Buena Vista Lagoon August

Yesterday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon.  Even though it's August (quite possibly the worst month for birdwatching), we saw fifty-one different species.  It was cloudy in the early morning, but soon cleared up and got very hot and humid.  Below are three photos of the lagoon.

There were quite a few American crows around.  Below is a photo of four of them sitting in a tree.

American Crows

There were not as many hummingbirds around as usual, but there were a few.  I heard more than I saw.  Below is a female Anna's hummingbird.

Anna's Hummingbird

There were many bullfrogs around, sitting in the water.  A few were grunting loudly like bulls.  Below is one of them.

Bullfrog

There were a few Cassin's kingbirds, but I didn't notice any western kingbirds, which was unusual.  Below is one of the Cassin's kingbirds.  Notice the very small, white throat patch.  Western kingbirds have entirely white throats.

Cassin's Kingbird

Since it was a warm day, the western fence lizards were out and about.  I saw several of them around.  Below are two photos of them.  Although it's hard to tell the difference from the photos, the first one was very tiny, while the second was quite large for a fence lizard.

Western Fence Lizard

Western Fence Lizard

We saw most of the herons and egrets: black-crowned night-heron, green heron, great egret, and snowy egret.  Oddly, we didn't see any great blue herons.  Below is a great egret.

Great Egret

There were several mallards around.  Below is a group of three females sitting on what is possibly a pipe sticking out of the water.

Mallards

There were many ruddy ducks around.  Below is a photo of some of them out on the water.

Ruddy Ducks

The Muscovy ducks are still around, and the ducklings have grown quite a bit.  They look like small adults.  The fishermen seem to have been feeding them.  There was one fisherman there yesterday who tossed them bits of fish.  Wherever he went, all of the ducks would follow him.  Below is a photo of some of the ducks.

Muscovy Ducks

There was a sandpiper under the bridge where the cliff swallows used to nest.  It may have been a pectoral sandpiper, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good enough look at it before it flew away.  Below are two photos of the mysterious sandpiper.

There were many, many dragonflies at the lagoon.  I don't know what species they were, but most seemed to be the same species.  Below is one of them.

There were convergent lady beetles all over the plants in the empty lot overlooking the lagoon.  Most were adults, but I saw a few larvae as well.  One lady beetle was being harassed by Argentine ants, which would come up behind it and bite its legs.  Below are two photos.  The first is a lady beetle larvae, and the second is the adult and an ant that bit it.

Convergent Lady Beetle

Convergent Lady Beetle and Argentine Ant