Buena Vista Lagoon: Terns, Whimbrels, and Rising Water

Yesterday was the Buena Vista Lagoon monthly bird count.  July is not a good time for birdwatching here, since neither the spring migrating birds nor the winter ducks are here.  There were not many people doing the count, either; only five people were there.  Still, all together we saw exactly forty species.

There were many, many terns at the lagoon.  There were least, Forster's, and Caspian terns, though most of the them were Caspian terns.  Caspian terns summer in scattered areas in the northern United States and southern Canada.  They winter in Florida and Mexico.  They are found year round in parts of Mexico, California, and the southeastern United States.  They are found in many other parts of the world as well.  They are the largest terns in the world; they are about as big as ring-billed gulls.  I once saw one harassing a red-tailed hawk, and the two looked about the same size.  Caspian terns' size, black caps, and thick red beaks distinguish them from terns and gulls.  There was one tern that kept flying around in front of us and diving to catch fish.  Below are five photos of it.  The first two and last two are of it flying.  The third is of it diving.

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

For some reason, the lagoon's water level is rising.  It might be because of rising sea levels, but I'm not sure.  Whatever it is, it's affecting the birds.  Birds such as stilts, avocets, rails, bitterns, and small herons like mud and shallow water.  Now, those areas and birds are disappearing from the lagoon.  I've included four photos to show this.  The first two are of an island that's disappearing.  Birds and turtles used to rest there, but now it's entirely gone except for parts of the reeds (in the second photo, the bird on the left is a Caspian tern; the small dot on the right is a western grebe).  The second two photos are of an area beside the road where there used to be soras and moorhens, and the ground could be seen in the shallow water.  Now it's all fairly deep water.  A moorhen and its baby are shown walking in the first photo.  Two adults are swimming in the second.  I haven't seen soras in years and moorhens have recently started to disappear.


Island in January 2013

Island in July 2013

 

Moorhens walking in 2010

Moorhens swimming in 2012

We went to the beach again.  There were many more people swimming and surfing than the last time.  There were whimbrels again.  Below are three by the ocean.

Whimbrels

There were also many gulls.  We saw four species: western, California, ring-billed, and Heermann's.  Below are two ring-billed gulls.

Ring-Billed Gulls

Below are three more whimbrels.  There were many of them around.  However, when a man let his dog run through the water, they all flew away.

Whimbrels

There were more Eurasian collared-doves around than usual.  Below is one of them sitting on a fence.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

There were tons of brown pelicans.  At one point, there was a flock of about fifty of them flying by one a gigantic V.  Below are two photos of a smaller flock of four.  In the first photo, the pelican on the right is a young one.  In the second photo, it is the second from the right.  It is noticeably paler than the others.

Brown Pelicans

Brown Pelicans

Below is a very clean, nice-looking short creek that leads to the lagoon.  Though it is pretty, I've never seen a bird on the water or the banks, not even a mallard.  Perhaps it's too clean.  Most waterfowl like more vegetation and insects to eat.

Below are six double-crested cormorants sitting on telephone wires.  There are often many of them there.

Double-Crested Cormorants