birdbrain22

100% Least Bittern here.

Didn't have reg camera, just iphone... so this is what I got.

Leaving Boston on the Friday before Labor Day will be pure madness once you reach CT, through NYC, and NJ into DE... unless everyone decides not to go to the shore for that weekend! Good Luck. And I am not sure about the NE traffic that would be heading from Boston out to Cape Cod and down through to CT.

Awesome trip report so far... congrats on all the birds. One day I will bird AZ. Maybe I'll have to suggest a business trip there...

Well this turned out to actually be a mostly working trip! Not a whole lot a time for birding... So Mon-Tues in CA, I got the four lifers mentioned above(Cassin's Kingbird, Wrentit, Phainopepla, and CA Towhee). Yes Jimbob... after checking, they were CA Ground Squirrels. Flew to Oahu on Wed... for service call. No birding(no biggie I'd been here before and saw most of the invasive species anyway). Thursday-free day, but I did not feel like making the drive/hike to the North shore or Ka'ena Pt.(again been there, done that)... but did drive around island seeing some other places, but nothing new. Friday- was spent, planning for and island hopping to Molokai for work. Arrived on Molokai at 3:15pm, went to hospital service call and then back to Oahu by 6:30pm.... passed many Gray Francolins(non-lifers) while driving between airport and hospital. While it would've been nice to have a few hours to explore the island,(though nothing special , bird-wise)... I had to be back on Oahu as not many lodging options on Molokai. Sat- want to Makapu'u Beach and trail to try to pull off a few lifers before heading to airport... was successful in getting Red-footed Booby, Sooty Tern, Red-tailed Tropicbird, and Wedge-tailed Shearwater. So while this didn't pan out as I was hoping(work takes priority over birds unfortunately)... I am still happy I managed to get what I got. Maybe next time...

Well... dam I hate changes. Heading to HI on Wed. At least I picked up Wrentit, Phainopepla, Cassin's Kingbird and CA Towhee today. Also Sea Lion, Bull Snake, and a type of squirrel I have yet to even look up. Probably a few more tommorrow, oh well.

I like Pewee here. Structure does not look big enough for OS and there should be dark sides of the" vest" showing.

Ok... but that is what it is. They sometimes have the yellowish wash to them(mostly juvies) .

They are sunning themselves. They do it to get just get full exposure to the suns rays... many doves do this behavior.

Eastern Phoebe

Why do you say this? Pretty sure one can not really age this bird. @Mike Tricolor yeah it certainly looks wet and possibly stunned from a window strike and just hanging on...

Agree... Lesser here.

Check out the eye color of the nightjars... I am thinking Eastern Screech Owl as well.

Baltimore Oriole

After 35 years of birding... finally got a Henslow's Sparrow(#626) today!!!!

Yeah... not a hedge but a ground... hog.

Thank for the additional info Jimbob and Creeker... unfortunately, this time I did not have much say in what part of CA I wanted to go to. My trip is next week. Not worried about the terns and gulls as I have them all(even Elegant as one showed here up years ago). Well except Yellow-footed, but I'm def won't be going to Salton.Surely I will only see male hummingbirds... so it will be relatively easy! . But I am studying the females though, in case my usual luck pans out. As a bonus, I found that Lake Piru area has chance of Condor which I wasn't even considering as I thought they were further east and north. And hopefully next time I get out there it will be for strictly leisure and will be able to pick the better birding areas. Thanks again to you both.

Holy crap, all it took was an LA request for a long lost forum member to return!(and I didn't even put his name in my post since I haven't seen on in quite a while) Hey Jimbob... thanks for that info. Like I said, plans are certainly fluid and have already changed 3 times. As of now I will have some time in the Ventura area and then probably sometime down by Anaheim, so Bolsa and San Joaquin may be doable(or even somewhere else). Any chance of Williamson's Sapsucker, RB Sapsucker, Lewis's WP, Wrentit... in these areas? Also any spots for a good chance to see Auklets, or seabirds along that coastal stretch?(will certainly be checking this in the Ventura area. However, there has already been a mention of possibly time in Burbank, so maybe Griffith park is worth a stop?(can one bird there, or is it just the observatory and zoo?) And then there is always the chance I may have to re-route things to Oahu... just a bit crazy! Thanks again Jimbob...

Hedgehog?

Yeah and many of exotics that were considered escapes years ago, have bred over the years and some have fairly robust populations in various locations, but still unfortunately not countable. I know someone down there is putting together some population studies on some of the parrot species that are now established in south Florida, to try and get those species placed on the FL list. As of right now, there are only 4 parrot species considered " countable', although many many more are established and doing very well.

Yes the key word is mostly and shouldn't be only.

When you say it "counted"... what exactly do you mean. Florida is a funny state, there are many escaped exotics there, but not that many are " countable". It needs to be on the offical state list as akiley stated.

@Trevor L. I am curious where you heard this too. I still do not think "countable" in Fla

Last minute business trip to LA(possibly HI, but hopefully not) with a little free time... so not a whole lot of time to plan things. Also never really birded anywhere in CA(but have birded Portland, OR area), so there are many lifer possibilities. I'm at the point where i get what I get and don't want to go all over chasing... however, would like to get as much bang for the buck(lifer wise). So with that said... anyone have first hand recommendations of places in LA county and I guess nearby areas? Are any seabirds/auklets regularly visible from shore?( I won't have time for a pelagic) I will be staying relatively close to LAX I think, but plans are certainly fluid and I will probably go further south or inland on last day or 2 if it pans out. Mostly any CA special birds are the target(about 40 or so) so any suggestions are appreciated. I will have a car so i can drive within reason. Hit me with some good local spots. TIA @Creeker, @guy_incognito and any other CA locals.

Yes. that is the elusive brown morph Eastern Screech. They say morph percentages vary geographically... but for the roughly 30 I've seen over the years, all have been red or gray(but all in the Northeast).