Guajome Park

Yesterday my dad and I went to Guajome Park.  The sky was clear and it got pretty warm.  There were more people than usual there, but we still saw quite a few birds.

There were many, many northern shovelers there.  Many were in large, compact flocks out on the water.  Below is a male.

Northern Shoveler

I hadn't seen Canada geese at Guajome before (probably because there isn't a lot of open ground), but yesterday a flock of nine flew in and landed on the pond.  Canada geese summer in Canada and winter in the southern United States and Mexico.  They are around all year in most of the United States and parts of Canada.  Typically, they have dark necks and heads with white cheeks, gray bodies, and black tails.  However, the shade of gray, their size and the amount of white on their face can vary widely.  They're often found in open spaces such as flat marshes and golf courses.  There were many feral geese at the park as well, but the Canada stayed far apart from them, away from the shore.  Below are two photos of the Canada geese.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

I don't think there were as many American coots as there were shovelers, but there were still a lot of them.  Below are two photos of coots.  There is also a shoveler at the top of the first photo.

American Coots and Northern Shoveler

American Coot

There were a few feral geese, as I mentioned before.  I believe they were domesticated greylag and swan geese.  (Greylag geese are brownish gray above and white below and are native to Europe.  Swan geese are brown above and white below with yellowish sides and a large lump on their foreheads and are native to Asia.)  Domesticated geese and ducks can almost always be told apart from native ones by their deep bellies.  I don't know if they are breeding or if people just keep releasing more, but no-one seems to be doing anything about them.  Below is a feral swan goose stretching its wings. 

Domesticated Swan Goose

The feral geese, coots, and ducks all hung around together near the shore, though the shovelers do not take hand-outs like the others (though bread shouldn't be given to any of them).  Below is a group of shovelers, coots, and geese.

Geese, Ducks, and Coots

There were also some great-tailed grackles looking for food (sometimes they'll join the waterfowl along the shore looking for bread).  Below is a female great-tailed grackle taking a bath.

Great-tailed Grackle

There were tons of common yellowthroats flitting about in the reeds and bushes.  Below is a male.

Common Yellowthroat

We saw one Townsend's warbler high up in a tree.  Townsend's warblers summer in western Canada, southern Alaska, and the northwestern United States.  They winter along the Pacific coast, southern Mexico, and Central America.  They have yellow faces with blacks caps, cheeks, and throats.  They have yellow chests and white bellies with black streaks on their sides.  Their backs are greenish-gray, and they have two white wing-bars.  Their boldly-marked faces are probably their most distinctive feature.  They are often found high up in coniferous trees, like the one below.

Townsend's Warbler

There were many beautiful views along the trails.  Below are a few of them.

We saw a couple of downy woodpeckers around.  Below are two photos of one of them.  The top photo shows it from the side (no spots on its sides; as opposed to a Nuttall's, which does have spots).  The bottom one shows its back and the large white patch (only downy and hairy have it).  There seem to be more downy woodpeckers at Guajome than Nuttall's, though I'm not sure why.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

There was one greater roadrunner.  I think it was trying to startle some little animals to catch, because it was fluffing up its crest and tail as it hurried along.  Greater roadrunners are found year-round in the southwestern United States and Mexico.  They are large and streaked brown.  They are paler below and have a small crest.  They are often seen on the ground or on wooden posts or rocks.  They hunt lizards, snakes, small mammals and birds, and large insects.  They are related to cuckoos.  Below is a photo of the roadrunner.

Greater Roadrunner

There was a small group of killdeer running around on a hill.  There were about five of them and they were making little "ki" noises.  Below are photos of three of them.

Killdeer

Killdeer

There were a few butterflies flying around.  Below is a photo of a mourning cloak butterfly.  Two of them were fluttering around over the grass and seem to like landing on this tree stump.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

One exciting bird for us was a red-breasted sapsucker.  Neither of us had seen one before.  Red-breasted sapsuckers summer along the western coast of Canada and winter in California.  In between along the coast, they are found year-round.  They have almost entirely red heads and chests (except for some white on their faces) and are yellowish below.  They have black and white backs and black wings with a bold white patch.  Sapsuckers, as their name suggests, eat sap.  They also eat insects and fruit like other woodpeckers.  Below are two photos of the sapsucker.  The top photo shows its back, wings, and some of its red head.  The bottom one (sorry, it's a bit blurry) shows its side and some of its head.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker