On Wednesday we had some preventative maintenance done on our car, which ended up taking all day long. That's a story all in itself.
On Thursday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Church in the morning, and my parents' in the afternoon. We had great food and a good time with Dad, Mom, Stanley and Grandma and Grandpa. A small collection of pictures is here: Thanksgiving.
On Friday we woke up really early to go to the Newport Back Bay for the crest of an unusually high tide: 7 feet. This is a good time to see rails and unusual marsh sparrows. We missed the sparrows, but added Virginia Rail and Clapper Rail to our life list. We also added American Bittern and Burrowing Owl to our lists. We met a nice birder from D.C. who had seen the rare Short-Eared Owl that's been hanging out in the area recently, but we missed it. That's OK, the Virginia Rail was an awesome surprise, and a very beautiful little bird. We have a fuzzy picture, but I won't impose it upon you.
This is what American Bitterns look like in the marsh - tall skinny necks. We also saw one in flight, though, which was a much better look. Even the scope view of this birds was more impressive - you could see a bill, anyway.
Here's our Burrowing Owl, watching us. Burrowing Owls are on the verge of extirpation in Orange County. The Back Bay birds are perhaps the last breeding colony.
Here's our Burrowing Owl, watching us. Burrowing Owls are on the verge of extirpation in Orange County. The Back Bay birds are perhaps the last breeding colony.
After the Back Bay we dropped by Bolsa Chica so that Libby could check out Harriet Weider Park, a section of Bolsa Chica we'd never been to together before. Best bird there was a White-tailed Kite, which is at least my favorite common local raptor species. Lots of qualifications, I know, but Gray Hawks are so cool! Then again, so are Red-shouldered, Ferruginous, Zone-tailed... I guess I should stop.
White-tailed Kite at Harriet Weider.
I've divided the pictures from the day between two albums. They start on the last page of this album: Birds. They continue in Birds 2.
Friday night we went out to celebrate Abbey's birthday. Happy Birthday, Abbey! We went to Mongolian BBQ with the Moothart Clan. It was lots of fun. We spent the night there because we wanted to get a head start on our Friday expedition to the Salton Sea. I think I'll make that a separate post, though, because I have to get ready for work.
White-tailed Kite at Harriet Weider.
I've divided the pictures from the day between two albums. They start on the last page of this album: Birds. They continue in Birds 2.
Friday night we went out to celebrate Abbey's birthday. Happy Birthday, Abbey! We went to Mongolian BBQ with the Moothart Clan. It was lots of fun. We spent the night there because we wanted to get a head start on our Friday expedition to the Salton Sea. I think I'll make that a separate post, though, because I have to get ready for work.
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