Buena Vista Lagoon July

Last Saturday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon. In the morning, it was very cloudy, then later cleared up. It had just rained recently, so the water level in the lagoon was quite high. We didn't see many birds, since it's summer, but we did manage to see over forty species. Below are five views around the lagoon.

There were quite a few Pied-billed Grebes around. There was a mother and her three stripy young ones by the fishing bridge. I assume they're the same family from the floating nest near the road, since they were in the same spot. Below are three photos of Pied-billed Grebes (the last is of the mother and two of her young ones).

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebes

On the other side of the road from the grebe family was a lone Great Blue Heron standing very still by the reeds. Below is a photo of it.

Great Blue Heron

A young Cooper's Hawk flew over the lagoon and landed in a tree. A group of birds immediately came to harass it. It looked around for a while, then swooped low over the reeds, startling the grebe family and making them squawk. It didn't catch anything in its swoop, however. Below is the young hawk up in the tree.

Cooper's Hawk

There were several Caspian Terns flying back and forth across the lagoon. Below are two photos of them. The one in the second photo is scratching itself behind its ear while flying (quite a feat!).

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

there were more Bullfrogs around than any time I can remember. Everywhere we went we could hear a group of them grunting very loudly. I startled quite a few of them just walking along the trail behind the nature center. Below is one of them.

Bullfrog

There were a few hummingbirds around, both Anna's and Allen's. Below is an Allen's Hummingbird on top of a bush.

Allen's Hummingbird

As always, there were quite a few House Sparrows in the parking lots. Below are three females in a tree.

House Sparrows

We saw a couple of Killdeer. One stood for quite a while just at the edge of the road, then ran alongside the cars. It stood surprisingly close to us. Below is a photo of the Killdeer beside the road.

Killdeer

There were many Great-tailed Grackles flying around and singing. Below is a male walking along a metal railing beside the road.

Great-tailed Grackle

A number of Mallards were swimming around, many of which appeared to be juveniles. Below are two photos of them.

Mallards

Mallards

There were a lot of fish moving around in the lagoon. There were hundreds of large fish swarming near the surface of the water. I'm not certain as to their species, but I think they may have been mullet. Unfortunately, the water was a bit too murky to take a good photo of them. Below are two photos. The first is of a couple small fish. The second is of the disturbance in the water made by the swarming fish.

There were a lot of young, fluffy gray Western Grebes following their parents around and being very noisy. Below are five photos. The first is of two young Western Grebes that had probably recently left their parents (notice their odd, patchy plumage). The second is a parent and chick I saw in the early morning. The last three are of another parent and chick we saw on the other side of the lagoon. In the last photo, though it's very difficult to see, the chick is riding on the parent's back (look for the fluffy gray head sticking out at the back of the parent's neck).

Western Grebes

Western Grebes

Western Grebes

Western Grebes

Western Grebes

There are a lot of houses down by the lagoon, and a few put out birdfeeders. Usually there isn't anything except for House Finches and House Sparrows, but on Saturday, there was a group of very nice-looking male Red-winged Blackbirds hogging all the space. They were quite a bit large than the finches and sparrows. Below are the blackbirds and some House Sparrows at one of the feeders.

Red-winged Blackbirds and House Sparrows

There were a few Clark's Grebes on the lagoon, and one popped up somewhat near us with a fish in its bill. Oddly, it didn't eat the fish. Instead, it was calling (with the fish still in its bill) and occasionally diving under the water. We didn't see what it did with the fish, but perhaps it was calling for a mate or its young. Below is the Clark's Grebe with the fish.

Clark's Grebe