Second sitting. This monkey was #49, also known as Corn. (more…)

And to add a few species (more…)

To add to the bird list from the canyon: (more…)

Hey - I’m in Altadena, California, the land of multi-million dollar homes situated precariously on denuded crumbling granite mountain slopes prone to fire and mudslides, (more…)

Just because one has to spend all day sitting on an airplane does not mean that there are no birds to be seen… from the drive to and from LAX and JFK:

Cooper’s Hawk (LA, CA)
Peregrine Falcon (Queens, NY)
Ring-billed Gull (LA, CA)
California Gull (LA, CA)
Herring Gull (Queens, NY)
Western Gull (LA, CA)
Great Black-backed Gull (Queens, NY)
Vaux’s Swift (LA, CA)

Eaton Canyon, added:

Turkey Vulture
California Quail
Purple Finch (1 male, 1 female)

mammals: Mule Deer, Fox Squirrel, California Ground Squirrel

Yesterday was a day of Eaton Canyon adventure complete with rock-hopping and swollen-stream fording, culminating with the prerequisite injury. This always seems to happen after one has done something of questionable judgment, e.g. climbing tiny deer trails on canyon walls the day after a rain storm and rock/mudslides, or jumping across a flooded stream with $3000 worth of camera and optics, but never has to do with the questionable activities themselves. I once spent an entire day climbing rock faces in Joshua Tree and repelling down them, returning feeling brave and unscathed, only to slip off of a rock in camp that was only 8″ high. This resulted in a ripped Achilles tendon, which, in case you don’t know, is terribly painful and takes forever to heal. Yesterday was my father’s turn - he hit his heel rather sharply on a rock and bruised it, but not in connection with any of his earlier acrobatics.

Added to the sightings from Eaton Canyon and the Altadena house:

Merlin
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
Black Phoebe
Mountain Chickadee
Bushtit
Bewick’s Wren
Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Well, I am not exactly in NYC.
From Eaton Canyon, near the nature center, and the house in Altadena, CA:

Great Blue Heron (flyover)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Band-tailed Pigeon (house)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Allen’s Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Say’s Phoebe
Western Scrub Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Wrentit
Oak Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
ROCK WREN (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush (house)
American Robin (house)
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (25+)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (1, white-striped morph)
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (house)
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH (3: 1 male, 2 female)

Notes: ID’ed the WT Sparrow by seeing just its butt in some brush - I had basically just stepped off the plane and thought nothing of it for about thirty seconds… then realized I was on the other coast, and waited for it to pop out entirely to confirm the ID. Rock Wrens used to be in the canyon when I was a child, but this was the first I have seen since coming back as an adult. And goldfinches are more fun when they are mixed together and you can have a three-goldfinch morning… I love my job.