In the past week I attended 5 programs organized on Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. I will post about the first four in a day or two; today I am only writing about today’s program. I joined a lovely group of volunteers and visitors in the morning  to look for birds that live in the canyon. This was my first birding experience, and although we didn’t see a lot of birds during the short hike, it was a very pleasant experience.

I do not own any lenses that are ideal for bird photography, but I still wanted to take a few images. I’ll share them with you despite of not being great pictures. But they are wonderful memories of today’s hike. Here they go:

2 Ravens perching on a dead branch

2 pictures of an Acorn Woodpecker, and a tree trunk with dozens of holes where Woodpeckers store acorns

The following few images are of California Towhees

This one is a California Scrub Jay

We saw a few Crows as well

These three pictures are of a Spotted Towhee

There were lots of Lesser Goldfinches on a large oak tree

And this is a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

The last bird pictures are of a Phainopepla (I’m not sure what the flying ones are in the background, probably Hummingbirds)

The last animal pictures I’ll share are not of a bird; this is a Tarantula Hawk Wasp. This insect hunts tarantulas. After paralyzing the arachnid with its stinger, it pulls it into a hole. In the hole it lays an egg on it, which, after hatching into a larva will feed on the still living tarantula.

After telling this to my husband he said he only had one question: “Do tarantulas live in this area? I had no idea.”

Thank you Judy and the other volunteers for leading a fun hike today.