California hummers

  

      While attending the wedding of the son of an old college buddy in the LA area, Sharon and I managed to get in a little west coast birding.  The local city parks as well as a wonderful reserve 15 minutes walking distance from our motel provided us with some nice new year birds as well as a study in the local hummingbirds.  We had three species to study....the Allen's, the the everpresent Anna's and the Rufous.  One of the most memorable sightings will certainly be the mating J-flight of the Anna's male.  While at Madrona Marsh Reserve in Torrence, a fascinating oasis in the heart of urban California, our docent for the morning Bruce pointed out an Anna's at fairly high altitude.  The bird hovered at this height for a while and suddenly ascended up to a high altitude, barely in sight.  Suddenly, the Anna's plunged at death defying speed towards the ground and then pulled up short to create a beautiful J-shaped pattern.  At the nadir of the J-shaped dive, the bird emitted a loud chip note which I later discovered through Google is actually produced by the tail feathers acting as a reed, much the same as a reed of a clarinet!  The sound is apparently louder than the bird is capable of volcalizing and saves considerable energy on the part of the wooing male.  We observed his repeated display over and over for about 5 minutes until a female flew into the scene and the two flew off together.....a victory for the hard working male no doubt.  (to be continued....we have two more days here in the Golden State.  Stay tuned....)

Magee Marsh

May 8 - 12, 2010

     Among the list of "50 Places to Go Birding Before You Die" by Chris Santella, is the shore of Lake Erie in May.  We were fortunate to have two friends who are excellent birders who actually made the journey last year and came back with great locales, great stories, and great photos of the masses of warblers which descend upon the lake shore each spring as they move from their South American wintering grounds north to their nesting grounds.  As they migrate north, they come up upon this massive body of water which will have to be crossed non-stop.  They know enough to wait for the winds and weather to be favorable and use their time to "top off the tank" with their fuel reserves of insects and insect larva.  One of the most popular staging areas for these warblers is Magee Marsh near Port Clinton.

  With our friends the Wells as our guides, we were introduced to some of the most incredible birding grounds either of us have ever had the opportunity to visit.  On the first day alone, we spotted at close range more than 20 species of warblers and thrushes.  Species not often easily viewed such as Magnolias, Prothonotary, Bay-breasted, Mourning, Black throated greens, Black-throated blues, and on and on, were all visible and well within good photographic distance.  The only downer of the whole trip was the weather.  Out of the four days we were at the marsh, we had rain on three.  That didn't necessarily deter the thousands of birds nor the thousands of birders and photographers which all converged upon this birding mecca.  If you enjoy birding at its best, then make sure that Magee Marsh in Ohio is on your birding bucket list.  A place not to be missed.......