Color, Color & Color with Red Flowers & Yellow Birds

Sometimes serendipity is the best way to see great things in nature. Driving into this fine County Park to drop off Jeanne to her Pastel Class, it was impossible to overlook these trees. With a marine layer (fog!) affecting the coastline (it was sunny only 1/2 mile away) the colors were also very saturated, rather than the reflected colors seen on a bright day.


The trees - Erythrina coralloides or Naked Coral Tree - were planted years ago to separate a parking lot from the street. And wow. What a good decision. As I was driving out of the park, slowly now through the parking lot, I realized that their was ANOTHER color in the red flowers - Hooded Orioles. In these photos, they are all mature males, dressed up in bright yellow/orange and their best black.

The Hooded Orioles feed on the nectar produced by the flowers. I did not observe long enough to learn if they might be a good pollinator, as this is known as a 'humming bird tree'.


You can now see more clearly (now that those distracting bits of yellow are not in the photo) how this erythrina obtained the 'naked' part of its common name - blooming with NO leaves!


In confirming my identification of the tree, I found an informative link on one of my most favorite 'plant links' - the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver, BC Canada. There is more information about the Hooded Oriole at the Cornell website for birds.

Jesusita Fire, Day 2 - Santa Barbara, CA

Damn. Here we go all over again. This is the THIRD MAJOR fire in less than a year and the FOURTH in less than two years: Zaca, Gap, Tea and now Jesusita. Starting on the Fourth of July 2007, the Zaca Fire burned completely in the 'back country' consuming only one small shed and hurting no one. It became the second-largest wildfire in recorded California history. The Gap Fire above Goleta started a year later and caused many evacuations, yet in burning more than 10,000 acres did not burn any structures. In early November, 2008, the Tea Fire in Montecito erupted suddenly with 90mph 'sundowner' winds and burned over 200 homes and severely burned two people trying to flee from their home.

This photo was taken only 20 seconds after the photo above. Note how FAST this fire was growing - especially the smaller plume on the right. These two photos were taken from the east of the fire, creating backlit smoke that became almost mahogany in color.

Forty minutes later at about 4:40pm, I took the above photos and the ones following - from the western side of the fire - near the Public Library in Goleta, actually from the house & overlook within the organic farm, "Fairview Gardens". At a distance of about eight miles, those flames must be more than 50' high.

This and the following photo were taken 20 seconds apart.... also showing how fast the fire was still burning.

As I write about 9pm, reports state that over 20 homes have burned, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has sustained damage, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History was threatened. Staff were busily placing the most valuable specimens in their fireproof vaults. Over 12,000 'reverse 9-1-1' calls had been made for mandatory evacuations, all the way to State Street, Santa Barbara's "Main Street".

Here at El Cap State Beach, about 20 miles west of the fire, the winds are still gusting, although not nearly as dangerous as those of the mid-late afternoon.

One of the very best local sources of news - especially breaking news is NOT the daily SB News Press (i.e. News Suppress), but the weekly 'Independent'

More photos with details on my Flickr site - you can connect to the Jesusita Fire set with this link.

SNOW BUNTING in SoCal???

Not much of a bird, from my first view of a SNOW BUNTING, eh? This oddly out-of-place bird would likely rather be in the northern plains or tundra, and instead?

She was behind the right-field fence of Mike Evans Field in Ross Field Park in San Diego, CA.

Apparently content with finding seeds in the outfield, the Snow Bunting was found on Saturday morning, and has caused quite a stir among Cali-birders - and non-birders. With this post, birders began showing up from around the region.

Subject: Female snow Bunting, San Diego
From: Stan Walens
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009 13:32:49 -0700

I'm out the door in 10 seconds.
A female snow bunting, i.d. confirmed by Paul Lehman, was found today
at Robb Field in San Diego.
This is near the San Diego River.
It is there now.

Stan Walens
SD

I was on my way to San Diego on work(!), preparing to stay with friends. On a short break at a rest stop south of Camp Pendleton on the Five, I connected on the web to see if anything was going on in the birding world of San Diego.... Yikes!

I found the park, after wandering around several interchanges - knowing all the time I where I wanted to be.... I just couldn't "get there from here", and ran into two birders who had just seen the Snow Bunting.
Aimed in the right direction, I was finally flagged down by yet another avid birder from Carlsbad, who finally pointed me in the right direction. In the above photos, our bird has hopped through the fence, and is seed-hunting in a dirt parking lot. NOT the activity usually associated with such a first-time bird for San Diego County.

Back on the right-field fence, the Snow Bunting has officially been tagged as the "500th" bird recorded in San Diego County - more than any other county's total in the ol' USofA. And hey, I was there!

