Buena Vista Lagoon August

Note: I won't be posting about the Buena Vista Lagoon again until November (probably) because I'll be heading off to college in September. I'll probably post about the birds and wildlife I see at college, though.

Today was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon. It remained cloudy and cool throughout the morning. The birds weren't very active, but we managed to spot just over forty species. Below are five views around the lagoon.

For some reason, the American White Pelicans are here this month. They don't usually arrive until late fall or winter (if they even arrive at all), but right now, there are at least fifteen of them hanging out on the lagoon. I don't know why they're here so early. Below are two photos. The first is of two pelicans and some American Avocets, as well as what I think is a female Mallard (the dark bird at the top right). In the second photo are three pelicans.

American White Pelicans and American Avocets

American White Pelicans

There were a few Great-tailed Grackles around, mostly males. Below is a male that was sitting on a telephone pole in the early morning.

Great-tailed Grackle

As usual, there were Double-crested Cormorants on the telephone wires and around the lagoon. Below are two photos. The first is of two cormorants perched on a wire, and the second is of two cormorants on the lagoon. The one on the right is drying its wings.

Double-crested Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorants

I didn't see very many Western Grebes today, but there was one in the early morning that popped up quite close to me. Below is a photo of it.

Western Grebe

There were quite a few Common Yellowthroats singing and hopping around in the reeds. They were very quick, and stayed hidden for the most part. Below is a male perched on a reed.

Common Yellowthroat

There weren't very many herons or egrets around, though we did see two Green Herons. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph them (both times they were flying quickly and then disappeared into the reeds). I did get a photo of a Snowy Egret flying over a parking lot. Below is the photo.

Snowy Egret

There were quite a few terns at the lagoon today. There were mostly Caspian Terns, but there were a couple of Forster's Terns as well. Below is a photo of a Caspian Tern with a fish in its bill.

Caspian Tern

There's a spot beside the lagoon near the ditch where the Killdeer chicks were. It's a wide, flat dirt area right near the water where there are sometimes people fishing (it's catch and release fishing, since the fish in the lagoon are probably not safe to eat). We walked around that spot and saw some small birds. It'll probably be a better spot to visit during migration or winter, when all the migrating ducks are on the water. Scattered around the dirt (which was very soft and spongy) were a lot of tracks. There were, of course, dog and human tracks, but also quite a few bird tracks. Below are three photos of bird tracks. The first are probably Killdeer (based on the size and erratic patterns), and the second two are very large bird tracks (compare with the human footprints) probably belonging to a heron or egret.

We finished the loop of the lagoon at Maxton Brown Park, where we heard a Nuttall's Woodpecker, a couple of very angry Caspian Terns fighting with each other, and a cute little Black Phoebe. Below is the phoebe.

Black Phoebe