Grail Birds

See? There really WAS a Hermit Warbler at Canyon Park!

After our morning trip to San Joaquin on Sunday, I decided to take a quick spin through Canyon Park in Costa Mesa to look for warblers and see if I could find the Hermit Warbler and Lazuli Bunting I saw last week. And I got them both: the Hermit Warbler was in the same tree he was in last week (which makes me think it was the same individual). There were also a large number of Wilson's Warblers there, but mysteriously, none of the Black-throated Grays or Nashville Warblers who were there in profusion just two weeks ago. I guess they were just passing through.

I was about to give up on the Lazuli Bunting, and was on my way back to the parking lot when I saw a flash of blue and red in a bush just off the trail: there he was! And he was being remarkably sedate for a Lazuli; he actually stayed still long enough for me to get a couple of (bad) shots of him.

This was a great treat for me: Glenn had gotten his long-sought-after Marsh Wren shots (and a few unexpected Wilson's Phalarope shots), and I finally got my grail birds for the week. Just seeing them was a pleasure enough, but being able to share them with others—however lamely—is even better.

And even better, now I have proof that I wasn't making all these sightings up!