Unofficial DeeMotivation Event: Birding CA Coast

So, it's been a while since I've updated here. I am way behind on updating official DeeMotivation events, but wanted to let my faithful readers know I'm still here and still getting out there, so much in fact that I haven't had time to sit down and update. One of the things I have been busy with is that that I was bribed to work on a project at work with promise of a birding trip when I got out to CA. I really wanted to see a California Condor, so have been working on the project for about 3 months now, and my reward came last weekend.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures from the unofficial DeeMotivation event, birding the California Coast. I was joined by the awesome birders Cindy and Charlie, who spent the entire weekend indulging me and helping me to build my life list, which I increased by at least 27 species this weekend!

So, if you didn't choose to GOYB, here is what you missed (click to enlarge, totally worth it!):

Me, Charlie, and Cindy starting off at the
traditional Starbucks.

My first life bird was right in Cindy and Charlie's
back yard - an Allen's Hummingbird.

Next life bird was in Starbucks parking lot -
Brewer's Blackbird

Not a lifer, but still pretty Townsend's Warbler.

(Lifer) Wrentit

(Lifer) Brown Towhee

Black-capped Chickadee. Not a lifer, but so adorable!

(Lifer) Say's Phoebe

House Finch. Not a lifer but pretty.

Red-shafted Flicker

(Lifer) California Quail

(Lifer) Whimbrel

(Lifer) Brandt's Cormorant

(Lifer) Black Turnstone

Western race of Red-tailed Hawk.
Not a lifer, but a way better picture
than my life-bird picture.

Marbled Godwits. Not a lifer, but I really liked this picture.

(Lifer) Golden Plover

(Lifer) White-tailed Kite

(Lifer) Semi-palmated Plover

(Lifer) Herman's Gull

(Lifer) Long-tailed Duck

Long-billed Curlew

(Lifer) Pacific Loon

I took a break to do some skinny-dipping, but the weather
was too cold so I had to come back up onto the dock.

Sea lion, looking blissful

This little sea lion on top reminded me of Barty, the
way he just walked right across everyone else on the dock!

Man, these guys were adorable.

Horned Grebe. Not a lifer, I got most of the grebes on my
last business trip to CA.

Another Herman's Gull

(Lifer) Surf Scoter

Rock Pigeon. Not a lifer, I just thought it was pretty.

Eared Grebe. Another one that I got on my last trip to HQ.

Another one, just too cute to pass up a photo op.

(Lifer) At least one of these is a Ross's Goose.

(Lifer) At least one of these is a Snow Goose

(Lifer) The one that's not a Canada Goose or a Cow is a
White-fronted Goose.

(Lifer) The guy in the middle is a Tri-color Blackbird.

White-crowned Sparrow

At the end of the first day we returned home to Cindy and
Charlie's place. We were cold and wet, but Shamrock
was there to greet us, and he was warm and furry. Just like
home!

Our second day birding had a much
more auspicious beginning, with
a rainbow!

(Lifer) Bushtit

This was my favorite shot of the whole
trip - an Anna's Hummingbird
and a Spotted Towhee together.

Spotted Towhee

(Lifer) Anna's Hummingbird

Western Scrubjay

Bufflehead. Not a lifer, I just like saying their name.
Bufflehead! Bufflehead! Bufflehead!

Sea Otters, looking insanely cute.

I don't remember what this guy was...

(Lifer) Black Skimmer

(Lifer) Pelagic Cormorant

Me at Big Sur

A really famous bridge that I
don't remember the name of
despite Cindy telling me repeatedly!

This might be a California Condor.
Or it might be vulture. Or it might be a
smudge on my camera lens. If it's the
Condor, it was a lifer, and the only
reason I agreed to work on the project
that brought me to California. If it's not
a Condor, please don't tell me, I will weep
as the last 3 months were for nothing!

No birds, just really pretty coast line.
If you haven't seen it, go now, it's
eroding quickly.

