Bird Call

Wallflowers

All I’d been hearing for two or three weeks was how beautiful the desert wildflowers were in Borrego State Park. Best in a decade. So on a whim I persuaded my wife to take a day trip. Maybe a little birding along the way.  Then grab lunch in Borrego. And go see the flowers. Sounded fun enough. Fortunately my wife is a good sport.

"Along the way" ended up taking us pretty far "out of the way." It wasn’t my fault exactly. I was looking for a certain bird. We couldn’t find it. So I kept driving. Looking.  Farther and farther away from Borrego.  A couple hours later we were clear over at the Salton Sea. Still no luck.

But if there’s one thing about me. I know when to quit. OK I don’t. But good sport or not, my wife does. And I could tell she was getting tired. So. Time to give up.

Then we saw it. Two its. Standing right by the road. Like wallflowers.

I was excited. My wife was excited. The birds seemed pretty cool about the whole thing.

  

These owls live in holes in the ground. They burrow them. Or borrow them. Then stand guard at the entrance. Like Meerkats. With feathers.

Turned a bad morning into a great one. Could have had a great afternoon too. If I’d done my homework. Or asked where to go. Instead I led us into the little town of Borrego like Custer into the Little Bighorn. And we got ambushed. By traffic. I’m not sure what I was thinking.

It was Sunday. They had been talking about flowers for three weeks on the news. The town is just bigger than a football field. And there were…. I don’t know how many cars. Lots. None moving.  But more trying to get in. And I don’t know why I thought there’d be any flowers in town anyway.

I couldn’t get us out of there fast enough. In fact I couldn’t get us out of there at all. At least for a while.

By the time I did we were too tired for sightseeing. We headed home.

Didn’t end up seeing that many flowers.

But we sure saw a lot of blooming people.

 

Into-thin-air-bird

I don’t have a good photo of a Costa’s Hummingbird. Not that I haven’t tried.

And tried. Just no luck. They are not rare out here on the west coast. Common really. With a deep-purple gorget.

So when sightings were reported at a nearby lagoon, I saw my chance.  

I went. And went. Not any luck.

Then a couple days ago something turned up. A hummer with a flash of purple.  I worked around so the gorget lit up and took some pictures.

But something didn’t look quite right. I’d say, “It looks like an Anna’s. But Anna’s have a red gorget.” 

So I’d stop shooting and take a look at it again.  “This one is definitely purple.” I’d start shooting again. “But not deep purple.” I'd stop and look some more.

I came home with several hundred photos. I set out to see what I had. It was beautiful. But what was it? 

Then it hit me. Duh. I wondered if Anna’s and Costa’s ever hybridize. I looked it up. They do.

So. In summary: I spent all that time shooting, sorting, identifying, and researching. Only to find out the stupid bird wasn’t really a Costa’s at all. Or even an Anna’s. I can't even count it on my life list. It was a nothing bird. A big-fat-waste-of-time-bird.

 

Bastard. : )

 

 

 

Boring Fact: Turns out Anna's don't just sleep around with female Anna's (see Hot-pink-paternity-suit). Most often it's with Costa's but they've been known to hybridize with Allen's and Black-chinned Hummingbirds too.

Purple or House Finch?

Purple Finch? House Finch?  How do you tell males apart?

 

Hover over photos to I.D. or click links at bottom

Here’s what experts suggest.

 Voice: Sibley, master of mnemonics says the Purple Finch song is: “plidi tididi preete plidi tititi preeer.”  And the House Finch? The same. But if you listen carefully the odd “tedeyo or widee-ooli “thrown in once in awhile will give him away. Yes. It is hopeless.

Beak:  The House Finch bill is stubbier and shorter than the Purple. It’s a good field mark. But since you can’t measure it that’s probably out too.

Color:  House finches are mostly brown with wide streaks on their breast and flanks. Their face, breast and forehead are red.  Or orange. Or yellow.  Purple Finches have little or no striping. (And little or no purple for that matter.) They’re largely pink. (Who names these things?)  This is your best bet to ID these two for now.

So now that you know, here’s a quiz. What are these?

Click to enlarge

Fence Finches.

It was a trick question.

(Fence Finches are really just House Finches. But without houses.)  : )

House Finch

Purple Finch