A couple passerines

Yesterday I went on one last walk down the local trail to get some fresh air and see what was out and about. There wasn't a whole lot, besides the usual California Towhees, a Spotted Towhee, and Bushtits, but at one point I stopped to look down over the side of the creek bed and a Lesser Goldfinch landed a few yards away.

It sat quite cooperatively on a high vine, cocking its head this way and that, seeming to examine me with mild curiosity.


I put my backpack down as slowly as I could, not taking my eyes off the little bird lest it would fly away, and pulled out my camera. I managed to snap a few shots, although it was slightly backlit.

Eventually the goldfinch darted off to join a small flock of its kin in a tree guarded at the top by two House Finches. These too, posed well against the vivid blue sky and colorful foliage.

They hung around for a few seconds before quarreling among themselves and scattering.

Beautiful little birds though! I will miss them when I go home, although with fall migration starting up soon, we should be getting our own fair share of colorful songbirds through the area.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Recent sightings

This semester has been a total killer so far -- I'm busier than I've ever been in my entire life, it seems (as you can probably tell by my infrequent blog postings). Nonetheless, in between running to classes, work, meetings, doing homework and studying, I've managed to watch the slow progression of fall migration creeping in.

Saturday temperatures dropped into the 60s, so I took some time to hike a little, but not much had showed up yet. There were a ton of Cormorants and Anhingas around the ponds, but little else besides the resident species. After Sunday though, I started seeing more passerines show up. Today I got my first-of-the-season Yellow-throated Warbler, along with a Palm Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher outside my window.

Fall break starts this coming weekend, so I plan on taking some time to go birding for at least a couple days while I'm home and see what else the season is bringing in.

Yesterday my roommate and I observed a gorgeous Bald Eagle flying really low over campus on our way to class. We got a fantastic, although brief, view of the bird. I haven't seen a Bald Eagle in our area in a long time, so it was a nice surprise. I've been keeping my eye out for it again, in the hopes that it may be living in the area.

Well, enough procrastination for now -- better get back to homework.

Happy birding!