Big surprise during otherwise boring job

While "baby-sitting" an incubating Great Horned Owl last week (trust me, it's dull), I watched in amazement as an adult male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher glided by, and perched on a Mexican elderberry downslope from where I was standing in an active restoration area (11 Jan. 2010). Fewer than 15 records for L.A. County of this midwestern bird, apparently, and they're probably rarest (but still known) in winter, when the bulk of the population is in Central and South America.

I managed to get off a lousy picture with a colleague's point-and-shoot (my camera was safely stored at home).

Curve-billed invasion!

Curve-billed Thrasher, 30 Dec. 2009, Chiriaco Summit, Riverside Co.

Long-staying bird was about the only thing around during our mid-morning stop - part of an unprecedented invasion by this species into California this winter.