Birding at Catalina State Park

At Catalina State Park every Sunday morning there is a three hour walk lead by an experienced birder. This morning Max, who worked for 35 yrs in the US Fish and Wild Life service lead us. I had never before been out with an experienced birder who sees birds you do not see and immediately identifies them. By the end of the three hours he had identified 28 different species! Looking through Peterson’s Field Guide to birds of Western North America I can remember and identify the following: the Northern Cardinal (male and female), a female Pyrrhuloxia, a Northern Goshawk, White Winged Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Anna’s Hummingbird, Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Bushtit, Berwick’s Wren, Northern Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Canyon Towhee, Rufous -winged Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch. Well – that is 16 so I am 12 short of what Max put on his check list!   

(Each evening we have been watching Global National news via Shaw Direct satellite TV. The continued cold spell - ice and snow in the Vancouver area and chill in Toronto and Ottawa makes us glad to be here. Victoria seems to be warmer with rain now.)