Dan P

Yesterday 9-21-2021, I went to San Elijo Lagoon at Cardiff-by-the-Sea (San Diego County) and photographed coastal birds for the first time. So I've got several new birds that I need to identify. Their signature bird seemed to be the Ridgway's Rail judging from the signs and illustrations. I think I photographed one, but in all of the photos I've seen of Ridgway's Rail they are always walking on the ground, or standing in mud or very shallow water. This one was mostly swimming. I first saw it in the middle of a channel, then it swam over to the bank and proceeded swimming down the shoreline (100 feet or more) looking under the brush. When it was swimming it would jut its head forward and back. I think this is a Ridgway's Rail, but I'm not certain.

Here's another bad picture of the first bird -- with some blurring from a twig or something in the foreground. Still a Cinnamon?

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). I'm thinking the bird in the first photo, and the smaller bird in the second photo are teals. I was shooting through bushes so there is some blur in the second photo. There were four Northern Shovelers, one Ruddy Duck and one Mallard in the area of the second photo. I did see one male Cinnamon Teal (maybe molting) that was in another area of the lake, but not too far away. Other than those, the other ducks I saw in and/or flying over the small lake were 5 other mallards and 16 Gadwalls.

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). This bird looks like a Black Phoebe to me. I can't come up with anything else. But there are two things that bother me. (1) The white on the top of the wing. (2) This bird was flying over 50 feet high in a fairly straight path above a small lake, down the length of the lake. Its not the typical behavior I see for a Black Phoebe -- but maybe it had somewhere to go.

Fair point. I personally don't have the expertise to rule out Tropical. Cassin's is much more common around here. Tropical is somewhat rare, and I've never seen one. The two most common in this area are Cassin's (seen most often) and Western (seen occasionally), and I can usually distinguish between them. But if I saw a Tropical I'm not sure that I would recognize it was different than a Cassin's. Attached are a couple more photos of the left-hand bird.

If I hadn't have gotten that last shot, I wouldn't have considered Western Tanager. Fortunately it jump down to a branch about a foot below and turned sideways. I was almost looking toward the sun when I took these, so I couldn't really tell what it looked like -- by the naked eye or through the lens. Thanks.

I've never seen an Olive-sided Flycatcher -- that I know of. The closest I've gotten is a Western Wood-Pewee (once).

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). In the first photo, the bird on the left I identify as a Cassin's Kingbird. But I don't know about the bird on the right. The remaining 3 photos are of the bird on the right in the first photo.

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). This bird has been giving me fits -- which probably means its a female Western Tanager. I always have trouble identifying them when they are alone. Especially this bird. The photos were lightened significantly. The sun was behind the bird to the right side of the photo.

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). I think these are both Orange-crowned Warblers, but want to get confirmation or correction.

Hahaha! You're right. It was a long ways off and I just caught about 6 frames. I guess I wanted it to be a raptor. I can't say the I was paying attention to the flight pattern in the short time I saw it. And I don't think I can tell from the photos the difference in flight pattern between this and a raptor. Thanks.

Taken on 9-11-2021 in the morning at Ballona Freshwater Marsh in Playa del Rey, CA (Los Angeles). I went to a new spot on 9/11. I don't think I've seen this raptor before. I had to lighten the first to photos quite a bit -- they were very dark. But fortunately it turned into the sunlight before it flew off.

A House Finch without streaking on the underparts?

Taken on 9-3-2021 in the late afternoon at the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village, CA. I'm not sure what I've got here.