Buena Vista Lagoon August

Last Saturday was the bird count at the Buena Vista Lagoon. The sky was clear, the water level was high, and it was very hot. Unfortunately, we didn't see a single raptor. However, we still managed to see more species than we did last month. Below are six views around the lagoon.

We saw several Pied-billed Grebes around the lagoon, including a couple of young ones with stripy faces. Below are two photos of the Pied-billed Grebes (the one in the second photo is a juvenile).

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe

There were quite a few Red-winged Blackbirds around, flying through the reeds and eating at bird feeders. Below is a male sitting on a telephone wire.

Red-winged Blackbird

There were a few young Western Fence-Lizards sunning themselves in front of the nature center. They were very small with large heads. Below is one of them blending into a wooden railing.

Western Fence-Lizard

There were a few Mourning Doves here and there. Below is one sitting high up in a tree.

Mourning Dove

There were several Cassin's Kingbirds sitting up on the tops of trees. Their colors were very vivid in the bright sunlight. Below is one perched on top of a sycamore tree.

Cassin's Kingbird

There were a lot of different dragonflies zipping around. Below is a blue dasher dragonfly resting on a bush. Most of the dragonflies were probably blue dashers; they seem to be the most common species around.

Blue Dasher

As usual, there were quite a few American Crows around. Below is one of them perched on a lamppost.

American Crow

There didn't seem to be as many gulls around as usual, but there were a few here and there, mainly California and Western Gulls. Below is a California gull standing on a streetlight.

California Gull

There were a couple of Caspian Terns that flew in squawking. They flew around together and dove into the water after fish. Below are three photos of the Caspian Terns diving and flying around over the lagoon.

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

We saw a few herons and egrets around. A couple of Great Blue Herons stood very still in the reeds by the water. Below is one of them.

Great Blue Heron

There were a few Mallards around, though not as many as we'd recently been seeing. Below is a female standing on a pipe.

Mallard

The biggest surprise of the day was another duck. As we were standing by the lagoon, looking out over the water, a large flock of ducks flew in and around the lagoon in a wide arc. Their plumage looked a lot like female Mallards, but they weren't behaving like Mallards. They landed on the water and swam in a cluster, and as we looked through our binoculars, we saw that they were all female Northern Shovelers. Shovelers and other migratory ducks (or any migratory birds) usually don't arrive until late September or October. I've never seen birds arrive as early as August before, and I'm not sure why they're here now. Other birds have started arriving early, as well, not just the shovelers. Below is a photo of the flock of shovelers on the lagoon (there are also a few Ruddy Ducks at the edges).

Northern Shovelers

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

San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay Part Two

Sorry that this post is late. The day after we visited Morro Bay, we visited the Cal Poly campus and walked into the canyon behind the college. There's a wide trail running alongside a creek that breaks into a couple of smaller ones leading up into the hills. It's a very lovely trail. Below are four views along the trail.

There were a lot of Western Bluebirds out in the fields, hovering above the grass and perching on top of bushes. There were quite a few young, brown spotty bluebirds flying around. Below are two photos of the bluebirds. The two in the first photo are adults, and the one in the second photo is a young one hovering above the grass.

Western Bluebirds

Western Bluebird

There were a few Steller's Jays high up in the trees making odd noises. A pair of American Kestrels were very upset at them; they must have had a nest nearby. Below is a Steller's Jay in a sycamore tree.

Steller's Jay

As we walked around the Cal Poly campus, we saw a Western Gray Squirrel. They're somewhat large squirrels with gray backs and pale bellies. They are currently threatened by habitat loss and competition with introduced species (mainly the Eastern Fox Squirrel). Below are two photos of the Western Gray Squirrel.

Western Gray Squirrel

Western Gray Squirrel

There were quite a few goldfinches everywhere we went in San Luis Obispo and the Morro Bay area. We saw a few American Goldfinches in Morro Bay, but they were too far away to take a photo. Below are two photos of Lesser Goldfinches at Cal Poly (the first is a female, the second is a male).

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinch

There also seemed to be a few Pacific-Slope Flycatchers everywhere we went, sitting up in trees or on buildings. We could often hear them calling (a high "seet" sound). There were a lot of them around Cal Poly in particular. Below is one of them sitting on a wall.

Pacific-Slope Flycatcher

An unexpected bird we saw was an American Robin. It was running along the ground with some Dark-eyed Juncos on the Cal Poly campus. It was a male robin with very nice plumage. Below is a photo of the robin.

American Robin

Next to our hotel in San Luis Obispo was a little creek. It was surprisingly full, considering the drought. There was a trail running alongside it, which we explored. We heard a lot of Pacific-Slope Flycatchers and saw a Red-shouldered Hawk while we down there. At night, we could hear a great chorus of frogs. Below are four photos of the creek.