Christmas Bird Count

Saturday was the Christmas Bird Count at the Buena Vista Lagoon!  It is a large event where, from mid-December to early January, people all across North America get together and count birds.  It's managed by the National Audubon Society, and they gather up all the checklists.  It is very fun and helps us see how different bird populations are doing.  All together we saw over seventy species, and this year, like every year, the people at the nature center served free (and very tasty) chili.

There were quite a few people at the Buena Vista Lagoon.  My dad and I went there early to look for birds in the eucalyptus forest.  It was very beautiful.

We didn't see many birds there, though we saw about a hundred crows.  They sat in the trees and were very, very noisy.  They didn't like us being there and followed us, trying to drive us away.  Below is a photo of part of the group.

American Crows

We didn't think we'd see any hawks there because of the crows, but we saw two red-shouldered hawks sitting together on the other side of a hill.  Below is a photo of them.

Red-shouldered Hawks

After walking through the eucalyptus, we went to the nature center.  It was very beautiful there, too.  The sky was quite clear and bright.  It was great lighting for birdwatching.

One of the first birds I saw there was an osprey sitting in a tree.  It was looking down at us.  Below is a photo of it.

Osprey

We also saw a few more American crows.  Below is one of them.

American Crow

A mourning dove trying to keep very still on the ground so I wouldn't see it.  Because it stayed still, I was able to take a pretty good photo.  They are very pretty birds.  Below is the mourning dove.

Mourning Dove

There were many, many hummingbirds (both Anna's and Allen's) zipping around and fighting with each other.  Below is a photo of an Anna's hummingbird.

Anna's Hummingbird

There were at least four red-tailed hawks flying around the lagoon.  Below are photos of two of them.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

There weren't many Cassin's kingbirds around.  I only saw a few.  Below is one of them sitting on a telephone wire.

Cassin's Kingbird

There were a surprisingly large number of white-throated swifts flying around.  Normally, we only see two or three, if any, but Saturday there was a whole flock of them flying around and around above us.  White-throated swifts summer in the western United States and winter in South America.  They are found all year round in the southwest and Mexico.  They have white sides and throats and the rest is black.  Swifts are similar in appearance to swallows, but are, in fact, more closely related to hummingbirds.  They can be told apart from swallows by their scythe-shaped wings and stiffer movements.  Below is one of the swifts.

White-throated Swift

We don't usually see turkey vultures, but Saturday one flew right over us.  Below is a photo of it.

Turkey Vulture

There were hundreds of seagulls flying around.  Below is a photo of part of a large flock.  I'm not positive what species they are, but they might be California gulls.

Seagulls

There were quite few black phoebes around.  Below is one of them in a tree.

Black Phoebe

There was a little ruby-crowned kinglet hopping around in a tree.  It came right out in the open, though it moved much to quickly to take many photos.  Below is the one clear photo I took of it.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

One exciting bird we saw was a least bittern.  It was hiding in the reeds, but came out for us before flying away.  Least bitterns summer in most of the eastern United States and in parts of the southwest.  They winter in South America and are found all year in southern California and Florida and parts of Mexico.  They are very small and very shy.  They are reddish-brown all over and have black on their wings, backs, and heads.  They are paler and streaked on their chests.  Below are two photos of the least bittern.

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

We went down to the beach and it was beautiful there, as it was everywhere else.

There was one lone Heermann's gull standing on the beach.  Below is a photo of it.

Heermann's Gull

There were not nearly as many sanderlings around as last time.  There were only a few.  Below is a photo of three of them.  They all seemed to be resting.

Sanderlings

There was a little eared grebe diving and popping up again right in front of us.  It also took a little bath.  It was very fluffy and small.  Below is a photo of it.

Eared Grebe

There was a single Say's phoebe down by the beach.  There always seems to be one around there.  Below is a photo of it sitting on a fence.

Say's Phoebe

There were a couple of American kestrels around.  Below are two photos of the same male kestrel sitting on a telephone wire and a chimney.

American Kestrel

American Kestrel

Until we went to the beach, we didn't see any brown pelicans.  When we went there, though, there were suddenly tons of pelicans.  Below is a flock of nine flying in a V.

Brown Pelicans

There were only a couple whimbrels at the beach.  Only one let me get very close.  Below is a photo of it.

Whimbrel

Buena Vista Lagoon November

Last week was the Buena Vista Lagoon bird count.  It wasn't at all foggy like last month.  There were some clouds, but it was mostly clear.  Below are two photos of the lagoon when we first arrived.

One of the first birds I saw was an Allen's hummingbird.  From the front, it almost looked like a rufous, but on its back it was green.  Below is a photo of it.  (The green back can't be seen in this photo.)

Allen's Hummingbird

There were several common yellowthroats flitting around in the reeds and bushes.  Below is a photo of a male.

Common Yellowthroat

We didn't see as many double-crested cormorants as usual, but we did see a few.  Double-crested cormorants are found year-round all along the east and west coasts of the United States, including Alaska.  In the interior, they summer in the northern United States and southern Canada, and winter in the southeast down into Mexico.  They are the most common cormorant in the United States, and usually the only kind in the interior states, since most other species are pelagic.  They can usually be told apart from other cormorants by their larger size and orange face.  Below is a double-crested cormorant sitting on what seems to be a pipe sticking out of the lagoon.

