Ani Whisperers

The day started out cool, but warmed up to blue skies. On the way in to Estero Llano Grande we received a reliable report of the sighting of a first-year female Blue Bunting, a terrific rare bird. We went directly to the area where it was sighted, but came up empty. Up the trail at Alligator Lake we met Brian and Jutta Plathe. They had not heard the rumor of the Blue Bunting, so we went back so they could share in not seeing it.In the process of wandering around, sitting on benches, kibitzing and bullshitting, I saw a nice Great Blue Heron on top of a tall tree, a Golden-crowned Night Heron adult with an immature.Then back to the Blue Bunting site we got a Lincoln Sparrow where the missing Bunting should have been. A beautiful sparrow at that.Continung our meandering, Jutta spotted a single Groove-billed Ani in a tree. Groove-billed Anis simply should not be here now, but there have been sightings in both Esterao and Santa Ana this year and I have been stalking them. This one was on the backside of a tree and we were shooting through twigs into the sun. All things considered I am very satisfied. Brian at my shoulder is a far better photograph than I am and I am looking forward to seeing his shots.Brian and Jutta left, leaving Lorna and me on our own to help a couple of young men from Canada down for their first day in The Valley. We pointed out a couple of Ani that had landed in the cattails. I was temporaily distracted by a Sora that popped out into the open. Back to the Canadians - they were looking in the grass at their feet. I asked what they were looking at. "An Ani."  What the hell, an Ani? I slipped over to see what they were actually looking at. Right at our feet the grass was waving from a black shape on the ground. And yes, when there was a slight break in the grass there was a glimpse of an Ani. Absolutely no chance of a photo, but very exciting.  I actually got the chills.

Taking old vine Zin orally to control the goose-bumps, - Gunnar