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Posted by Toe on 10:34:31 03/25/08
The Snow Goose was located in the southern portion of the wetlands along with a small flock of White Pelicans. It flew towards the southeast at 7:17, as it has been doing since December. I still don't know where it's spending the day. Water levels are higher than on Saturday due to the rain (ugh), so shorebird numbers are down. Still, there was a flock of 50+ Long-billed Dowitchers, both Yellowlegs, 10 Stilt Sandpipers, a couple dozen Black-necked Stilts, and the 4 Avocets. One of the Avocets is in full breeding plumage, which is a rare sight down here.
Gulls were mostly Laughing and Ring-billed, but there were also at least 3 Lesser Black-backed and a couple of Herring. A juvenile Bald Eagle came by briefly and flushed the gulls, while the shorebirds used their effective defense technique of flying around for a few circles then landing in the exact same spot.
In addition to Spoonbills and othe waders, there are still quite a few Blue-winged Teal around, but all the other ducks are long gone. A lone Northern Harrier was hunting over the western side of the wetlands. I did see 5 swallow species (Cave, Barn, Tree, N. Rough-winged, and Cliff), with some of the Trees looking spectacular in the morning sun. Considering I spent less than 2 hours and drove 5 minutes, it was a very enjoyable morning. Angel and Mariel showed up around 7:30 and saw everything but the goose, while Bill Boeringer made a brief stop to pick up a bird-of-the-day. Rock Jetty made a very brief cameo appearance. He was there from 7:38-7:39. Very sneaky that Rock.
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