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I had a fun time with several singing Seaside Sparrows early this morning. These birds were singing within 10-12 feet of my truck window. Some shots were taken before the sun was up, other shots taken in the early morning sunshine.

End with my Lifer today. Stayed at @dpom 's in El Granada, CA. Early departure for walk with a stop to see this rare resident. Donna said she's seen this in the county in the past but never in such numbers. Pretty bird.

Table Mountain was where I'd seen this creature a few years back. Kinda...cool...to walk a beautiful landscape w/ @kueda & @catchang today: the celebrated wildflowers we were too early for, the geology of basalt dominance in full, bleak glory. Only two newts observed in the flowing creeks...

White Mountain Butterfly Count

• Ended the day on this species I usually only see in Arizona or Texas. Had rain on drive down which I was grateful for - cleaned the rent-a-car of all the off-roading. A fantastic trip.
  

I made a crazy decision and took the Rent-a-car out what I thought would connect me to a road Ken Davenport had taken me years back to collect Weidemeyers. Two incredibly packed rabbitbush. I prayed my way towards Mono Lake off-roading with a non-off-roading vehicle...

I'd seen this species years back in San Francisco behind the Legion of Honor. A noisy, gregarious flock. This seemed to be just a few above my head. Tough to photograph between the needles of the pine, close enough to watch that powerful beak shred the pine cones...

Save the Best for Last today - @sea-kangaroo and myself guided into Kameamea Lady habitat by folks working on the genetics of this elusive butterfly. Only one of two endemics to the Islands. Will put out mashed banana bait to lure them in. Warm sun turned to torrential rains. Didn't see the Vanessa, BUT saw the other endemic. The Greenish Bluet or Blackburn's Blue. A blue butterfly that is green. Read about this creature for decades. Insane thrill to finally see it. This is the only shot I managed to take of it. It'll do. :)

I had not posted this particular record from May, 2008, so I'll post it now since it documents a Golden-cheeked Warbler eating a female Argia genus damselfly. It may be an Argia fumipennis, but the shots are a little difficult to ID the bug. The bird appears to be a 2nd year male, judging from the green in parts of the back, but @gcwarbler will correct my age assessment if I am incorrect.

Please excuse the long-winded comments here, but this was just too special not to share with my iNat friends.

I was on the back deck of my house a while ago, adding sunflower seeds to a feeder that the siskins and goldfinches had about depleted. I saw some movement in one of the live oaks which hangs over my deck and saw that it was a Nashville Warbler. This is a common migrant in central Texas, but I had never gotten any shots of one in my yard. I went back in the house, grabbed a camera with a 100-400 mm lens and came back out on the deck to try to get some identifiable shots of the Nashville. I saw it occasionally popping in and out of view, but it would never give me enough time to get an identifiable shot. So, I'm standing there getting frustrated at the Nashville when suddenly...a Golden-cheeked Warbler started singing about 8 feet from me!

Golden-cheeked Warbler is an endangered species which nests nowhere but Texas. I have heard them from my property two or three times in the past years and seen a male nearby a few years ago, but the habitat in my neighborhood is certainly not prime for the species, but I do know they are around this immediate area in small numbers, but can be very difficult to find. Normally I have to go 30 or so miles from here to see this species, and then it is always iffy whether such a trip is successful. So, now this Golden-cheeked cranks up in song at 4 PM on an overcast and windy day right at my back door...AND I'm holding a camera! Long story short, I took 150+ images from as close as 6 feet as this mature male GCWA foraged in my live oaks! The bird seemed totally unconcerned about me blasting away with the camera and was busy grabbing small worms, etc. It was terrifically exciting. The bird spent at least 10 minutes above my deck, and sang 5 or 6 times, then flew off toward the more wooded property west of me. Golden-cheeks are quick to abandon locations where human habitation is too dense, but hopefully a place like my neighborhood where all the houses are on 2-3 acre sized properties, is more conducive to the bird sticking around. Anyway, first time I have photographed the species in this area or even in Hays County. And I never did get any shots of the Nashville. Somehow that is just O.K. :-)

By the way, the "out of range" designation which usually pops up on the iNat maps of any report of this species near Austin, is incorrect. The area of the Edwards Plateau just west of Austin is, and always has been, part of the normal range of this species.