One of yesterday's visitors

There have been many visitors to our bird bath recently.  Here's one photo from yesterday (25 November 2017):

 

A very bright Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

 

Greenish-blue below

When I arrived at the beach at the end of the Abbotts Lagoon trail yesterday, I overheard a family talking about a snake.

Intrigued, I went over to take a look.  It was a beautiful California Red-sided Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis)!

Sometimes this species has a wonderful greenish-blue coloration below:

 

Here it is pushing off the sand:

 

And one more — a close-up of the markings:

 

 Many thanks to the family for sharing their colorful discovery!

ADDENDUM (26 November 2017): P.S.  Eric and I were debating about the color of the underside of the snake.  We discussed turquoise and teal green, but neither of them seemed right.  Then Eric sampled the actual color of the snake in Photoshop, and we tried to find the closest match with a Pantone color (see photo below).  We didn't find an exact match, but we found that Pantone 345 was closer to the snake than either turquoise or teal (although it still needs to be a bit grayer).  Pantone 345 doesn't seem to have a name, so I guess it's up to us to make one up.  What would you call it?  :)

   

At the lagoon

After visiting Tom Killion's open studio this morning, I took a short walk at Abbotts Lagoon.

Four Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) were visible on the west side of the lagoon (close to the beach).  They were distant, but I managed a few pictures for the record:

 

 

 

It was also nice to see a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) along the trail:

 

 I'll share a few more highlights soon!

Thanksgiving

 

I'm so thankful for wild places...

 

Best wishes to you and your family on this day of thanksgiving.  

In the morning sun

 

Common Ravens (Corvus corvax), 21 November 2017

 

Autumn perch

 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) in our backyard in Cotati on 20 November 2017.  (It's nice to be back!)

Back in the bay

A couple of birds seen in Upper Newport Bay on 16 November 2017:

 

American Wigeon (Anas americana)

And one for the record:

 

I'm not sure how common Lapland Longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) are in Orange County.  This bird was feeding along the edge of a salt marsh below the Upper Newport Bay Interpretive Center.