Blythe, California, December 2001
Recent months have seen a good influx of Ruddy Ground Doves into southern California. This very small but portly Mexican species is usually just recorded as a vagrant in the USA with occasional singletons wandering across the border and setting up residence in Arizona border towns. When a group of Ruddies were discovered wintering in Blythe, CA, we couldn’t resist the temptation to take the long desert trek east to check them out. They were very easy to see and a nice male was one of the first birds that we saw when we rolled up shortly after dawn, its grey head contrasting with the pinkish underparts and rusty red wings and back. Within half an hour, we were watching a nice group of 5 birds busily shuffling around amongst the Inca Doves. Their beautiful ruddy plumage making the males stand out but the drabber females could easily be overlooked if it was not for the uniform,plain, unscaled upperparts. We enjoyed these birds for a while before wandering down to Mayflower Park where we enjoyed the party plumages of various Vermillion Flycatchers, flycatching to their hearts content.

Another highlight of this trip was a Zone-tailed Hawk, soaring amongst a large group of Turkey Vultures.

Los Angeles, California, December 22nd 2001
An over-wintering Chestnut-sided Warbler in a small suburban park in Los Angeles was a welcome sight on the weekend before Christmas. A great "jizzy" bird as it moved actively around the Eucalyptus trees, wings hanging and tail cocked at half-mast. Its occasional, high pitched "chip" call also made it easy to pick out from the loud calls of the Yellow-rumped Warblers. Bright, festive green upperparts with just a hint of a chestnut streak across its flanks, this is probably the same bird that has been wintering at this park for the last 2 winters.