Hi Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to park in the lower parking lot for Claremont Hills Park (where I park for free with my sticker from the city) at some time between 4:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and walk casually to the upper parking lot, through the gate, and up the Cobal Canyon Trail to the bench, where I intend to stand around until no later than 7:15 p.m., waiting for the Black Swifts to appear between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. please be aware that sometimes they are far off to the east of the bench and even with 10X binoculars it can be a less than satisfying observation, while on other days they put on quite a show and pose overhead for photographs. Non-residents have to pay at either parking lot. The walk from the upper parking lot up to the bench is close to one mile but it is along the bottom of a beautiful canyon with oaks and sycamores. The elevation game is 270 ft. It will be hot. There are Porta potties at the entry gate and nowhere else but don't worry you will be losing water through your skin, instead of your kidneys. Look for a fat blonde guy with crooked teeth wearing shorts and a tiger stripe camouflage boonie hat. Tom PS: I will be doing this walk at least once a week until July 10th, preferentially choosing the hottest day of each week because that increases the likelihood of seeing the Black Swifts. PPS: when the weather is hot and dry the city sometimes closes the park so if you are driving from somewhere far away you always want to look up the Claremont City website where they do post the day before when the park will be closed. Birders have driven here from far away only to discover that the park is closed.

Thomas Geza Miko
Claremont, LA County
909.241.3300
"I'm on the fence! My bank account is unfortunately in another neighborhood."--CuppaJoe