"Tails" of a New Birder's Journey

To kickstart the 4-day holiday weekend, I decided to take a long lunch and squeeze in some Urban Birding! The other day, I realized that it’s my second winter as a birder, living in SoCal, so I have an idea of what birds I should expect to see. Winter in California means we get a lot of wintering birds that are here for the warmer winter weather. And indeed, it was a pleasant and balmy 72 degrees at high noon. 

I decided to check out a couple of under-birded places near me that have water. It would be so cool to spot unusual waterfowl at one of these locations, but it was entirely birds that I’ve seen at these locations before. I suspect there is an algal bloom in the West Street Basin and I have reported it.

I counted 42 Wigeon and a dozen Black-necked Stilts, with some possible nesting Stilts in this highly polluted and fairly gross basin that is largely ignored by the city of Garden Grove. At a nearby park, I saw a Downy Woodpecker–always a treat! And two Eurasian Collared-Doves grooming each other. I tell ya, I’d rather see any two birds sweetly and lovingly grooming each other than some rare bird skulking under a bush. 

There were also a lot of butterflies out and about but I only got pics of two that landed. iNaturalist gave me some clues as to what they are.