With nothing better on the horizon I set out this morning to revisit Bella Vista Open Space, where nobody refound the Painted Bunting yesterday. I figured this bird would be halfway to Mexico by now, but one never knows. I arrived around 7:15 and it was very quiet. Shortly thereafter Nick Lethaby stopped by. He thought the bird might actually still be in the area, hiding in bushy or grassy areas in this or nearby parks. He departed and I looked around a bit more. Still not much happening.
I headed a few blocks away to the Evergreen Open Space. Here I found a good level of bird activity. Some of the Eucalyptus trees here are infested with the Lerp Psyllid. This is a good thing for birds. These little bugs lay their eggs on the leaves. The emerging young secrete a sweet waxy substance that is attractive to Warblers and other birds. In one area of the park the trees were very busy with warblers (Yellow, Orange-crowned, and Wilson's), Western Tanagers and Hooded Orioles. However there were no unusual species.
Right about this time I came to the realization I was in need of a new rear tire on my bicycle. The sudden noise of air rushing out of the tire brought this to my attention. Upon closer examination I saw a couple good cuts and worn spots on the tire. I replaced the tube and carefully made my way to the nearest bike shop where I got a new tire and replaced it in the parking lot.
After that I headed home, passing by Puente Drive at approximately 10:40AM. Upon arriving home I received an ebird report (complete with photos) of a White-winged Dove at Puente Drive, seen at 10:00AM. This is a bird I still need to see and I pretty much rode right past it! Hopefully it will stick around and I can catch up to it soon. I simply could not bring myself to hop back on the bike and chase it today.
I have ridden well over 100 miles since adding the last bird to the year's list. I am overdue.
No photos today, I seem to be getting quite lazy with the camera.
After today the year's total still stands at 243.
I headed a few blocks away to the Evergreen Open Space. Here I found a good level of bird activity. Some of the Eucalyptus trees here are infested with the Lerp Psyllid. This is a good thing for birds. These little bugs lay their eggs on the leaves. The emerging young secrete a sweet waxy substance that is attractive to Warblers and other birds. In one area of the park the trees were very busy with warblers (Yellow, Orange-crowned, and Wilson's), Western Tanagers and Hooded Orioles. However there were no unusual species.
Right about this time I came to the realization I was in need of a new rear tire on my bicycle. The sudden noise of air rushing out of the tire brought this to my attention. Upon closer examination I saw a couple good cuts and worn spots on the tire. I replaced the tube and carefully made my way to the nearest bike shop where I got a new tire and replaced it in the parking lot.
After that I headed home, passing by Puente Drive at approximately 10:40AM. Upon arriving home I received an ebird report (complete with photos) of a White-winged Dove at Puente Drive, seen at 10:00AM. This is a bird I still need to see and I pretty much rode right past it! Hopefully it will stick around and I can catch up to it soon. I simply could not bring myself to hop back on the bike and chase it today.
I have ridden well over 100 miles since adding the last bird to the year's list. I am overdue.
No photos today, I seem to be getting quite lazy with the camera.
After today the year's total still stands at 243.
Today I rode a total of 26.4 miles
More later,
Glenn
No comments:
Post a Comment