libby and I have been wanting to see ever since we started birding. It's also an interesting bird because it's a real wanderer, and so it's hard to go somewhere where it's a sure thing you'll see it.

For me personally, Spring Birding Fever also means that I can't help but wander down to the creek on my way to and from work every day. Last year there were probably 5 or 6 species of migrating warblers that used the trees and bushes down there, plus orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, etc.