Japanese white-eye – My Birding World

March SoCal Trip

March 31, 2019 Elizabeth Olin Comments 0 Comment

Western Bluebird, Huntington Central Park, 2019

Last weekend I visited my family in Southern California. We hit up as many birding hotspots as we could squeeze in a three-day trip. Spring was definitely in the air as we watched Japanese White-Eyes gathering nesting material, House Wren chasing away squirrels, and songs erupting everywhere.

Mandarin Ducks, Irvine Regional Park, 2019

The most exciting part of the trip was finding two rarities. One was a Gray Flycatcher – a lifer for us – catching bugs at Irvine Regional Park. It was a joy to watch as it hawked insects at dusk.

The other rarity was found at a little neighborhood community trail in Murrieta. A shadowy walk under trees that would eventually lead to a nearby park yielded a Plumbeous Vireo, who made an extremely brief visit with just enough time to snap an identifiable picture before it flew off into the neighborhood never to be seen again that day.

Common Raven, Irvine Regional Park, 2019

Rare birds are fun to see, but I also enjoy visiting the SoCal birds. Western Bluebirds were a brilliant blue, Common Ravens were busy croaking, and Red-crowned Parrots were noisily announcing their presence – which also made me laugh every time they squawked. Happy Spring!

Red-Crowned Parrot, Irvine Regional Park, 2019

Hawaii Adventure, 2014

January 17, 2019 Elizabeth Olin Comments 2 comments

Pacific Golden-Plover

“OMG I’m breathing water!” I thought to myself as I stepped off the plane into Honolulu in October 2014. It was my first time visiting Hawaii, and the first time experiencing heavy humidity. I suddenly donned a new hair style of humid frizz. I quickly learned that cockroaches, or rather flying cockroaches, profilerated in the water-air. But really I was here for the birds. And to relax, of course.

Java Sparrow, Hawaii, 2014

I was still quite an amateur birder at this point. I spent several weeks trying to study the birds I might see on Oahu, but my knowledge of available resources for research was limited. eBird would have been incredibly valuable had I known about it, but we still managed to see a lot of terrific birds.

Red-crested Cardinal, Hawaii, 2014

I desperately wanted to see a Red-crested Cardinal. Days went by without seeing one and I was getting bummed. It wasn’t until we ventured into town in search of delicious Portuguese donuts did we finally see one. The flash of brilliant red on its head was startling! Then we saw another! And another! And, well, let’s just say that there was no shortage of this inspiring bird. All we had to do was wander away from the main tourist area. Take a mental note for future trips to veer off the main drag.

Red-crested Cardinals, Hawaii, 2014

There were many fascinating species: Java Sparrows, Japanese White-Eyes, and a Yellow-fronted Canary. Also some familiar birds were around, such as the Pacific Golden-Plover, Cattle Egret, and House Sparrows. I was struck by the color differences in the pigeons, which were mainly white rather than our familiar grey birds. They did blend in more with the sand with those colors.

Rock Doves, Hawaii, 2014

My favorites were the Zebra Doves. A tiny handful of thinly-striped, tan feathers with a light turquoise streak in its face, the doves loved to hang out by my chair while I was dining outside. Their calls were so sweet, and every time I listen to their choppy calls online, I am transported back to the island and our trip.

Zebra Dove, Hawaii, 2014

I quite treasured my experience exploring such brilliantly-colored and new species. I can’t wait to visit again!

Non-Native Birds of SoCal

October 19, 2018 Elizabeth Olin Comments 0 Comment

I grew up in Orange County but didn’t get into birding until after I moved to the Bay Area, so I always enjoy our visits with OC family. In the last several years I’ve witnessed new birds flocking to SoCal. Many of these species look quite exotic with brightly-colored bills, unique feather patterns, or long tails. They can be found in various parks and neighborhoods.

My sister and I began our birding adventures many years ago and we enjoy swapping stories, as she lives in Orange County and I in the Bay Area. I recall one day receiving a text from my sister when she was in LA. The message read something like this: “OMG what the **** is THIS?!?!?” Moments later, I received a picture of a strange robin-sized bird with a dark back, white front, and very distinctive facial coloring. But what stood out the most was the sharply-pointed crest on its head. Not being well-versed in bird anatomy at the time, I searched for “bird with pointed feathers on head” on Google. After sifting through countless images, I found it: the red-whiskered bulbul. At the time we figured it was an escapee from a zoo. Little did I know that this Asian species was slowly establishing itself in LA.

Scaly-Breasted Munia, Orange County, 2018

One of the first non-native species I personally saw in Orange County was the scaly-breasted munia. Also known as the nutmeg mannikin, these tiny birds made their way over here from Asia. I was in SoCal this weekend and watched these little creatures dance in the grass and fly across the field with long sticks of wispy plants to another location presumably to build a nest.

Alongside the scaly-breasted munia were bronze mannikins. Similar in size to the munias, these little ones hail from Africa. These birds have a distinctively dark head, brown back, and bright white breast/underparts. Apparently both these birds are captured for the pet trade.

Other non-native species in Orange County include the Japanese white eye with its heavy bold white eye ring, the pin-tailed whydah with its orange beak and long black tail, and the Egyptian goose with deeply pink legs and chocolate melting around its eye.

While non-native species certainly catch the eye, I always take time to appreciate and admire our local birds. More on that in another post.

My Birding World

A Bird Blog by Elizabeth Olin

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