(Lifer) Golden-crowned Sparrow

My last lifer was in Cindy and Charlie's yard, when we got
back from Big Sur. This is an Oregon Junco

SOS at Taylor Creek

Well, this wasn't quite an SOS. It was way too cold and windy, and I am definitely a fair weather walker! This was our first time at Taylor Creek, but it was a really nice walk and I totally want to go back there. If you didn't GOYB today, here is just some of the awesome stuff you missed:

This was a life bird for me. I had seen, but never photographed it. It's a Wilson's Snipe. 

This guy thought he was being very secretive. But we saw him spying on us.

He was hollering about something. I suspect he was yelling about how freaking cold it was. Oh, wait, no, that was me!

Two wood storks having a chat

Heather hurled herself onto the ground to take this awesome ultra close up of a turtle.

I love this picture. This is an immature purple galinule (I know you are, but what am I??)  Anyway, check out the size of his feet! They look like spaghetti! Or maybe I am just really hungry...

I like this picture. There is something about it that it looks like it should be the cover of the Common Galinule's first record.

Heather and David enjoying the beautiful, but chilly and windy day.

A glossy ibis.

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! (This was my favorite shot of the day, I just burst out laughing when I saw it, I love the look on his face.)

This is a cool shot that clearly shows the black and yellow on the snowy egret's legs. 

It was another awesome day out in the wilderness. Sorry you didn't get to see all these cool things. Be sure to join us next time! Remember, you can look at this stuff on the internet, but you can never really experience it until you GOYB!

Event: Pelagic Birding

Great day today on a pelagic birding trip. I got a few more birds for my photographic life list, and got to look at what at first glance appeared to be a bunch of seagulls, but at second glance I realized they were a bunch of seagulls. But it was a very cool trip. If you didn't GOYB, here is what you missed:

As the boat was leaving from Jacksonville, we had to get up at 3:00 am for the trip. HFC David looks scary at 3 a.m.

David looks much less scary after a good breakfast and some daylight.

One of the first birds we saw was a Parasitic Jaeger. This was a life bird for me.

I didn't realize I got this life bird until I downloaded the pictures - it's a Red Phalarope.

Something about this seemed cute - it's dolpins playing in front of the greenpeace boat. Given the name of their boat, I was a little afraid they might try to board our boat and steal our snacks.

This is a Common Loon.

This is a Northern Gannet

After an unfortunate incident involving my breakfast and sea sickness, I decided to stay close to the back of the boat by the railing. It actually turned out pretty good cause I got some cool gull shots. This is a Herring Gull, which is new to my photographic life list.

Another shot of the Herring Gull.

A Laughing  Gull. These always confuse me. They change their outfits more often than a starlet on oscar night.

A bunch of Laughing Gulls flying towards me. I thought this picture was cool.

Another Laughing Gull.

A Ring Billed Gull. I like this gull because he is what his name says, you can clearly see the ring on his bill.

The Herring Gull again. I like this shot cause you can clearly see his pink feet and orange bill, which in my mind differentiate him from the ring billed, which has yellow feet.

The gull flapping his wings in the center of the picture is an Iceland Gull. This was a lifer for me and a few other people on the boat.

Me and HFC David. I'm looking a little less green here, but still was pretty glad to be home tonight.

But, despite the little incident with sea sickness, it was a great trip. Between yesterday and today I added 4 new life birds. Remember, you can look at my pictures and think about building your life list, or you can GOYB and come out with me and do it! 

Hope to see you on a walk soon!

SOS Walk: Chasing the Vermillion Flycatcher

After hearing reports of not one but TWO Vermillion Flycatchers at the Orlando Wetlands, I decided to organize a road trip. This was one of my favorite haunts back when I lived in Rockledge, and was really excited to get back there. I was joined by Heather and William, and we had a great time. If you didn't GOYB, here is the amazing stuff you missed (you will have to click to enlarge to see some of the cooler stuff):

 We got separated from William early on in the walk due to me being a goofball and grabbing the wrong camera lens. Heather and I went back to my car to get it, and on the way back to meet up with William, we went over a bridge that had a whole herd of Gar crossing under it.

