Art or Crap?

Kind of lame pics today.  Didn't see a whole lot.  Hermit Warblers are moving through in decent numbers the last few days.  I probably saw about five or six today in Hacienda Heights.  So I've got that going for me too.  Which is nice.

Band-tailed Pigeons in Duarte.  I pretty much consider this one art.

What are these Damselflies called?  I saw them in the San Gabriel River bed.

Mega Sunday

Mega Sunday.  I get a mad kick out of working hella.  I think Ima work straight through til next Christmas.  Dinner tonight was filet mignon.  We have all decided to start grilling out every night here at the hotel.  Poolside.  Live the dream.  Here's what I saw at work today.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  San Gabriel River.

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet. Whittier Narrows.

Almost Great

Nice work day in Duarte California.  Sleepy time.  No day off this week.  I'm a machine.

This was almost a really nice photo.  Complete with molting tail.  Too bad for me.

California Thrasher chowing down on whatever that stuff is if front of his face.  Laurel Sumac, perhaps.

American Reuniond was Poor

No words.  Just photos.  From Legg Lake.

Nuttall's Woodpecker. Pecking.

Tree Swallow 3 way.

Dirth

Almost fell asleep without TPADing.  Sheesh.  Once again, it's a dirth of photos.

Hot girl birding.  Rare bird.

City of Angels.  Not Angels Camp.

Field Grasshopper

Good birding today.  Saw a few Grasshopper Sparrows at work and then zoomed down to Kenneth Hahn Park for a quick glimpse of my lifer Field Sparrow.  I wish I'd seen it better, but such is life.  Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and try for a photo.

Crummy shot of one of the Grasshoppers.  Rowland Heights, CA.

Scored a Greater Roadrunner from the car.  Always fun to see these punks.

Domesticated

I bit the bullet and bought a new charger today after work.  So, still no new photos.  TPAD is very tame today.  In other news, it's kinda nice getting settled back into hotel life after a weekend of Couch Burning Mayhem.  Still, I miss Brushwood.  I am going to go through old photos now and pick too of them at random.  Wish me luck. 

Ball-nosed Goose (Domestic Swan-goose).  Apollo Park.

Ewe.  I was trying to take Tricolored Blackbird photos in this field, but the only good picture I came up with was this.  

Couchburning2012

By my count, I owe six photos right now.  I really just had to check out for a few days there.  Blogging and Couch Burning don't go well together.  TPAD will return to its normal schedule tomorrow.  Now, for some completely un-birdy photos.

This is what most of the day consists of  at Couch Burning.  Golfing, and trying to intimidate other golfers.

This is Matt Duffy.  Accepting the Coveted Green Jacket for winning the golf tournament.  He pretty much wins every single year.  I have never won a CB tournament.  I took second this time, which is fairly typical.

Love at the Couch Burning.  Tyler and Ashley.

This is how the Burn gets its name.

Sultry by the fireside.  Living up to her namesake.

This person is British.  It is very surprising to see a British acting in this fashion.  

Just Fulfilling My Obligation

Well, yesterday got away from me pretty good.  I golfed about a million holes.  It was intense.  My camera's battery is dead.  I think I left the charger at a hotel somewhere.  Life is Pain.  I might be unable to document Couch Burning activities.   Maybe this os for the best.  Today will be a double dipper again.  I don't know when I'll be able to break away from the festivities for TPAD, but I'll make it happen.

Phainopepla.  Borderline art.

Acorn Woodpecker.  Could be anywhere, anytime.

Bugs.

I am home.  The Brushwood of my forefathers.  It is the Eve of Couch Burning Eve.  This is a big deal.   I spent most of today in my car, which is named The Blue Streak.  I birded a little at work this morning before leaving LA.  There were a few of the standard migrants, but nothing cray.  So instead of birds, here are some bugs.

I would appreciate it if one of my friends would ID this for me.  I could maybe do it, but my butterfly book is out in the car and I don't feel like getting it.

Stella Orangetip.  Nuff said.

Fledgling Throat Stab

No great birds today.  No great words either.  If you're reading this, I miss you.  I hope to see you again soon.

First ever American Goldfinch for TPAD?  I think so.

I'm pretty sure Anna's Hummingbird is the most posted bird on TPAD.  I'll try to stop shooting them. Anyhow, here's an adult female trying to stab a fledgling's throat out.

Embarrassing Empids

I saw a bunch of empids today.  Mostly they were Pac-slopes, but I had a few others mixed in too.  I had forgotten what a pain this Empid situation is.  All in all a good day at work.  Decent showing of migrants, but nothing cray.

Pacific-slope Flycatcher near Whittier, CA.

You tell me what this one is.  I'm too embarrassed to guess.  How embarrassing.

