Victoria Park, Costa Mesa

Western Bluebird

Victoria Park is a pocket sized park above the Santa Anna River, it has facilities, benches annd shade trees as well as a broad view of the nature reserves along the river, so is a popular starting point for bike rides or runs along the riverside tracks. It also has car parking alongside and a short circular path around the perimeter - perfect for Winston who is ready to nap after one circuit.

There were two nest boxes hanging from the trees in the park, with young in one almost ready to leave the nest. Western Bluebirds have been found to enjoy more success with nest boxes than in natural cavities. They started egg laying earlier, had higher nesting success, lower predation rates, and fledged more young in boxes than in cavities.

A number of large flowering trees attracted hummingbirds and a hooded oriole, but they were too high in the canopy for successful photos. A black phoebe flittered around the picnic tables - reminiscent of the willie wagtails back home.

Mason Regional Park

Western Bluebird

I've been wanting to see a Bluebird, and came across my first at William R. Mason Regional Park, or as it is more commonly referred to, Mason Park, just up the road in Irvine. Mason Park has two distinct parts. The east side is a wilderness area with a small creek and climbs the northern edge of the San Joaquin Hills. The west side of Mason Park is lawns, paved paths and cultivated trees and shrubs.  An artificial lake occupies the center of the park.

A brief wander around the landscaped area was rewarded by photos of a number of birds, from an Egyptian Goose to a family of Bushtits and a Snowy Egret. Look forward to a return visit and a scramble through the wilderness area.

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center

Just fifteen minutes from downtown Milwaukee is the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, a 185-acre stretch of undeveloped land on the shore of Lake Michigan. Over about four hours I wandered the six miles of trails in the centre, through woods where the trees were beginning to show autumn colour, grasslands thick with wildflowers, ravines filled with dense layers of vegetation, past ponds and along the lakeshore beaches.

Last month the center held a raptor photography day which sounds like a great idea - at public displays it is usually impossible to get a good photo without other spectators, the light at the wrong angle or some other photography unfriendly element. Good to see bird photographers are becoming a sufficiently significant group to be catered for in this way. Wonder if the Hunter Wetland could be convinced to have a photographers' early morning opening.

Bird list:

Hermit Thrush (Pictured above)

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Mallard

Red-tailed Hawk

Wild Turkey

Ring-billed Gull

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Blue Jay

American Crow

Eastern Phoebe

Hermit Thrush

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

House Wren

Great Blue Heron

European Starling

Cardinal

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow