Buena Vista Lagoon January

Today was the monthly bird count.  We didn't see very many birds this time.  The weather started out somewhat cool and cloudy, but the clouds soon went away and it became quite hot.  Below are two photos I took of the lagoon.

For some reason, we've suddenly started seeing northern flickers at the lagoon.  Before now, we almost never saw flickers, but last month we saw one and today we saw three.  Northern flickers are found in Alaska and Canada in the summer and Mexico in the winter.  Throughout most of the United States, they are around all year.  They have bluish-gray heads and light brown bodies.  They have black spots on their bellies and black stripes on their backs.  Under their wings is bright red.  Males have a red malar (area on the face just below the cheek).  One of the flickers I saw let me get fairly close to it before flying a short distance away.  I was surprised at how large it was.  They're about a foot long from beak to tail.  They are also very loud.  The one I saw was calling "kew" over and over.  Below is a photo of it in a tree.

Northern Flicker

They were several common yellowthroats flitting around through the reeds and bushes.  Below is a photo of one of them.

Common Yellowthroat

There were several red-tailed hawks as well.  Below are photos of two of them.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Since it was such a warm day, quite a few western fence lizards came out to bask in the sun.  Below is photo of one of them.  It was watching me very carefully, and dashed into a crack in the wood when I came to close.

Western Fence Lizard

There were quite a few song sparrows around.  A few of them were singing.  Below is one of them in a bush.

Song Sparrow

There were many Anna's hummingbirds flying around.  They were chasing each other all over.  One of them, a male, came up close to me and sang its squeaky song.  Below is a photo of it.

Anna's Hummingbird

There were a couple mourning doves here and there.  Mourning doves are very nervous birds.  The one in the photo below was looking down at me and flew away when I walked underneath it.  Another one ran away from me on the ground.

Mourning Dove

There were probably over two hundred northern shovelers at the lagoon.  They were everywhere.  Below is a female swimming and 'shoveling' with its bill.

Northern Shoveler