• Song sparrow • • Melospiza melodia • • Towsley Canyon • This sparrow found a mid-morning snack 🦗 #birds #birding #birdwatching #SCV

• Pico Canyon • Great conditions at Pico Canyon on Saturday, especially before the temps got too high. I stopped here for some gushers and a great view of the Santa Susana.

• East Walker Ranch, Placerita Canyon • Growing up in the Rust Belt, sights like this dilapidated old rig were common - farm equipment, cars, factories. I love interacting with history through our artifacts, and there are so many throughout the SCV. #hiking #SCV #SoCalHiking #nature #photography

• Golden-crowned Sparrow • • Zonotrichia atricapilla • • Walker Ranch • First time seeing GCSP in good detail, the eye-ring and little flash of gold on her forehead really stood out in the morning light. #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #naturephotography #nature #wildlife #hiking

• Antonovich Open Preserve • First time hiking the Weldon Canyon Trail yesterday. Conditions were beautiful, as were these poppies. #hiking #nature #photography #naturephotography #wildlife #SoCal #SCV

• Towsley Canyon Loop • Perfect day to be in the canyons yesterday. This was my first time on the Towsley loop, I loved the diversity in the environment. Everyone was so friendly on the trail, too 😌 #hiking #nature #wildlife #SCV #SantaClarita #canyon #photography #naturephotography

• Figueroa Mountain Road • #nature #hiking #camping #photography #naturephotography

• Davy Brown Trail • Lost count of the number of waterfalls along this trail. Some fun creek crossings, too.

Spent the weekend at Davy Brown Campground and exploring the surrounding valleys and ridges. From Figueroa Mtn Road on Sunday morning. #camping #hiking #photography #nature

• Ruby-crowned Kinglet • • Corthylio calendula • • Sepulveda Basin • Kinglets have been plentiful the last few months - GCKI in Michigan, RCKI in LA. I enjoy watching how methodically they work their way through cover in search of food. #birds #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• Northern Mockingbird • • Mimus polyglottos • • Sepulveda Basin • Mockingbirds and thrashers have such bright and intelligent eyes, one of the many reasons that I love them. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• Cooper’s Hawk • • Accipiter cooperii • • Sepulveda Basin • Nice cool morning that heated up fast. This COHA made a low pass about 12 feet in front of me before settling in a nearby tree. #birds #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• White-breasted nuthatch • • Sitta carolinensis • • Sepulveda Basin • #birds #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• Allen’s Hummingbird • • Selasphorus sasin • • Sepulveda Basin • Hummingbirds are everywhere at the basin right now, chittering away. #birds #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• Pie-billed Grebe • • Podilymbus podiceps • • Sepulveda Basin • I was lucky to catch this grebe in the act this morning at the basin! Unlucky bluegill. #birds #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• California Towhee • • Melozone crissalis • • LA River • Two towhees, both rather unbothered by my presence. #birds #SFV #lifelist

• Northern Cardinal • • Cardinalis cardinalis • • Mullett Lake • #birds #nature #GreatLakes #lifelist

• Say’s Phoebe • • Sayornis saya • • Sepulveda Basin • #birds #SFV #lifelist

• Great Blue Heron • • Ardea herodias • • Sepulveda Basin • A small dog wandering around off leash caught the eye of this heron 👀 #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV #lifelist

• Bufflehead • • Bucephala albeola • • LA River - Glendale Narrows • Back in town, back to the river! First lifer of 2026, and bird #231. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SoCal #SFV

• Dark-eyed Junco • • Junco hyemalis • • West Bloomfield Woods Nature Preserve • Dark-eyed juncos have been out all over Oakland County, snacking to stave off the cold. Really neat how different the subspecies of junco can look. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #lifelist

• Black-capped Chickadee • • Poecile atricapillus • • Mullett Lake • The chickadees were active towards the tail end of the blizzard this morning, clumping up together in the low branches of the trees around the point. ~1 ft of snowfall! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes

• Rough-legged Hawk • • Buteo lagopus • • Eastern UP • Conditions were beautiful today! Tallied 6 rough-legged hawks, 3 bald eagles, 1 pileated woodpecker, 1 northern shrike, and 15+ ravens! Last shot is looking out to Drummond Island. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes

• Red-bellied Woodpecker • • Melanerpes carolinus • • Wolcott Mill Historic Center • Beautiful river gorge along the north branch of the Clinton River. Yesterday was warm, so the chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers were very active. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes

• Bald Mountain North Unit • Windchill of 1 yesterday! Braving the cold produced great birds - a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, and my first Red-headed Woodpecker. Bonus pics were taken in the exact same spot, 4 months apart. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #lifelist

• American Kestrel • • Falco sparverius • • Sepulveda Basin • Always a favorite. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Swamp Sparrow • • Melospiza georgiana • • Seven Ponds Nature Center • Another sparrow from earlier in the year! Obsessed with the rusty wash on the wings, it makes for good camouflage. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #MI

