I had another fantastic weekend of birding. It’s actually hard to remember when I’ve had a more birdy weekend. I added 26 species to my Orange County 2026 year list; I’m including a screenshot from eBird with the new birds and their locations at the bottom of this post. Notable birds included White-winged Scoters – four of them at Wickham Lake this morning – a very nice find by Kyle Knapp. It’s the first time since 2022 that I had all three scoters in Orange County (Surf, Black, & White-winged). Also at Wickham Lake, I had my first Wilson’s Warbler in several years. It was a crafty little stinker, but I managed to get a couple shots to at least document it. Also at Wickham Lake, I had a Northern Waterthrush – that’s a bird that’s not a guarantee for me on any particular year.
Here are my shots from the week – I’m starting off with one of my favorite shots of the year so far – of a young Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region. I was out on Monday 5/4/26, hoping for Lapland Longspurs, and although didn’t have any luck in that regard, this bird was an excellent consolation prize.
