Early Morning Birding

Head cold.  Blech.  Last night seemed about 15,000 hours long.  And NONE of the animals would cuddle with me.  That’s part of their JOB as pets; snuggle you up when you feel bad.  Luckily I had this post pretty much written already so I can press “publish” and go back to watching 4 hours of So You Think You Can Dance.

So, let me tell you about my trip to Bolsa Chica!

I knew I would soon be needing a lot of bird images for compositing into photos, so I decided to go somewhere I knew they would be hanging out; Bolsa Chica.  Bolsa Chica is one of the very few remaining natural wetlands in southern California, and I am lucky enough to live within driving distance of it.  Since birds tend to be most active very early in the morning, and since I was making a bit of a drive to get there, I decided to make the most of my trip and get there around sunrise.  My mom also lives relatively close to the wetland, and very generously offered to come along and keep me company, even after I told her how early I’d be going.

Getting up that morning was less than pleasant, but as soon as I saw my first snowy egret, it was all worth it.

Egrets are my favorite birds.  I was realizing that they share very similar overall lines with sighthounds and deer, so clearly I have a “type” 🙂  I was thrilled to see not just the one egret but MANY of them.

My mom brought her bird book along and helped me identify the birds I didn’t know.  She asked what I was really hoping to capture (egrets and anything that was flying) and acted as a great scout for moments I probably would have missed on my own.   I was really happy she’d been willing to come along, not just for the useful information and second set of eyes, but for the lovely time we were able to share and catch up on things!  After I had my fill of bird photos, we capped the morning off with a very excellent breakfast at a local restaurant we both love.  It was so fun!

The Chronic Fatigue really dislikes changes in schedules.  Any time I get up extra early or stay up unusually late, I pay for it.  And with this marked change in schedule; not only did I get up so early, I drove a long way and then had the nerve to walk around the wetlands, I felt ill for the next two days and could hardly do anything.  But it was worth it.  A little defiance in the face of disease can be a very good thing, even if you suffer for it.

You’ll be seeing more of these birds popping up in photos soon, so keep an eye out for them!  In the meantime, here are some pretty photos I captured that morning.

Thanks again to my sweet mother for coming along, and letting me take her photo for the blog!  It was pretty cold, so we were both bundled up like this 🙂

Love you, Mom!! ❤