Buena Vista Lagoon October

This past Saturday was the Buena Vista Lagoon bird count.  It started out cloudy, but then cleared up.  Unfortunately, the empty lot that overlooks the lagoon has been fenced off and a house will be built there, so we can't go there anymore.  It might knock a few birds that we usually see off our count.  Below are some views of the lagoon.

One of the first creatures I saw at the lagoon was a bullfrog sitting in the water.  Below is a photo of it.

Bullfrog

Two Red-necked Phalaropes were swimming very close to me, though they flew away when everyone else came.  Red-necked Phalaropes are found throughout the world during migration.  They summer in the arctic and winter in tropical seas.  As with other phalarope species, the females are more brightly colored.  In breeding season, females have black heads, white throats, red necks, and white bellies.  Their chests and backs are bluish-gray and they have orange streaks on their backs.  Non-breeding adults are mostly white with gray backs and dark caps and masks.  They are small birds with needle-like bills and are often found swimming.  Below is a photo of the two Red-necked Phalaropes.

Red-necked Phalaropes

There was a Pied-billed Grebe with a young one swimming in the water beside the road.  The young one was hiding in the reeds, so I wasn't able to take a photo, but below is a photo of the adult just before it dove.

Pied-billed Grebe

There were quite a few Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds around, especially in the area right behind the nature center.  Below is an Anna's Hummingbird.

Anna's Hummingbird

There were several Northern Mockingbirds around, but only a couple of them were singing.  Below is a photo of one of them.

Northern Mockingbird

There were many, many White-crowned Sparrows singing and hopping around in the bushes and on the ground.  Below is a photo of one sitting in a bush.

White-crowned Sparrow

There were also quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, though they were mostly high up in the trees, flitting around and calling.  They are very hard for me to photograph, but I did manage to take one photo.  Below is a Yellow-rumped Warbler in a pine tree.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

There were a few Back Phoebes.  One flew up right near me, but wouldn't hold its head straight, so below is a photo of it with its head tilted, looking for insects.

Black Phoebe

Several American Crows were hanging around at each of the stops, hopping around on parked cars and up in trees.  Below is one of the crows on a telephone line.

American Crow

Fall and winter are easy times for identifying kingbirds, since the only species around here right now is the Cassin's Kingbird.  Below is one sitting in a tree.

Cassin's Kingbird

There were some Great-tailed Grackles here and there.  Below is a small flock of males (notice the long tails).

Great-tailed Grackles

There were many Western Grebes on the lagoon.  One of them came fairly close  to me and stayed still long enough for me to take a photo before it dove.  Below is the grebe.

Western Grebe

The Spotted Sandpiper was in the same spot that it has been for the past couple months.  It wasn't very close to me, and I didn't crawl under the bridge (which I did last time), so I wasn't able to take a very good photo.  Below is the Spotted Sandpiper.

Spotted Sandpiper

There were more American Coots than usual, though still not anywhere near the numbers there were a few years ago.  Below are four coots swimming around under a bridge.

American Coots

There were a few Hermit Thrushes hopping around in the brush.  One took a dust bath (which is why it appears so dull in the photos) out the open, which I hadn't ever seen one do before.  Below are two photos of the Hermit Thrush.

Hermit Thrush

Hermit Thrush

We went down to the beach.  The water was very high, so there weren't very many shorebirds.  There were some Sanderlings far down the beach.  Below is a photo of the beach.

The water wasn't too rough, so there were several Western Grebes and some gulls resting on the water.  Below are two sleeping grebes.

Western Grebes

There was one Willet that was rather close to us taking a bath.  After the bath it preened, tucked one of its legs up into its feathers, and fell asleep.  Below are three photos of it bathing with two coots, sitting in the water, and sleeping.

Willet and American Coots

Willet

Willet

We saw one lone Common Moorhen in very drab, non-breeding plumage.  Below is a photo of it (notice that its bill is pinkish gray and not the usual bright red).

Common Moorhen

We saw very few birds of prey.  However, there was one bright, colorful, male American Kestrel that sat right above us on a telephone line.  It looked like it may have been trying to catch flying insects, because it would fly a short distance away, hover, and then return to the same spot in a flycatcher-like manner.  As it was doing this, it was bothered by a finch and then chased by a crow, but it still came back.  Below is a photo of it.

American Kestrel

Buena Vista Lagoon September

This past Saturday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon.  We saw sixty-six species all together, which is amazing considering many of the migrating birds aren't here yet.  Below are some views of the lagoon.

Two of the first birds I saw were sora rails, which I haven't seen in a long while.  Soras are found in most of the United States and southern Canada in the summer, and the southern United States down into Central and northern South America in the winter.  Their backs and sides are brown speckled with white, their chests and the sides of their heads are gray, and they have black faces and yellow bills.  They are quite small.  There were two at the lagoon; an adult and immature one.  Below are photos of them.  The first is the adult, and the second two are the young one.

Sora

Sora

Sora

Close by the soras was an immature green heron, probably the same one I saw a while ago.  At first it kept running away from me into the bushes, but then it came out into the open so everyone could see it.  Below is a photo of it.

Green Heron

There were a lot of egrets at the lagoon; flocks and flocks of both snowy and great egrets.  Below are four photos of egrets.  In the second photo, the small bird is a red-winged blackbird.  All of the white dots along the shore in the fourth photo are egrets (both snowy and great).

Egrets

Egrets and Red-winged Blackbird

Snowy Egret

Egrets

The white-crowned sparrows have arrived.  There were a couple of them at the lagoon.  Below is one of them sitting on top of a bush.

White-crowned Sparrow

We saw a few of the Muscovy ducks.  One of them swam over hoping for a handout.  Below is the duck.

Muscovy Duck

The mystery sandpiper from last month was revealed to be a nonbreeding spotted sandpiper.  Spotted sandpipers are found throughout the United States and Canada up through Alaska in the summer, and in the southern United States down through Central America and most of South America in the winter.  They have plain backs, heads, and chests with white bellies.  They have dark eyestripes, and, in breeding season, have black spots and bright orange bills.  They teeter as they walk.  Below are four photos of two spotted sandpipers.

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

A merlin came swooping in out of nowhere at the empty lot overlooking the lagoon.  It soared around for a little while, then dove low over the water and chased around a large flock of phalaropes.  It was incredibly fast; it was like a tiny peregrine falcon.  Below is a photo of it soaring.

Merlin

There were a few flocks of American crows hanging around; one flock was chasing a couple of ravens.  One crow sat in a tree above us as we tallied the birds at the end, making strange noises.  Below are two photos of crows.

American Crow

American Crow

We went down to the beach.  It was bright and clear with rather large waves when we got there.  Below is the beach.

There was a pied billed grebe with a baby.  The baby was covered in stripes and bobbled around in the water, sometimes swimming off with American coots, though it always returned to its mother.  Below are the mother and baby.

Pied-billed Grebes

Down near the beach were a few northern mockingbirds singing and chasing each other through the bushes.  Below are two photos of them.

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

There were a few killdeer there as well, walking around at the edge of the water and making their "killdeer" calls.  Below are two photos of them.

Killdeer

Killdeer

There were several willets around, walking by the water and running away when the waves came in.  They came pretty close to us.  Below are two photos of one of them.

Willet

Willet

There was a belted kingfsher, which we haven't seen at the lagoon in quite a long while.  It sat on a telephone wire, but didn't stay for very long.  Below is a photo of it.

Belted Kingfisher

We saw a few whimbrels.  They didn't come very close, but I managed to take one photo of one.  Below is the whimbrel.

Whimbrel