Staying true to my blog title

Given the number of times people stumble on my site after searching on some variation of the title, I thought I should actually write something about trees or flowers or birds 🙂 So here you go. Notice that I have changed my flickr photos so that the three displayed in here are of birds. In order of appearance those are a Belted Kingfisher, A White Crowned Sparrow and a Cedar Waxwing. I chose those three because they are species that I see pretty regularly this time of year.

The kingfisher hangs out at the mouth of the Penasquitos Lagoon as it meets Torrey Pines state beach. A good view of the area can be seen in this post from Feb06 when we were out hiking at Torrey Pines. The bottom two pictures show the lagoon after a nice winter high tide. The kingfishers hang out there and as I drive back and forth to work I often see them. The real treat is if I catch a glimpse just as they dive down for a snack. *splash!* So cool.

The sparrow and waxwings are true winter visitors to the suburbs of the coast line. I see them when I am out walking. The sparrows will be foraging in a little flock on the ground under landscaped areas. The bird’s song always makes me turn my head and look for it. I remember when these would appear in the backyard of my childhood house in Westminster. For me, it is a sign of the season.

Cedar waxwings are just the neatest looking birds! And also, rather hard to see. The first time I ever saw one was back in 1990 or so? I was sitting at my desk at work back in the Mission Valley days. My office was on the second floor, and yes, I had windows (what a concept!) There was a pine tree just outside and this little flock of waxwings settled onto the tree almost right at my eye level. I could actually see the lovely yellow tail tips and red wing tips. Since then, I have noticed that they also show up the same time as the white crowned’s do. They always travel in fairly large flocks and they tend to hang out in the Sweet Gum trees which are our major source of fall leaf colors and which have a gnarly spiked seed pod (scroll down at that link and see examples). The waxwings just love those spiky things! Waxwings are always seen up in trees, rarely if ever on the ground. It’s really rare to see all their markings as I got to that day at work. Usually I recognize them by their crested heads and dark face masks which do still stand out even from up high. I usually have to get my binoculars out to see all their awesome colors. It’s worth it for sure.

So this is why, if you were to see me out on one of my walks, you also might see me stop suddenly and start staring at the tree tops :->