It’s the start of Daylight Savings Time today. Eeew. I hate it. It’s dark when I want to wake up in the morning, and light outside when I want to go to bed. Still, I got myself up and about around 7:00 AM, and headed over to the WPA Rock Garden for a walk. I was hoping to catch sight of the Summer Tanager that has been reported as seen there on eBird.

When I got to the parking lot near the garden, I could see a woman checking out the area behind the barn at Fairytale Town, a children’s park adjacent to the garden. That’s where the reports on the Tanager indicated it was most often seen “eating bees”. There’s a fence and a hedgerow between the parking area and the park, so seeing anything clearly through that is extremely difficult. The woman was one of a small group of birders who were also looking for the Tanager. None of us had any luck seeing the bird.

In the garden itself, I saw a lot of the usual suspects. Some of them stopped on a stake that supported a large upright sprinkler. Water was oozing down from the sprinkler head and the birds stopped to sip at it, so I was able to get some fairly good photos of them. There were also some Bushtits that paused on branches between their flitting from one bush to the next. It’s always nice when the “difficult” birds decide to cooperate.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

I would have stayed there longer, but there was an event going on (the Shamrockin’ Half Marathon apparently). Streets were blocked off by police cars, and tons of people, some with boomboxes playing loudly, were gathering all around. I left after about 90 minutes. I go to the garden for quiet and relaxation, so all of the people and the noise were more than annoying.

This was hike #12 in my #52HikeChallenge for this year.

Species List:

1. Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna
2. Audubon’s Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata auduboni
3. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
4. Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
5. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
6. Calla Lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica
7. Cape Honey Flower, Melianthus major
8. Chinese Quince, Chaenomeles lagenaria
9. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
10. Crow, American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
11. Dame’s Rocket, Hesperis matronalis [purple flowers in bouquets]
12. Fern, Western Sword Fern, Polystichum munitum
13. Freesia, Dune Kammetjie, Freesia leichtlinii [white]
14. Fuchsiaflower Gooseberry, Ribes speciosum
15. Gladioli, Gladiolus sp.
16. Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
17. Hellebore, Stinking Hellebore, Helleborus foetidus
18. Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
19. Holly, European Holly, Hedgehog Holly, Ilex aquifolium
20. Honeysuckles, Lonicera sp.
21. Honeywort, Blue Shrimp Plant, Cerinthe major purpurascens [purple]
22. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
23. Iris, Bearded Iris, Iris × germanica
24. Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Dragon Arum, Dracunculus vulgaris [large, purple]
25. Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria
26. Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
27. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
28. Mullein, Moth Mullein, Verbascum blattaria [thin stick, white or yellow]
29. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus [heard]
30. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii [heard]
31. Paris Daisy, Euryops chrysanthemoides
32. Portuguese Squill, Scilla peruviana
33. Red-Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum
34. Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus
35. Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula
36. Sage, Black Sage, Salvia mellifera [white flowers, kind of looks like horehound]
37. Sage, Purple Sage, Salvia leucophylla [kind of looks like Cleveland, but paler and finer]
38. Spanish Bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica
39. Spring Starflower, Ipheion uniflorum
40. Western Bluebird, Sialia Mexicana
41. Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis
42. White Brodiaea, Triteleia hyacinthina