It is a beautiful cool clear morning. We set of for day 2 of birding; The Santa Ana NWR.

I was excited to see the dainty tracks of Javelina. We saw signs of foraging too but not even a glimpse of the cute critters.  No problem.  They are all over down here so we will keep looking for them. No new birds today but some nice looks at familiar guys.

It is butterfly festival here so I am trying to be more conscious of those fragile fliers that swirl around anything blooming. These of course have some big Latin name but I’m still working on bird names and just not up to learning a whole other set.  Let’s just go with “beautiful”.

We did not loll about on any of the many benches along the trails. We were spurred to move on by the roar of millions of mosquitoes held back only by generous and frequent application of DEET.  A gentle breeze helped some but refuge came only on the observation deck high above the tree line.   We both made it home with only a few welts but hoping that a day or two without rain will cut back on that pesky, buzzy population.

Wow, November already