We saw lots of butterflies. I don't recall this guy's name.

 We came across this weird area that had lots and lots of very clean, white bones from many different critters. Vultures are not known for carrying their carrion, David theorized that a human, for whatever reason, has been dumping dead critters back here for the vultures. There were bones from at least a few species of birds and a turtle, as well as a LOT of vulture poop and feathers. Really weird, I felt like we had stumbled onto some weird Gary Larson-esque vulture take out place (remember his Carrion Carry-out joke?)

This is Heather taking a nap while we waited for the Vermillion Flycatcher. He had been in and out of the trees in this area, so we sat and waited a while for him to come back.





At last! That little tiny red and black spec in the center of the picture is our Vermillion Flycatcher! I was very excited to finally get a picture of him. I saw one in the Everglades before David and I were married, but did not get a picture at that time.

 

 This was a hawk who had either just had a romantic encounter or a scuffle. At any rate, his hair was all messed up and it made me laugh.

 At this point, anything we got was just a bonus, but still, it's always a thrill to get the elusive Purple Galinule. I didn't realize when I took this picture, but there were two of them in there.

 Heather and I thought this was amusing. There was a little tiny aligator right behind the warning sign.

Heather, William and me near where we got the Vermillion Flycatcher.

 We saw a zillion little tiny alligators today. It was weird after seeing the HUGE ones at Goodwin just a few weeks ago, seeing little tiny ones today. I don't think we saw any over six feet. This was my favorite one of the day cause he looked like he was smiling.

 This is two turtles and a couple of common Galinules.

Heather trying to decide if she wants to sit on this bench, that was apparently used by birds after a large meal. She decided against.

Me, eating lunch out of my very cool bento box given to me by Joy. I'm not good with chopsticks and had to employ the 5-second rule many times. But it was a long walk and I was hungry!

It was a great walk at one of my favorite places on earth. Remember, you can look at a picture of a Vermillion Flycatcher in a book or online, but you can only walk 6 miles with great friends, in fantastic weather, and see tons of other stuff too if your GOYB! Hope to see you on future walks!

Walk at Orlando Wetlands Saturday

We are doing an SOS walk at the Orlando Wetlands in Christmas on Saturday morning  (Feb 4) to look for the Vermillion Flycatcher. We will carpool from my house at 7:45, or if you want to join us we will hit the Starbucks in Melbourne around 8:15, or we will probably arrive at the wetlands around 9:30 if you want to meet us in the parking lot. 

If you plan to join us, please RSVP so we know where/when to meet you. As we plan to do our regular 6 mile walk I don't plan to bring my scope, but I highly recommend binoculars as it's a really pretty bird and you will want to be able to see it.

Guest Post by Heather on Walking

Outdoor recreation often comprises several kinds of activity. Bird watching, for example, may involve walking, interpreting sounds and visual clues, and socializing with fellow birdwatchers; each of these has its wellness implications. Walking is a common denominator for most forms of outdoor recreation. Brisk walking for just three hours a week or half an hour each day is associated with a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of heart disease in women (AARP 2008, citing the 20-Year Nurses’ Health Study).

Walking has been shown to have many health benefits:

• managing weight;
• controlling blood pressure;
• decreasing risk of heart attack;
• boosting ―good cholesterol;
• lowering risk of stroke;
• reducing risk of breast cancer and Type 2 diabetes;
• avoiding need for gallstone surgery;
•  protecting against hip fracture;
• preventing depression, colon cancer, constipation, osteoporosis, and impotence;
•  lengthening lifespan;
• lowering stress levels;
• relieving arthritis and back pain;
• strengthening muscles, bones, and joints;
• improving sleep; and
• elevating overall mood and sense of well-being.