Double-crested Cormorant

There weren't that many American coots at the lagoon.  There were only a few here and there.  Below is one of the coots.

American Coot

There were a few mallards swimming around taking baths.  Below is a male flapping its wings taking a bath.  The other ducks were nearby.

Mallard

There were hundreds of seagulls everywhere.  A lot of them were ring-billed gulls.  Below is part of a large flock circling over a shopping center.

Seagulls

An exciting sight was a merlin.  It was sitting on a dead tree beside the road.  We stopped so I could take a photo, and it turned out to be a very good view.  Below is a photo of it.  It had its leg tucked up.

Merlin

We went down to the beach.  Below is a view of the beach.

There were a few flocks of sanderlings running up to and away from the waves.  Sanderlings are found in the Arctic Circle in the summer and along the coasts of North and South America in the winter.  They are very pale with dark legs and beaks and patches on their shoulders.  In the summer they have reddish heads and chests.  Below is a group of six sanderlings.

Sanderlings

We saw an American kestrel as well as the merlin (both little falcons).  It was a male sitting on a telephone wire looking down at us.  Below is a photo of it.

American Kestrel

There were a few groups of brown pelicans flying over the ocean.  Below is one that was flying alone.  It looks very large with its wings fully spread.

Brown Pelican

There were only a few whimbrels.  There were perhaps two to four of them. Below are two of them with the waves behind them.

Whimbrels

Buena Vista Lagoon October

Last Saturday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon.  It was very, very foggy and hard to see very far, as seen in the photos below at the first two stops.

I was walking along a path when I noticed that some of the reeds seemed to be moving on the other side of the water.  I watched, and saw that I little island of reeds was drifting down the middle of the water.  Below is the island, which is slightly redder in color than the reeds behind it.

The white-crowned sparrows have arrived for winter, and they are everywhere.  There were tons of them at the lagoon.  They have a very pleasant song.  Below is an adult white-crowned sparrow sitting on top of a lemonade-berry bush.  An immature one is sitting in the bottom left of the photo.  (By the way, lemonade-berry bushes have little red berries covered in a sappy-looking substance.  The substance is edible and tastes like lemonade.)

White-crowned Sparrow

For some reason, the water at the lagoon was incredibly still.  It looked just like a mirror.  Below a photo I that shows the reeds and how clear their reflections are.

We saw a black-throated gray warbler.  It was a new bird for most of us.  Black-throated gray warblers are found in the western United States in the summer, and Mexico and South America in the winter.  Unlike most warblers, they are entirely black, gray, and white except for two yellow dots between their eyes.  They are dark gray on their backs, white below, and have black and white streaked sides and faces.  They are found high up in trees in woodlands.  Below are two photos of the black-throated gray warbler.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

There used to not be that many northern mockingbirds at the lagoon, but now there seem to be tons of them.  Below is one that was singing on top of a bush.

Northern Mockingbird

Below is a black phoebe on a lamp post.  It looks very tiny sitting on top.

Black Phoebe

As we were driving, we saw a great egret standing in the middle of five swimming mallards.  It looked kind of funny to see such a tall, white bird among them.  It didn't quite fit in.  Below is a photo of the egret and ducks.

Great Egret and Mallards

There was a female northern harrier flying back and forth through the fog.  Below is a photo of it.

Northern Harrier

Below is a male common yellowthroat.  Usually they're hard to photograph (like most warblers) but this one came quite close to us.

Common Yellowthroat

There were tons of bushtits flying around, so I just took a ton of photos of groups of them, hoping at least one of the bushtits ended up in focus.  One of them did, and below is its photo.  It is a male (black eyes).

Bushtit

Below is another great egret standing on the edge of some reeds.

Great Egret

Below is another photo showing how calm and still the lagoon was.  There is a very tiny white dot on the edge of the reeds toward the right.  It's the great egret.

A red-tailed hawk was also flying around in the fog.  Below is a photo of it.

Red-tailed Hawk

Castor bean plants seem to be taking over everywhere.  They're incredibly invasive and poisonous, too, so please try to avoid letting them into your backyard.  Below is a photo of one of the plants.  They're very common near the lagoon, and grow very, very quickly.

Castor Bean Plant

The yellow-rumped warblers have returned in large numbers.  Below is one of them half hidden behind a dead plant.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Oddly, the fog was very thick, then the sky almost cleared up, then the fog came right back just as thick as before.  Below are two photos of the lagoon where is was foggy, and when it was almost clear.

Cattail caterpillars are, as their name suggests, caterpillars that eat cattails.  They are very large, orange, black, and white caterpillars.  They turned into lovely, furry, white moths.  They are eating the cattails at the lagoon, which is a good thing, because the cattails are very much overgrown.  They are eating the reeds quite slowly, though.  Below is a photo of one of the caterpillars.

Cattail Caterpillar

There weren't that many western grebes at the lagoon, which was a bit strange.  Below is one the grebes.

Western Grebe

Below is an eared grebe.  When compared to the photo of the western grebe above, they look very similar.  Eared grebes are much smaller and grayer in the winter, though, and in breeding plumage, they are very, very different.

Eared Grebe