Exotic visitors: Red-whiskered bulbuls

As George and I were having lunch, we saw several birds enjoying our birdbath, and flitting around the patio area. On second look, we realized these were not a familiar bird. They were brown backed and white breasted, with red bums, black and white heads, and a distinctive pointed black crest. We both started working our Merlin bird ID app, but kept coming up empty. Finally resorting to Google, George found it. They were red-whiskered bulbuls. Merlin failed us because they are native to South Asia, although a small population of them has apparently been established in Huntington Gardens and spread around Alhambra, the 626 area, and now it seems they're venturing to Echo Park. (We didn't see the red spot near the eye, although the description indicates that juveniles don't show that red spot.)

Western tanagers come calling

This past week, we've been seeing some beautiful bright yellow birds with black jackets and a red face mask (appropriate given that we're all wearing masks now). Here's our pic and a stock photo. We finally identified them as western tanagers. It's always fun when we see new birds enjoying our fountain and birdbath. There are the birds we see all the time, like lesser goldfinch, house finch, mourning dove, mockingbird, sparrow, scrub jay, and ruby-throated hummingbirds. There are the ones we see occasionally but regularly, like the towhee and the redtail hawk. On rarer occasions, we've seen orioles. It's fun to see something new right in our backyard.

Painted lady butterflies come through

Last year we had an unusual swarm of Painted Lady butterflies migrate through LA, and this year they have returned. Last time, they were all over our orange tree in front, but this year, it's our Pride of Madeira that they're loving. It's a popular flower, as the bees are all over it too. (Air traffic may be down in general due to Covid-19, but not here!) They've been regulars in the garden since the last week of March, and this appears to be the last stragglers. I think they're coming out of Mexico, but not certain, and they don't seem to have a regular migratory pattern. In any case, they're fun to watch when we have so many.