Honeymoon 2.0

Many prefer the "firsts" of everything, but I'm more of a fan of "the second time around." Blessed indeed, the husband and I got a second chance at Maui this year! We visited some old spots, tried some new, and instilled a new mid-day downtime habit so we wouldn't adventure ourselves out. Our trip definitely falls under a "mission accomplished" trip, and we're already eager to go back, of course.

Our main purpose for our Maui vacation this September was for it to be our late summer ocean trip. With our new-found, for me, and rekindled, for Justin, love for birding, we decided to make this a birding trip as well!

Birding at Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge in Kihei, HI

Kitesurfers and windsurfers in Kihei, HI

One night we had dinner with my cousins who live there and they asked us if Maui is a mecca for birds, like it is for windsurfing, kitesurfing, and snorkeling. No, no.... Although Maui contains many species unique for me and Justin to see, by no means do people just come here to bird. As of five years ago, there were only 108 bird species on Maui, which is very few, considering.... And 38 of those 108 are said to be "rare/accidental" sightings, which means they aren't common visitors or inhabitants of Maui. We were able to spot 41 of those birds, which is great news! Which means, out of all the likely birds we could have seen in Maui, we saw 59% of them! Go team!

Craft fair in Kihei, HI

Okay, where to begin! Trip in recap, random facts at the end...ready, go!

Our first pit stop in Maui was, of course, Taco Bell. Why wouldn't it be? After that, we already started our souvenir shopping at local tourist stores and the craft fair in Kihei.

Then to our hotel...Sugar Beach Resort. #1, of course I wanted to stay there because of it's name, but #2, we chose this place because it was a condo resort, which proved to be such a lovely type of place to stay! We had our own spacious condo with a large bedroom (my advice to every engaged couple: get a king bed, you will not regret it, says the woman who insisted we have a double bed, but compromised with a queen bed, and not regrets not getting a king bed!), a kitchen with fabulous green cabinets (really, though, they were really awesome looking!), a comfy living room, and a rather large fifth-story lanai. Our "garden view" room definitely needs to include in the description that it has a smokin' view of the ocean too! Every morning we enjoyed sitting out on the porch (I can't use "lanai" and act like I actually talk like that anymore) and the room was also convenient to spy on how in-use the pool and hot tub were for the best times to go down. Although, every time was the best time, because, on average, there was probably no more than 10 people down there at any given time. I basked in joy one day when I was person #2 down at the pool. It was only 1:00 pm and people may think I'm crazy for spending the middle of the day doing nothing but relaxing, but this was part of our downtime plan we instilled on this trip. I must say, we both rather enjoyed that part of each day! Rejuvenation.

That's our hotel and I can see our room from this angle!

I must add, also, that the beach was only 8 steps away from our hotel pool's patio concrete (that's a mouthful). The hot tub was probably less than 20 steps away, which actually may be kind of frightening in case of a storm, but that was of no worry to us.

The wind was a little much this trip. We didn't remember it being as bad last time, but we realized we got the bulk of it with where our hotel was located. But Maui can do no wrong in my eyes, so it was easy to overlook, once I tied back my hair that is....

The first day we knocked off some common birds on our list, not even by birding, but just by them being around: House Sparrow, Common Myna, Japanese White Eye, Red Junglefowl, Cattle Egret, and Black-necked Stilt.

Red Junglefowl

Cattle Egret right outside our pool area

Red Junglefowl

Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilts

There was a 3-hour time change, in our favor, we weren't prepared for. It was so exciting to wake up at what was 9:30 am to us, but 6:30 am to Hawaiians. We were early birds this trip! Our morning routine was to immediately go to the porch (tempted to use "lanai" again, but I can't...but I did?), open the curtains and sliding doors, and soak in the peacefulness Maui poured into our hearts.

"the crashing waves outside our condo"

The first morning we were there, Justin woke up first and came back to the bedroom with a sad look on his face, stating it was overcast. I had to remind him it was actually only 6:30 am, even though, to our bodies, it was 9:30 am. :) I made an equally silly mistake when I would wake up every morning and forget we were in Maui. I thought we were home and I was hearing cars drive by in puddles of rain...aka the crashing waves outside our condo. :)

Justin with the 'Iao Needle at the viewpoint
right before we jumped the fence!

One of our favorite parts of the trip was hiking the secret trail in 'Iao Valley. 'Iao Valley is always one of our highlights, but finding a secret trail (thank you, Google) always makes things more magical. You hop over the rails after the highest viewpoint of the 'Iao Needle (a tall, lush pinnacle), right where it says "do not trespass" :) ! The trail takes you so high up that you become eye-level with the 'Iao Needle and you can barely distinguish it from other hills and rocks up there! Justin is a great hiking buddy and this is the prettiest and best hike I have ever been on! (To-do list for next trip: research how far the trail actually goes and take it even farther next time!) It is too overgrown to bird effectively on this trail, but we somehow managed to see the Red-billed Leiothrix there, which is still one of the prettiest birds we have ever seen!

On the hike.... The 'Iao Needle is now to my right.

Oh, how could I skip the most important birding fact of our trip?! Exactly right when we were pulling into our parking spot at 'Iao Valley, Justin spotted a white bird flying high in the hills and clouds. THE WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD! No biggie...ONLY THE MOST EXCITING BIRD WE CAME TO MAUI TO LOOK FOR!!! Although we were not able to snap a decent photograph ever because it flies too far away and, also, too fast, we were enamored by our sights of it through our binoculars! We either saw two or three of these guys flying in 'Iao Valley right by the entrance. The best part is we were able to spot them three different times within an hour!

Tagged Nene

We knocked off more birds later in Kihei on our first full day there: Spotted Dove, Nene (aka Hawaiian Goose, which is the Hawaii state bird!), Red-crested Cardinal, Cackling Goose, Zebra Dove, Pacific Golden Plover, Muscovy Duck, Great Frigatebird, Black-crowned Night Heron, Java Sparrow, Gray Francolin, African Silverbill, House Finch, and Scaly-breasted Munia (aka Nutmeg Mannikin)! We did great work the first day for birding!

Nene

Red-crested Cardinal

Cackling Goose

Great Frigatebird

Pacific Golden Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Great Frigatebird

Java Sparrow

Gray Francolin

Gray Francolin

African Silverbill

Scaly-breasted Munia

African Silverbill

Scaly-breasted Munia

The Java Sparrow was one of my favorites because it looks like a miniature puffin, and I love anything mini-sized! The Scaly-breasted Munia felt rewarding, because we had looked for it last year unsuccessfully. The Nene was my favorite of the day, though, because it is the state bird and actually somewhat hard to see, if you don't live in Maui. We only saw it once out of this trip and last! It's somewhat-striped design on its neck is breathtakingly beautiful!

Our most successful birding spot last year was at the Hosmer Grove Campground, right inside the Haleakala National Park, but not all the way up to the crater. We spotted 5 Chukar, 2 'I'iwi, lots of 'Apapane, 3 Ring-necked Pheasants (2 female and 1 dark male variant, we believe), Northern Mockingbird, and the Maui 'Amakahi! Hosmer Grove is an excellent place to spot native birds! The 'I'iwi is my favorite and this time they were seen in different plumage than the bright red we saw them in last time! The Chukar look like they belong in a circus, though, so they may be my favorite from that day!

Chukar

'I'iwi

Chukar

'Apapane

Female Ring-necked Pheasant flying away

'Apapane

We always kiss in bamboo forests...
it's one of our things

We visited another of "our spots" on this trip: the Garden of Eden on the Road to Hana. Although there is a $10 per-person charge (we got the second-timer rate, ohhhh yeahhhh!), it is totally worth it! Especially for the close encounters with Common Peafowl! The two babies were all the rave in the arboretum! But my favorite bird of the day there was the Chinese Hwamei! Their faces are beautiful and it looks like they are dressed for a masquerade! We also spotted Chestnut Munia, which are richly colored!

Chinese Hwamei

Common Peafowl, aka Peacocks

Common Peafowl

Chinese Hwamei

The itty-bitty islet where we spotted
the Red-footed Booby, Brown Booby,
and Great Frigatebird (again)

The winding Road to Hana took us to our next birding location: Ke'anae Peninsula. We had seen on eBird that the Brown Booby, Red-footed Booby, and more Great Frigatebird species were being seen on the islet (one of my new favorite words to say, besides "isthmus")! The birding was somewhat frustrating, due to how far away the islet was, but we got out our scope we drug all the way to Maui, along with the extremely heavy tripod, and we were able to distinguish all 3 of those birds! Hallelujah, what beautiful species! The pièce de résistance was another White-tailed Tropicbird sighting! This time we were able to see the top of the bird from far away, and could depict the dark colors on its back! What a beauty of a bird! (I recommend Googling it!) The Birding Master was very excited about our tropicbird sightings! Apparently, too, the Red-footed Boobies are nesting on top of the islet! We could identify about 7 Red-footed Boobies, 2 Brown Boobies, and a multitude of Great Frigatebirds! It was funny...the Great Frigatebirds looked similar to Bald Eagles way out there on the islet!

Three Bears Falls

The Road to Hana, for us, also included Three Bears Falls (my favorite waterfall on the road), our stop at the small town of Nahiku, and the glorious Waianapanapa State Park (say that 10 times fast...heck! I can't even say it once correctly!), which is the black sand beach! I still want to argue it is more like the black rock beach, but I guess it's just a different kind of sand.... We went as far as this park on the Road to Hana and then came back the way we went (the Road to Hana takes a very long time to travel because of all the winds, so it's an all-day adventure, unfortunately with no down time...but I accidentally fell asleep on the way back! WHO falls asleep on the Road to Hana?! Oops.) We saw reported sightings of the Brown Noddy and Black (Hawaiian) Noddy at this park, and, boy, did we see them! So close! The Black Noddy had amazing orange feet too! This park contains a cave the husband loves too!

Honokalani black sand beach

Is it really black sand?

Brown and Black Noddies

Brown and Black Noddies

Our trip settled down after checking off 'Iao Valley, Hosmer Grove, and the Road to Hana off our list. Those are the three main attractions for us on Maui. "Our spots." 

On Friday, we ventured over to Lahaina for a relaxing breakfast at Longhi's, which Justin remembered had the best breakfast potatoes (which makes this another of "our spots," thanks to the Tulsa family for the recommendation last year!). Not only does Longhi's have the best breakfast potatoes, but I got THE BEST muffin I have ever had! Lemon poppy seed with fresh raspberries cooked into it, topped with chopped macadamia nuts. The "cherry on top" was that it was steaming hot inside and out and the fact that it had more of a muffin top than a muffin bottom (which Gilmore Girls taught me, the top is always the best part!). And my Maui tradition is to have fresh pineapple at some point, so this was the perfect place to check that off my list!

THE muffin

Our view from our table at Longhi's

Unfortunately, an unappetizing picture
of the cheese ravioli's

We had a delicious dinner at Fabiani's with my cousins, who asked us if this was "one of our spots" and we brushed it off saying "no," not realizing that it totally is one of our spots! We verified that by going there again the next night and ordering the same entree to split! Who can resist THE BEST HOMEMADE CHEESE RAVIOLI'S IN THE WORLD?! But seriously. You won't believe it until you try them, and then you'll insist "perfection" is part of the ingredients!



Duplicating our dessert the previous night as well, we went out again to the Snow Factory, which the
cousins introduced us to. Described by my cousin as "it's just like eating snow in Shingletown" (where we used to visit our grandparents), snow is pretty much the best dessert in the world. Justin said I apparently went all "Elf" on him by ordering strawberry and cookies 'n cream snow with white chocolate chips and mini m&m's, topped with caramel sauce, so we got separate cups the next night and were supremely happy with our experience of snow (definitely one of "our things" now!). 

Hers

His

                       

Sunset at Makena Beach

You can't visit Maui without noticing the spectacular sunsets. Catching the sunset at different beaches is one of my favorite Maui hobbies. We got excellent ones at Makena Beach (we did this last year, so it is now one of "our spots"), and we tried two new beaches for sunsets throughout the week. We caught one at Ulua and Maakapo Beaches (they run right next to each other, or so I think?). This was my favorite beach we went to this trip! And it's also where we spotted our first Wandering Tattler of the trip! Maui has few shorebirds and practically zero gulls (we have never even seen one there, but apparently they show a few of their faces at some point), so it was rewarding to finally see a bird near the water!

Sunset at Makena Beach

Enjoying walking around Ulua/Maakapo
Beaches before the sunset

We kiss at sunsets

Wandering Tattler (picture not taken
at Ulua/Maakapo Beaches)

Sunset at Ulua/Maakapo Beaches

Our own "secret cove"

Our last sunset at the beach we caught was supposed to be at the "Secret Cove" (Paako Beach), but we couldn't find it in time, so we stopped at who knows where, but what a great spot it turned out to be! The sunset was amazing and the waves picked up while we were there, which made for great pictures!

Sunset at our own "secret cove"

The last few birds of the trip were the Hawaiian Coot, Rock Pigeon, Ruddy Turnstone, and Sanderling, which brought us to a total of 41 birds this trip!

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Sipping on a cappuccino,
watching the sunrise,
...on our lanai

I hoped on our last night there that I would be able to wake up the next, and last, morning for the sunrise to take pictures, but I didn't set an alarm (it's vacation!). What a treat...God woke me up in time! Waking up at 6 am is something I could definitely get used to, but I have to remind myself that I was "pseudo" waking up at 6 am, which was really 9 am for my body, unfortunately.

The sunrise was so peaceful that I even had to sneak-make (totally not a phrase, but I'm claiming it) a cup of cappuccino (I'm trying to eliminate caffeine from my diet, hence the sneaking) to top the morning off with perfection.






We ended our trip the best way possible. We opened both of the sliding glass doors all the way, pulled two chairs in front of the lanai (okay, last time, I promise!), and sat in silence as we watched the waves. Sigh. What a great trip!




Random facts of The Great Maui Trip of 2014:

• Our trip had two theme songs. The first, Fire Blazin', was stuck in my head on the way there, and I succeeded in getting it stuck in Justin's as well. I always thought "underbeats" was a musical term, but apparently I coined that one in regards to this song. But you gotta listen to it...great underbeats!!! You can't deny it! And the second song was our theme song (more about this down below).
• Our pool had 4 magical mosaic dolphins in it. Need I say more?

• The keynote address for Apple occurred on our trip. That was a must-see for the husband. I love him.
• We were the youngest vacationers at our resort. It was funny sunbathing by retirees...what a life they must live!
• The drive to 'Iao Valley is one of our favorites. Many parts of the road are covered with arches of trees, and the street contains a beautiful historic church and some building that may also be a church, but it looks like a castle. In front of the church contains a tree that Justin claims as "his favorite tree ever," because it is a "very handsome" tree.

Driving back to Kihei from 'Iao Valley 

• Eating Safeway deli sandwiches is apparently our go-to meal in Maui, besides Taco Bell (which goes without saying).

• If you do something twice and you intend to do it again, it starts becoming "your thing." Great news! We now have a spot where we eat lunch always at 'Iao Valley. Our very own spot! Well, a bench, but still! Who would've thunk we'd have a spot in 'Iao Valley! Oh life...
• I conjured up nicknames for us on this trip. Hello, I am Nature Babe, and you can call my husband, Mountain Dude. We are working on our theme song, which was stuck in our heads nearly the whole trip, and we are even thinking about expanding into the business of children books (I say this with jest, but I so wish this was true!). Get this.... "Nature Babe and Mountain Dude's Fun with Trees" and "...Fun with Moss" and "...Fun with Sailboats" and "...Fun with Trails" and "...Fun with Kites" and...are you ready for this... "...Fun with Birds!"
• Best equation ever: relaxing at the pool + toes in sand + no cares in mind + ocean breeze + no schedule to keep = happiness
• We found a consignment store in Maui called Rainbow Attic. Perfect name, right?! It gets

  

  Northern Cardinal

  better.... We walk into the store, not knowing what to expect, and the first thing we see on the right is a section devoted to bird stuff! Um, perfect?! Bird stuff is my favorite! :) I walked out of there with a picture of bird eggs in a nest and a glass pitcher with a Blue Jay and Northern Cardinal on it. Um, perfect again?! Wait...it gets better, indeed! Later that night, walking back to our car from Makena Beach's sunset, we spotted a Northern Cardinal! Not only is that the first Northern Cardinal I ever remember seeing, so I can finally count it, but I've been reading a book (The Song of the Cardinal I found at Justin's thrift store), where the main "character" is a Northern Cardinal! Now, how perfect is that! My main character came alive to me in front of my eyes! Then we heard rats. It was dark. And I clinched Justin's arm and couldn't scurry away fast enough.

Northern Cardinal and a Hawaiian man

• We had a first together this trip. I grew up eating Round Table Pizza and becoming obsessed with their Garlic Parmesan Twists. Justin had never heard, let alone eaten, these majestic twists of glory. We got a box, oh boy, did we get a box! Bliss. Enough said.
• Don't go to Maui craving corn. $4.25 at Safeway for one measly ear of corn. 
• We found a sea cave at the Kihei Boat Landing. My husband is really into caves.

• I insist on finding a rainbow before leaving Maui (it's one of "my things"). Check! Saw a rainbow over a beautiful golf course in Wailea.



Cattle Egret "home tree"

• Apparently there is a little bit of Avatar on Maui. We found a Cattle Egret "home tree" and also a Myna "home tree!" And there are hiking trails after the cliff beach on West Maui (was on our to-do list for this trip) that Justin says looked like a movie set. There was an "Avatar tree" there that had wisps hanging down that I swear looked like they would start glowing any second, like in Avatar!

 

Myna "home tree" (they were all on top, so you couldn't 

see them, but, boy, could you hear them!)

Movie-like tree

Avatar-like tree

• We saw over 20 deer climbing the hill behind Makena. Who knew!
• There is apparently a rat problem in Maui (gross). They brought in mongoose to solve the problem years ago. But now there is a mongoose problem, because mongoose and rats are on different sleeping schedules. There's a knee slapper for ya!

• I found my new favorite apple! They are called "Envy" and are from New Zealand. Has anyone ever seen them on the main land?
• Last trip we frequented Bounty Music three times. This time, our "3-timer" was Sports Authority. :)
• We got our yearly "cat time" at the Maui Humane Society again (one of "our things"). Those cats there have a pretty good life living in all of the cat rooms there!

Every blog should always end with kittens...

Ahhhh, Maui...until next time, aloha!

Bird Encounters: Heaps Peak Arboretum

Today for Sabbath, we adventured to Heaps Peak Arboretum off the 18 in Skyforest, California. This is one of our favorite locations to bird, not only for the species we have spotted there, but also for the easiness of the Sequoia loop trail. The trail is about a mile long and is just right...not too hard, not too easy. The perfect trail for birding!

We have been to Heaps Peak either two or three times before (neither of us could remember). Our first time was iconic. We spotted the White-headed Woodpecker within minutes of hopping on the trail. And every visit to Heaps Peak, we have seen new birds, which is always what you want as a birder!

Every time we go back, and this time was no different, we walk very slow as we begin. We look for the White-headed Woodpecker to return. No luck. 

Once the trail takes its first big bend, it opens up into a vast array of trees on both sides. This is where the majority of our birding takes place. We venture left, then straight, then back, "psst-ing" to each other if we see anything. We even ventured farther this time off the trail (oops!). But good thing we did! We saw the bird we came to see this time!!! The Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) is a woodpecker that is quite large and I've been wanting to see this bird ever since June. Not only did we see the Northern Flicker off the trail, but we also spotted a Nuttall's Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker in the pine trees! What joy!

Does anyone know if this is Poison Oak?

Heaps Peak is known for always having multitudes of Mountain Chickadees and Western Bluebirds, which are always fun to see chirping and fluttering about. Other repeat bird species for us at this location are: Steller's Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Acorn Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Spotted Towhee, and Dark-eyed Junco. Already on our birding lists, but new for us at this location now are: Western Scrub Jay and Yellow Warbler. And, of course, we usually always have a suspicious bird we are unable to identify. We are not sure whether we saw a Western-wood Pewee or an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Our favorite part of the trail 

Western Bluebirds all over the place!

Acorn Woodpecker

Today, I counted my blessings. There are so many things to be thankful for. I love how birding slows down my life and makes me able to realize this. 

I have been indulging in a pleasure read, in between reading for school, and my newest book, Bird Sense: What's it's Like to be a Bird, has taught me that birding is all about encountering. Encounter: an unexpected experience, in this case, good. Oh how I love birding and all of the encounters it has shared with me! Today, I cherished our encounter with the Northern Flicker. And, as always, I cherish my time with my best birding friend, my husband. In between our lines of "what I remember about coming here before..." and "this is where...," we have once again created new memories in nature. 

Oh, what joy!

Our "Big Year"

Justin and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary by doing something fun every day this weekend, since I start school again on Monday (our true anniversary).

We have decided to celebrate by doing something new and going to a swap meet, eating dinner at the delicious Corner Bakery, doing our favorite hobby together (birding), and we still have yet to go to our favorite restaurant in Palm Springs, watching our wedding video, and finally going to Yellow Deli in Vista!

As I reflect on our last year spent together, I am filled with joy. I thought life couldn't get better on August 4, last year, but our first year of marriage has proven that life is full of blessings  no matter what, but so much sweeter when you share them with your best friend! 

I think the most unique thing about Justin and I is that we consider ourselves to be birders. We have beginner's luck with birding too (or so I believe). Although Justin has been exposed to birding off and on his whole life, once we started birding together, we now consider ourselves true birders. I feel like I should write "Birders" with a capital letter just because I love being a Birder SO much!

Justin mentioned some birding stories to me a few times when we were dating, but I didn't find too much interest in it (sorry Justin). The more he talked about it, though, the more intrigued I became. I began to fully appreciate this topic of "birding" when we were on our honeymoon in Maui. We went out and bought Maui bird books and started trying to search for a few different birds. The most difficult thing about this was we didn't have any binoculars! I knew, though, if I could enjoy birding as much as I did without binoculars, I would enjoy it SO much more with binoculars!

The birds we could see with our naked eyes in Maui included: Common Myna, Red-crested Cardinal, Red Junglefowl, House Finch, Cattle Egret, Spotted Dove, House Sparrow, Zebra Dove, Black-crowned Night Heron, Gray Francolin, Muscovy Duck, American Pekin Duck, Mallard, Black-necked Stilt, Wandering Tattler, Common Peafowl, Great Frigatebird, Japanese White Eye, Maui 'Amakihi, 'I'iwi, Red-billed Leiothrix, and Ring-necked Pheasant.

As you can see, once we started birding we couldn't stop. It's a good thing to be addicted to, though! As my mother so comically and wisely put, "It's better than clubbing!" Little does she know not only how much we enjoy birding, but how much SHE would enjoy it! (Justin thinks you would be very good at it, Mom....)

Once we got back to California, we reported an easy-to-see Acorn Woodpecker while we were on a hike in Cleveland National Forest (San Diego), but our biggest birding experience happened shortly after that in September. 

My father-in-law is extremely into birding and he is our Birding Master (another title that deserves capitalization). We got calls, texts, and emails from him about a rare bird sighting on the coasts of California. The closest sighting to us was one on the coast of Playa Del Rey. A Blue-footed Booby was being spotted! (Actually a few were being reported!) This was a very big high-alert birding event we couldn't miss apparently. There was hub bub in all the major birding websites and people from all over were coming here to spot them! So we drove out there on September 21 with 1 pair of binoculars hoping to make a historic bird sighting of the "BFB" (I've learned some bird lingo...). We arrived at the wrong time of day, right at dusk, when the lighting was just a little too bad and the jetty where the bird was was just a little too far. So close!!! (At least we were still able to spot: Black Oyster Catcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Brown Pelican, and Double-crested Cormorant). The Bird Master was disappointed  we missed the BFB and encouraged us to try again and go back (he was living vicariously through us, since the BFB is a lifetime bird for most people, including him). ("Lifetime bird" is really a phrase in birding...awesome, right?!)

We made our 1 1/2 hour trip again the next day, after we stopped at REI to pick up our second pair of binoculars, and were blessed to see not only one, but four Blue-footed Boobies (also a Black Turnstone and Great Blue Heron)! Although they were only juvenile BFBs, which means their feet were not indeed blue, this was something special!  We definitely have beginner's luck. (The species stuck around long enough and started showing up in a few more spots in California, so our Birding Master was able to see this lifetime bird of his next trip out to California!)

Note: We ended up visiting Playa Del Rey months later and spotted: Barn Swallow, Elegant Tern, Forster's Tern, Marbled Godwit, Red-breasted Merganser, Surfbird, Surf Scoter, and Tree Swallow.

One of the fun aspects of birding is to meet other birders and enjoy this wonderful hobby in nature together. When you pass by birders, the conversation always makes me laugh because we are all such big bird geeks! We were able to meet two ladies at Playa Del Rey who graciously let us look through their birding scope to get a crisp and ever-so-excellent view of the BFBs. We have now purchased our own birding scope because of how much it truly helps scan the distance.

Around our home, we started paying attention to the birds that frequented our neighborhood. We have noticed many Black Phoebes, of course the usual House Finches and House Sparrows, a few Great Egrets live in the meadow, some American Goldfinches hung out in the park trees for awhile, and way too many Northern Mockingbirds make our HOA their home. Our favorite neighborhood birding experience ties between randomly seeing an ear-full of Cedar Waxwings in the trees across the street (never have we seen them again), getting close-up encounters with the Red-shouldered Hawk who lives around here, and staking out at the tree that is home to at least thirty hummingbirds (Anna's and Allen's) who sit still long enough so you can get good looks at their shimmery beauty!

We have discovered a few favorite birding hotspots, thanks to ebird.org this past year, as well.

(Side note: I only mention new birds spotted. The great thing about birding is you always see multitudes of different types of birds and you are constantly seeing repeat birds you have already seen, which is good review. Birding trips are always fruitful!)

Heaps Peak Arboretum near Lake Arrowhead is definitely my favorite spot, so far. There is a perfect little loop trail that is just the right length of a hiking trail to bird on. It is very very quiet up there in the mountains as well. And it smells like pine trees, which is always a plus in my book. Over our two visits there, we have seen these wonderful and amazing species God has created: Mountain Chickadee, White-headed Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Western Bluebird, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Spotted Towhee.

Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino has been a favorite park of ours to bird at as well. (It also has a great frisbee golf course that looks fun! I know what I want for Christmas!) The cool thing about ebird.org is that you can go online to a hotspot and see what birds have been reported (it is being a good birding citizen to input your bird sightings as well). We went specifically to Glen Helen to see a lifetime bird for Justin: Lewis's Woodpecker. We didn't see it the first day we went, but we went back two days later and saw it in all it's glory flying from tree to tree in the wide open grass area. (It's a wide open grass area, because it's part of the frisbee golf course...which we didn't realize and were in the way of what happened to be our friends' shot!) Overall, we have also added Belted Kingfisher, Northern Shoveler, American Coot, Dark-Eyed Junco, Hooded Merganser, European Starling, Cooper's Hawk, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Red-winged Blackbird, and Great-tailed Grackle to our list from Glen Helen.

One of the fun aspects of birding is to think of it as a game. You research what hotspot you want to go to, what is being seen there, and where to find it. You go and you search. You find, and you feel like you win! It has been especially fun birding this year too, because since I have never birded before, every new bird is literally a new bird for me! Most are review for Justin, but he barely remembers them, so it's been fun for both of us! We enjoy seeing repeat birds as well, but it's definitely fun to go birding and spot new species! Most of the time we walk away with seeing at least one new bird for our life list, and we also add birds to our Big Year list! (If you're confused what a Big Year is, watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zTt6PEODBM). 

Something we have enjoyed this year is whenever we take a trip, we have vowed to bird in that area, since most likely it will offer some different types of birds than the cities we live in or around. (Sometimes we joke about moving to southern Texas one day where it is known for birding!)

When we went to San Francisco during winter, we found these species (we also met a great birding friend...shout out to Felix, who taught us a great birding lesson: never bird without your book!): Pied-billed Grebe, California Towhee, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Stellers Jay, Long-billed Curlew, Bonaparte's Gull, California Gull, Western Gull, Bufflehead, Eared Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Common Goldeneye, Snowy Egret, Ring-necked Duck, Willet, Mute Swan, White-crowned Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, Ring-billed Gull, Horned Grebe, Western Grebe, and Lesser Scaup.

A birding highlight of our year was when the Birding Master came to visit and we took a family birding trip to San Diego county. Trips just to bird are now some of my favorite trips! These are the special birds we saw with our Birding Master: Nuttall's Woodpecker, Northern Harrier, Mountain Bluebird, Savannah Sparrow, Ferruginous Hawk, Green-winged Teal, Bald Eagle, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Falcon, Hutton's Vireo, Lark Sparrow, and American Wigeon.

At our local Hulda Crooks Park in Loma Linda, we have seen: Killdeer, Western Scrub Jay, Band-tailed Pigeon, Bewick's Wren, and Lawrence's Goldfinch.

We have tried a few other parks as well: Fairmount Park in Riverside and Ford Park in Redlands. Collectively, we have spotted these species at those parks: Canvasback, Cassin's Kingbird, Graylag Goose, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Another great local birding spot is the San Timoteo Creek area in Redlands. I love going here because my friend, Seth, is buried in a cemetery near there and he is a lovely person to remember. Justin and I had a very exciting Cliff Swallow and Sora sighting there.

A great thing about birding too is that we can go back to the same park a few times a year and see different types of birds, since different seasons bring different birds to different areas. Also, bird plumage sometimes changes with season, which is fun to see! For example, we have seen Ruddy Ducks multitudes of times, but we just recently spotted them having their bright baby blue beaks, which change that color in the summer! (Side fact: If you don't already know, many male bird species are more colorful than female species, so the males can be more fun to spot.) 

Another regional park that is great to go birding at around here is Prado Regional Park in Chino. These are the birds we have seen there our two times: Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned Warbler, American White Pelican, Say's Phoebe, Vermillion Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Clark's Grebe, and Common Moorhen.

A city that has amazing birds around here is San Diego. Since I worked down there at the beginning of our marriage still, I had more opportunities to bird there than Justin. We try not to bird without each other, but sometimes it just happened (whoops). A few great places to bird there are the San Diego River Estuary, Famosa Slough, Lake Hodges Footbridge, Lake Murray, and Cabrillo National Monument. Together, we have seen: Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Pintail, Bushtit, Little Blue Heron, American Avocet, Least Sandpiper, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Wren, California Thrasher, Hooded Oriole, Bullock's Oriole, Western Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Caspian Tern, Wilson's Warbler, and Brandt's Cormorant. Accidentally (whoops) I saw these birds in San Diego solo: Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitcher, Gadwall, Whimbrel, Hermit Thrush, and Redhead

The San Jacinto Wildlife Area in Lakeview and Lake Skinner County Park in Winchester are not for birders faint of heart. It was a little too much for us to handle. It would take days to cover those whole areas, but we were able to spot: Violet-green Swallow, Western Kingbird, American Pipit, Greater Yellowlegs, White-faced Ibis, Yellow Warbler, and Phainopepla (we had to Google how to pronounce that one!).

I love birding when I least expect to be birding. One time I was at the animal shelter when I noticed a Brewer's Blackbird in front of me. One time I was sitting at my desk at work in San Diego when an Osprey flew up on the telephone pole right outside the window. One time Justin and I were going to Home Depot, when we noticed Canadian Geese across the street in a pond. One time we were driving near the mountains in Grand Terrace when we noticed an American Kestrel on a street sign. One time Justin and I were on a walk when we saw a Eurasian-collared Dove. The time I was waiting in my car to go into my interview at LLU, I noticed multitudes of Acorn Woodpeckers and American Robins in the palm trees right there in the parking lot! One time on my way to work in San Diego, a White-tailed Kite flew across the freeway. One time when we were at Vasquez Rocks with my parents, we saw a White-throated Swift. One time on a trail on Catalina Island, I saw a Horned Lark for a split second. And American Crows, Common Ravens, Rock Pigeons, and Mourning Doves seem to be everywhere we go. 

Birding is my new favorite hobby, if you can't tell.

And, today, as we celebrate our love we have shared together for this past year of marriage and for all the years to come, we went birding at San Timoteo Creek again. We found what we went to look for, which always makes me feel like I won a prize! We saw Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, and Lesser Goldfinch!

This year has been the best year of my life. It has been my Big Year. I married the love of my life, my family doubled in size, I have a new favorite hobby, I have two wonderful dogs, we have had two beautiful homes and made the best of them, and I have started my MOT program! Blessings abundant! Praise the Lord.