Buena Vista Lagoon May

Last Saturday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon. It was cloudy and cool the entire time. We saw fifty-four species, though not very many of each. For many species, we only saw one of each. Below are five views around the lagoon.

One bird we saw that we don't usually see at the lagoon was a Western Wood-Pewee. I usually see a few of the in my backyard every summer, but I don't recall ever seeing very many at the lagoon. Western Wood-Pewees summer in western North America and winter in northern South America. They are small flycatchers usually found in wooded areas. They are grayish-brown overall with a paler gray throat, paler and slightly yellowish belly, and dull white wing-bars. They can be most easily distinguished from similar-sized and patterned flycatchers by their overall grayish color (as opposed to the yellowish-green color of birds such as Pacific-Slope Flycatchers) and their lack of an eye-ring. Below are two photos of the Western Wood-Pewee (the thing it's perched on in the second photo is a statue of a giant toothed heron eating a duck).

Western Wood-Pewee

Western Wood-Pewee

We also saw a very brightly colored Western Bluebird. It sat on a branch out in the open for a long while, then hopped away in the bush. Below is a photo of the bluebird (sorry that it's dark; it was very cloudy).

Western Bluebird

We saw a surprising number of Great Blue Herons. We usually only see a few, but on Saturday we saw about seven. There seemed to be a couple of them at every stop. Below are two photos of one of the Great Blue Herons.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

A couple of the Great Blue Herons we saw were flying together with four California Gulls. I'm not sure if the gulls were following the herons or the herons were following the gulls or they were all following each other, but they flew together as a little flock. Below are four photos of the flock. The first is of the gulls, the second is of the herons, and the last two are of both the gulls and herons.

California Gulls

Great Blue Herons

California Gull and Great Blue Herons

California Gulls and Great Blue Herons

There were quite a few baby birds at the lagoon, especially songbirds. Behind the nature center there were a lot of young Common Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens, and Song Sparrows all hopping around and cheeping in the reeds. In front of the nature center, there were a few young House Finches, following their parents everywhere. Below are two photos of a young House Finch and its parent (the young one is the one flapping its wings).

House Finches

House Finches

There were a lot of terns at the lagoon, mostly Forster's and Least. Below are three photos of Forster's Terns (notice the long, forked tails).

Forster's Tern

Forster's Tern

Forster's Terns

Walking alongside the road, I heard a rustling in the reeds. I walked quietly and saw a Pied-billed Grebe sitting on a pile of reeds and other plants. It stood every now and then to tuck the plants in around it, and I realized that it was a nest. Later on, after it had tucked some more material into the nest, it got up for a swim and I saw a couple of little white eggs. Below are five photos. The first three are various Pied-billed Grebes I saw. The fourth is the grebe sitting on the nest, and the fifth is just the nest with two eggs visible.

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

As usual, there were some Ruddy Ducks at the lagoon. They were in very lovely spring plumage. Below is a photo of three sleeping Ruddy Ducks, two males and one female.

Ruddy Ducks

There seemed to be more American Crows around than usual. There was one very large flock in the morning, and then quite a few scattered around. There were also a few young, fluffy crows, begging their parents for food. Below are two photos. The first is of part of the large flock sitting in the trees, and the second one is of a young crow (notice its fluffy sides).

American Crows

American Crow

We saw one Green Heron perching on the metal railing of a railway bridge that goes over the lagoon. Below is a photo of it (sorry it's not clear; it was very far away).

Green Heron

I only saw one Cassin's Kingbird. It was perching up in a eucalyptus tree near one of the Western Wood-Pewees. Below is a photo of it.

Cassin's Kingbird

There were quite a few House Sparrows in their usual spot in a parking lot, flying in and out of their nests under the tiles of the roofs. Below is a male House Sparrow.

House Sparrow

We only saw one Killdeer. It was in the same ditch that had been used by the little family of Killdeer. Below is a photo of the Killdeer.

Killdeer

Whenever we stop at the end of the little side road where the Killdeer ditch is, there always seems to be a Mourning Dove sitting very still in the same tree, trying to be invisible. Below is a photo of the Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove

We saw a Red-tailed Hawk, though not in the usual place high up in the trees or soaring around. It was perching on a branch very low, almost at the ground, among the reeds. It sat there for awhile, stretching its wings occasionally. Then it flew up to sit on a slightly higher perch. Below are two photos of it. In the first it is on the lower perch, and in the second, it is stretching its wings while sitting on the higher perch.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

A single Brewer's Blackbird flew down to perch in a tree for about a minute just as we were about to leave. Then it took off. It gave me just enough time to take a photo. Below is the blackbird (it's a female; notice the uniformly brown color without any streaks).

Brewer's Blackbird

There were several Western Grebes at the lagoon, and one Clark's Grebe. The Clark's and one of the Westerns were hanging around together and, oddly, doing the head-bobbing typical of a courting ritual. Below are the Clark's and Western Grebes (Clark's on the left, Western on the right).

Clark's Grebe and Western Grebe

As I mentioned sort of near the beginning of this post, there were a lot of Least Terns around. Least Terns, for me, are very difficult to photograph. They are very quick and very small, and often blend in with cloudy skies and grayish-blue water (it always seems to be cloudy whenever I see Least Terns). I managed to take a few photos on Saturday. They weren't great, but they were much better than any I'd taken before. Below are three photos of Least Terns (notice the yellowish-orange bills). 

Least Tern

Least Tern

Least Tern

There were several Northern Mockingbirds around the lagoon, singing very, very loudly. Below is one of them singing at Maxton Brown Park.

Northern Mockingbird

We stopped by the beach. Unfortunately, there were hardly any birds there, beside crows. We didn't even see a single shorebird. The water in the lagoon near the beach didn't look very good; it was very brown and cloudy. There may be an algal bloom soon. Below are two photos of the beach, and one of the lagoon.

We did see a family of Mallards, a mother with four tiny ducklings gathered around her. Below are the ducks.

Mallards

Mallards

We didn't see very many egrets at the lagoon, only a few here and there. We did see both Snowy and Great, though. Below are two photos of egrets. The first is of a Snowy Egret standing on the roof of a house, and the second is of two Great Egrets flying over.

Snowy Egret

Great Egrets