It was seen on a ball-field, right? Here she is, rounding third, and I hope - headed for home!

[You HAD to see that one coming, didn't you!?!??!!]


MORE photos (how many Snow Bunting photos are enough?) on my Flickr Site.

Western Tanager & Chestnut-backed Chickadees at El Cap

While marine layer (read FOG!) can create some great views - here the Santa Ynez Mtns from the beach at El Capitan State Beach - the fog is not so fun for taking BIRD PHOTOS.

However, this morning's fog would prove to come and go. Here I was given a modest view of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

This is a bit clearer - the brown color is quite evident on the bird's back. While mostly known from north of Santa Barbara County (I have seen them every time I've been to Oso Flaco Park in southern San Luis Obispo Co.), this small colony has apparently become established at El Cap only in the past ten years or so.

The fog did it's work, allowing for good color saturation - if you can find the bird.... Like the chickadees, the Western Tanagers were feeding on small green caterpillers (worms) that in turn were feeding on the Western Sycamores - leaving them with holes akin to a lacey handkerchief.

Ahhh, yes the fog can be photographed!

See many more photos of this walkabout - with many other birds on my Flickr site.

Endangered Species Yin 'n Yang at El Cap State Beach

Southern California coastal areas are EXTREMELY diverse. Not only for the 'Left Coasters' who live here, but for the wide variety of animals and plants. I set out on a walk this morning from El Capitan State Beach, where El Capitan Creek enters the Pacific (above).

The beach is rocky at the outflow, and a popular 'surf break' - Refugio State Beach's point is evident in the center of the photo, about two and a half miles to the west.

As I said, it was an EARLY start, just at sunrise (6:15am) and with a 'minus tide', sun to my back, great for taking photos - like an old gunfighter, gaining any advantage. [I learned this from my birdin' buddy, Adam Lewis.] The beach is quite sandy for the next mile or so, and the ravages of winter storms' removal of sand has been nicely reversed this spring.

Nearing half-way to Refugio, exists outcroppings of rocks forming 'tidal pools' - habitat for small fish, crustaceans, insects and this Great Blue Heron. Most notable however, for the purposes of this post is the background of this photo. Notice the floating seaweed? It's kelp. We'll see it again in a few more photos.

While I saw many small-ish birds (Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Sanderling, Semi-palmated Sandpiper) and other shorebirds (Willet, Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel), it was the bird above that stood out to me - a Snowy Plover.

The Snowy Plover is quite well-known locally as it's presence - for breeding purposes - can shut down public beaches for months at a time.

Like the Snail Darter or the Spotted Owl, this tiny (one to two OUNCES!) bird is also protected by the Endangered Species Act - as Threatened. Perhaps less than 1,500 exist along the western coast and only 10 nesting sites.

Entire beaches are closed during the nesting season to protect these threatened birds from inadvertent trampling (the eggs are very hard to see) and human disturbances. Vandalism is not unknown.

Literally moments after taking photos of the plovers, THIS showed up! And very close to shore - at a very low tide. Remember the kelp in the heron photo? Yep. This Gray Whale is INSIDE the kelp zone! And at 50,000 pounds PLUS, this 40+' endangered mammal clearly out-weighs its feathered brethren on the beach.

Gray Whales are the winners of the 'Long-distance Mammalian Migrating Award' - making a round trip each year from the cold Pacific Ocean & Bering Sea of Alaska to the welcome waters of the northern Gulf of California - a total round trip of over 12,000 miles!

In the warm and shallow waters of the Gulf of California females breed one year, and calve in the next. Above there are two 'spouts' visible, a confirmation that this is a female Gray Whale with her calf, returning to Alaskan waters at the walking speed of 3mph.

This photo shows the blowhole of the calf, born tail-first at 12' long. Note that it is clear of any marks or parasites.

Mom, however, shows some of the wear of time. Typical, ain't it?

Again here is mom in the lead, and always to the ocean-side of her calf - running interference and protecting her precious contribution to a shrinking gene pool from the ever-present predators. Even now at 20' long, the calf is very susceptible to attack by Orcas. The Gray Whales' only other predator? Humans. You know, Homo sapiens - the WISE species of Homo...

Moments later, mom and calf headed around this point and steered up the coast. Next passage? Refugio Beach State Beach - only another mile ahead. And then another. And another.

More photos and information on my Flickr site with this slideshow.

Downed Pilot Remembered

Sunday night, it was all about the emergency responders - professionals working quickly and surely as their training guided them to swift action.

However, by Monday, it was about the family. And on Tuesday the Birch Family & Friends came to El Capitan State Beach to think, feel and to breath a bit of the air over the Pacific where Steve Birch last flew. (Family Photo)

Jim Rydell, Steve's brother-in-law contacted me as he was approaching El Cap on Tuesday noon. He was grateful for the photos and information I had posted previously and wished to introduce me to other family and friends that had also seen my postings. By the time we reached the beach, the Family had already been hard at work, setting stones in the sand to cherish their thoughts of Steve.

This photo overlooks the special stones and the 'aerial acrobatic box' where Steve had been flying.

My wife and I have lived as Camp Hosts at El Capitan State Beach for eight months last year and now six months this year. During that time I have become very fond of the rock cairns that seemingly sprout like mushrooms.... and often arrive just as they are needed. This one appeared on Sunday late afternoon, bringing with it a particularly splendid sunset. The rock cairn in the lead photo of this posting appeared on Tuesday morning, just prior to the Family's arrival...


Additional photos and information regarding the Birches and El Cap can be found on my Flickr Site. You may click on the photos or chose a slideshow in the upper right corner.

Emergency Search at El Cap State Beach

Yesterday evening, as my wife Jeanne Miller and I were headed to the beach at El Capitan for our nearly-ritual sunset watch, we ran into many emergency responders. Above, State Parks Supervising Life Guard/Ranger Al Fimlaid is at the controls while Life Guard Dion Von Der Leith provides support on the State Parks watercraft. I'm sure all were pleased to see calm seas with a near-glassy surface.

The local State Parks Rangers and Life Guards were joined by the Santa Barbara County Fire Search & Rescue.

Here the first of two County watercraft jet skis were launched in search of a reported downed small plane. I noted that all were very business-like and well-prepared. Check the 'raft' above - with many rope-loops for hand holds for both a rider or many hangers-on. After gearing up with wet suits, lights, fins and other equipment, each person then wore a bright yellow top t-shirt with agency ID.


Iris King, California State Parks Ranger prepares the State watercraft for off-loading. These folks are pros - from Ranger suit to wet suit in just a blink - all equipment necessary seemed to be well at hand and its proper use well-understood.

I found it curious that the sunset was one of the best ones of the spring season so far... and with an anonymous camper's rock cairn a fitting tribute to the downed pilot.


More photos and info can be seen at my Flickr site:

Now a BALD EAGLE Over Goleta???

YES! Amazing how birders network these days. And with a lot fewer birds about than when J.J. Audubon or even R.T. Peterson were birding - it's a good thing or we'd never find these neat birds before they 'flew the coop'.

This morning at 10:30 I had seen a post on 'SBCoBirding' or the local listserv for birders (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sbcobirding/) that my birdin' buddy Kyle had seen a BALD EAGLE over Goleta Beach and that he had seen it fly to a large Eucalyptus at the UCSB Eastern Entrance. The post was made because the original spotter, Kyle had made a cell-phone call to another birder asking him to post this interesting news.

Even in the middle of our much-needed rain (one inch so far!) birders were coming to see a Bald Eagle in Goleta. About noon, while the rain was pounding down, I got a call from another good birdin' buddy Adam. He was at the Euc and was watching the bird with yet another birdin' buddy Roger - and the bird was sticking around in the drizzle. Who knows where the Eagle would be by the time Kyle had gotten home and called several people on a land-line ala 1980 or so.?.

Now Eagles are special. First of all, they are HUGE - and while they are found this time of year 'nearby' - that 'nearby' is across the Santa Ynez Mts. in the Santa Ynez Valley in and around Lake Cachuma. This is about twenty-five miles (as the Eagle flies) over mountains about 3,000' in altitude. So Eagles are quite unusual here on the this part of the coast (Santa Barbara/Goleta, CA). Most Eagles seem to stay rather near the lake, where I saw this mature Bald Eagle with my wife Jeanne and my birdin' buddy Adam:

Two views of mature Bald Eagle near Los Olivos, CA on 13Jan09

So as crazy as it sounds - driving nearly 15 miles (one way) in a heavy rain to see an immature Bald Eagle when I had just seen a gorgeous one also in Santa Barbara County - it is crazy. And wonderful. Birds are great survivors in our World - and are a bonus to have around - besides their important role in our ecosystems. And raptors - Eagles especially have a great presence and spirit about them. It was well worth the ride and the 20 minutes standing in the rain.

Turns out this Bald Eagle, A-46 is a 'celebrity eagle' as he was sponsored by Stephen Colbert of the Report fame. Yet another birder, Nina had posted that tidbit of information! I suppose this wet, tawdry-marked bird is worthy of Stephen Colbert and his 'reporting' on our National Economy - which is also rather tattered and sodden.

"Stephen Colbert, Jr." getting an education at UCSB, Goleta, CA 6Feb09