• Black Phoebe • • Sayornis nigricans • • Sepulveda Basin • Flycatchers look like they’re having so much fun all the time - doing flips, catching bugs, skimming the surface of the water. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• White-crowned Sparrow • • Zonotrichia leucophrys • • Sepulveda Basin • Happy to see these little ones around with regularity again! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Townsend’s Warbler • • Setophaga townsendi • • Glendale Narrows • Some new lifers along the very full LA river today! This Townsend’s warbler was gleaning for insects, and I was excited to spot 2-3 Bonaparte’s Gull (juvenile/nonbreeding) in the river. #birds #birding #birdwatching

• Red-tailed Hawk • • Buteo jamaicensis • • Sepulveda Basin • This Red-tailed hawk was looking at me with such disdain! What an intense glare. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• American Kestrel • • Falco sparverius • • Sepulveda Basin • A soggy male kestrel at the basin today. I’m thrilled about the return of the kestrels, meadowlarks, kingfishers, pelicans, and white-crowned sparrows! Songbirds were very active and vocal in the rain. #birds #birding #birdwatching #SFV

• Northern Mockingbird • • Mimus polyglottos • • Sepulveda Basin • A lovely Northern Mockingbird from a few days ago, nestled in some palm fronds. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Belted Kingfisher • • Megaceryle alcyon • • Sepulveda Basin • I worked as a docent at our Museum of Nat History when I was in college and got to run a few animal ID workshops with K-5 students. Teaching them about kingfishers was so much fun - love this bird! #birds #birding #birdwatching #SFV

• Vermilion Flycatcher • • Pyrocephalus obscurus • • Sepulveda Basin • Nice to get a prolonged look at a female VEFL! I’ve seen juvie and adult males around infrequently. That peachy wash on the rump is really distinctive in person. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Black-crowned Night Heron • • Nycticorax nycticorax • • Lake Balboa • Cute juvenile night heron along the water from the other day. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Snowy Egret • • Egretta thula • • Lake Balboa • This egret was one of a handful of species patrolling the shoreline the other evening. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• American Coot • • Fulica americana • • Lake Balboa • Mudhens have really cool feet, similar to those of gallinules and moorhens (relatives in the rail family). You can see how they would thrive in marshes and swamps! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• American White Pelican • • Pelecanus erythrorhynchos • • Lake Balboa • A cluster of beautiful pelicans by the water today, it’s nice to see them back in the valley 😌 #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Glendale Narrows • Beautiful fog yesterday morning meant lots of birds in the river! The songbirds were down a bit, but the yellow-rumped warblers have returned in force. Lots of kingfishers! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Greater Yellowlegs • • Tringa melanoleuca • • LA River • Greater Yellowlegs spotted down on the LA River, near the Haskell Creek footbridge. Their size was really impressive - comparatively they towered over the nearby killdeer and sandpipers. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Vermilion Flycatcher • • Pyrocephalus obscurus • • Bette Davis/LA River • I think flycatchers have to be near the top of my list for favorite birds to sit and observe. This vermilion flycatcher was nicely colored up and loving the morning sun. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• White Egret • • Ardea alba • • Bette Davis/LA River • A bird of many names! This beautiful egret was by itself, silently stalking for some breakfast - sadly, I didn’t see it come up with anything. #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Black-necked Stilt • • Himantopus mexicanus • • Bette Davis Picnic Area & LA River • First time getting down to the river proper at this location, there were a handful of shorebird species all over this stretch of the narrows! #birds #birding #birdwatching #SFV

• Belted Kingfisher • • Megaceryle alcyon • • Sepulveda Basin • Being sick for a month takes its toll, happy to be healthy again! Here’s a beautiful female Belted Kingfisher that I saw this weekend at Sepulveda. Loving this fall weather! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #SFVAudubon

• Bewick’s Wren • • Thryomanes bewickii • • Griffith Park, Old Zoo Loop • Clouds kept the temps down this morning and brought out some friendly critters along the trail. Added the Orange-crowned warbler as bird lifer #218, #337 overall! #birds #birding #birdwatching #hiking #nature #wildlife #SFV

• Cooper’s Hawk • • Accipiter cooperii • • Oakland Co., MI • A juvenile Cooper’s hawk was camped out on the front lawn with a fresh kill and a parent watching, before bringing the meal to a telephone pole to clean + eat. Gnarly! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #lifelist

• Pileated Woodpecker • • Dryocopus pileatus • • 7 Ponds Nature Center • Saw a few Sandhills and a Green Heron on my drive out, and I added a new lifer, the Pileated Woodpecker! Stabilized the video for (I hope) a better look! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #lifelist

• Red-eyed vireo • • Vireo olivaceus • • Mullett Lake • It was a treat seeing red-eyed vireos noisily feeding in the lower cedar branches in the evenings - they can be so hard to spot in the forest during the day! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #UpNorth #lifelist

• Cape May Warbler • • Setophaga tigrina • • Mullett Lake • Of the species that I saw regularly on the point, I was amazed by the brilliant coloring on the Cape May Warbler. ‘Tigrina’, indeed! #birds #birding #birdwatching #nature #wildlife #GreatLakes #UpNorth #lifelist