A Case Of The Mondays

I'm just gonna throw up these photos and go to bed.  I'm back into the grueling work week.  It's gonna be rough.  On a lighter note, the one and only Pablo has joined the team down here in Socal.  If you know Pablo from Humboldt, then you know how awesome it is that he's here.  Great success.

This is prolly the coolest thing I saw today.  It looked like it could kill a lot of stuff.

This is from a few days ago.  I just needed to include a bird.  Nice photo, except for the grass in its face.  Oh yeah, and it's a Chipping Sparrow in case you weren't aware.

Battle Of The Gs

G-natcatcher is in the house.  Apparently there is a gas station attendant in El Monte who somehow has heard of gnatcatchers.  This is completely rad, but very unexpected and bizarre.  I don't know his name or even which gas station he attends to, but I will find out.  But wait, it gets better.  He calls them G-natcatchers.  Two words.  I think he does it because they are inherently such thugged out Gs.  We will now compare G-natcatchers and decide which is better.  The answer is obvious to  me, but you be the judge.

California Gnatcatcher.  Near El Monte, California.  The first I have photographed.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher near Palmdale.  God I miss Palmdale.

Isn't It Glorious

Well, it was a rough morning, but I got through it.  I found three nests and received a gold star as a reward.  My day off has come around again.  I'm thinking of joining Felonious Jive down in SD for some birding.  We shall see.

Allen's Hummingbird staredown. This isn't as intimidating as the Swainson's Hawk staredown a few days ago.

TPAD's first ever Hooded Oriole.  Isn't it glorious?

Damn, I Forgot Something

Oops.  I spent way too much time/money at the Yardhouse in Chino last night an forgot to do this.

Yesterday's FOS Nashville.

And Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

F.O.S.

I'm starting the thursday crossword in my hotel room right now and I have high hopes.  I will slay this puzzle of words and wit.  Work was good today.  I saw a bunch of first of spring species.  Stuff like Black-throated gray, Nashville, and Orange-crowned Warblers.  Also This Blue- Grosbeak:

Wish I coulda gotten a tiny bit closer.  This shot woulda been epic.  Like fresh pow pow.

I found this California Towhee endlessly trying to kill the demon Cal Towhee from another dimension.  In vain.

Half-Ass

Well, here's another issue of half-assed TPAD.  It's simple.  There are two photos that I took.  Of birds.  And you can look at them.  Bon apetit.

The Snow Goose at Apollo Park.

Rufous Hummingbird.  These guys ride on the backs of Snow Geese to migrate north and south.

Seeing Stuff Every Day

I can't seem to sleep past 4 am these days.  I don't know what the hell my problem is, but it needs to change soon.  Getting up at 4 in the morning is hella lame for hella different reasons.  I don't have time to go into them all.  Just trust me, it sucks.  I saw some stuff today, much like every day.  Here is some stuff that I saw around Rowland Heights.

House Wren, bellowing.  If you want to see good pictures of bellowing birds, go  here: http://seagullsteve.blogspot.com/2012/01/bellowing-ducks.html

Bad photo, but here's a Great Horned Owl with some strange white gremlin type creature peering out from behind it.

Banished From Heaven

I have relocated to the town of Diamond Bar.  It's okay, but it's no Palmdale.  God I miss that thriving metropolis of culture and diversity.  The bathtub in this hotel is at least three feet deep and has jets built in.  I am the king of everything.  I went birding over in good old Chino Hills for about an hour or so and saw some super common birds.

A SY? male Anna's Hummingbird at some golf course in Chino.

I performed my most successful pishing to date on this handsome Bullock's Oriole.  I was proud.

We Need More Men To Man The Wall

It's almost time to watch the Starks and Lannisters lay waste to Westeros.  My day off was fun.  I went birding and watched the 21 Jump Street movie.  It was good, I recommend it.  I hear the Giants are losing every game they play in.  This disappoints me greatly.  I demand that they turn their game around immediately.

Ruddy Duck at Apollo.  Glistening.

Swainson's Hawk locked in a staring contest to the death with a photographer.  East Palmdale.

Geese Always Goose Step

Chill day today.  I saw some quality stuff.  I work six days a week and Saturday is my last day of the week.  So I finally get to be free tomorrow.  Freedom is fun.  God bless America.

Best bird at work this morning was Scott's Oriole.  There were two.  They love eating at these Joshua Tree flowers.

At Apollo Park, there were two Ross's Geese and a Snow Goose.  Weird.  I don't know if they're just always there or what.  Here's a Ross's.  Goose-stepping past the garbage.

Death To All Words

Recycled photos from yesterday.  Nothing worthy happened today.

Ground Rat.

Northern Harrier.  Harrying.