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Posted by David S. on 18:59:39 07/14/09
In Reply to: TAS Southern California Trip posted by Webmaster
After visiting my brother in Stockton, I had an extra day in LA before I came home, so I went back to Santa Anita Canyon to look for the Black Swift and the American Dipper.
It happened to be on a Saturday, so there were quite a few people there. In fact, it took me 10 min. before I could find a parking place. I started down the infamous steep road to the Waterfall about 10:30, and it was warm and sunny. Once I got to the stream, the road turned to a dirt path and leveled off and pretty much followed the stream. There was plenty of company hiking with me and they were all going to the waterfall. I did manage to see 3-4 Canyon Wrens on the boulders alongside the stream bed. Down by the stream, the large, lush trees made the canyon quite shady, so when the wrens hopped on the rocks in full sun, observing conditions were excellent. The birds didn't seem too offended by all the people and were quite tolarant and never went far from their favorate rocks.
When I got to the waterfall, there must of been 20 people there with some of them swimming in the pool at the base of the falls. No Dippers there! On my way back from the falls, I saw a sign of a trail going to the top of the falls, so I decided to check it out, hoping it wouldn't have as many people. About 1/3 mile up was the top of the falls and I picked up the stream again. This trail became rocky and narrow, with a sheer drop on one side and the rock face of the hill on the other. Had to go slow & sure didn't want to trip on a rock!
About 50' past the cliff-area, I heard a bird, sorta like a baby Mockingbird screaming for food. Sure enough, down on the boulders by the stream, was an adult Dipper with a fledging she was feeding. The baby stayed on the open rocks while the parent flew short distances up or down the stream until she found what appeared to be grubs in the water and brought them back to feed it. The baby could fly very short distances, but preferred to stay on the rocks and let the parent do all the work. After about 10-15 min. of observation, I went up the trail about 200-300 more yards before I decided to start heading back. Whenever I got into an open area where I could get a good look at the sky, I looked for swifts, but there none to be seen. Maybe they're better seen towards late afternoon-early morning.
On the way back, some people were swimming in a pond where I observed the Dippers, but the birds were still there, only about 20' from the swimmers and not too concerned with the humans. I also heard another bird call like the baby Dipper upstream from the 2 I observed, and about 30' upstream from the swimmers, there was another baby being fed by another adult. These birds were under a large overhanging rock with a small waterfall partially concealing them. The parent would dive in the water and come out and land on an almost vertical carpet of moss growing on the rock. Again, I spent time observing these fascinating birds. The baby bird exhibits the "dipping" or does the push-ups constantly!
On my way back, I realized my real journey was about to begin when I hit the paved incline up to the parking lot. I was tired & hungry and already spent 3 hours hiking in the canyon. It took me a good 30-40 minutes to climb up what took about 15 minutes going down.....definitely the toughest hike of our trip. I wish others could have seen the birds in the canyon, but I think only a few of us could have ever made it. Overall, I must have spent 4 hours to see the canyon, and I was pretty much whipped by the time I reached the car. I only fully recovered after I had a beer & hot dog at the small concession stand at the park. But it was worth it. (Beer & birds)
I want to Thank You and Bill for a great and adventurous trip of birding in S. California. I've seen 93 birds I never saw before. I enjoyed the different places we visited and the good company that shared the experience. Please thank Bill for the good times and ride for me. I'm looking forward to S. Texas
David Schaffter
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