Tis the Season to Migrate One and All

This time of year in Southern California many of us make a sort of seasonal migration which often entails an arduous slog through local jungles of traffic on our way out to family, friends or places of procurement.

Then there is the migratory patterns of birds such as the Bar-tailed Godwits who have the longest known non-stop flight of any migrant, flying 11,000 km from Alaska to their New Zealand non-breeding areas. Prior to migration, 55 percent of their bodyweight is stored fat to fuel this uninterrupted journey.

Okay once again it feels like nature has trumped and taught - here are these amazing birds putting forth what seems an annual fantastical effort of airborne grace which require neither fossil fuels nor the latest gps technology or a bank account to arrive on time and in the place they need to be looking quite unstressed. Even the polliwog park paparazzi (ppp) has not fazed them.

Here are a pair of celebrity Widgeon's, a well-known Northern Shoveler, avid birder Dennis giving Mimi tips and a few more shots of the now infamous Cedar Waxwings. Photos by Julie Gonella, ppp.