Today is Wednesday, and that means Bird Class. There was a Pine Warbler reported yesterday in Carpinteria, but I figured it was likely to be gone so I stuck with the plan and headed out to Lake Los Carneros where class was.
It was a strange weather morning. When I awoke early and checked the weather it was 84 degrees at the Santa Barbara Airport. At 6AM! Downslope winds were heating things up at the coast. Luckily the wind died down and overcast skies kept the temperature pretty comfortable.
At the start of class things were pretty quiet bird-wise. There simply were not many birds to be found, perhaps due in part to the strange overnight weather.
As we made our way around the lake things began to get a bit livelier. A couple of Greater Yellowlegs were racing about in the shallows, bills in the water, chasing some small fish or something. There were some newly arriving ducks on the lake, including Bufflehead, Ring-necked Ducks, and Northern Pintails.
The class ended with a flurry of activity. A Merlin was sweeping across the lake hunting Dragonflies, and on occasion being hassled by crows. At one point the Merlin was perched in a tree above a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. We had a flyover of 4 White-faced Ibis. They circled a few times, decided they did not like the looks of us, and continued on.
Another entertaining morning with the birds.
I will be taking a break for a few days. See you next week!
Some photos form this morning:
After today the year's total still stands at 269
The Score: Vermont 264, Green Big Year 269
It was a strange weather morning. When I awoke early and checked the weather it was 84 degrees at the Santa Barbara Airport. At 6AM! Downslope winds were heating things up at the coast. Luckily the wind died down and overcast skies kept the temperature pretty comfortable.
At the start of class things were pretty quiet bird-wise. There simply were not many birds to be found, perhaps due in part to the strange overnight weather.
As we made our way around the lake things began to get a bit livelier. A couple of Greater Yellowlegs were racing about in the shallows, bills in the water, chasing some small fish or something. There were some newly arriving ducks on the lake, including Bufflehead, Ring-necked Ducks, and Northern Pintails.
The class ended with a flurry of activity. A Merlin was sweeping across the lake hunting Dragonflies, and on occasion being hassled by crows. At one point the Merlin was perched in a tree above a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. We had a flyover of 4 White-faced Ibis. They circled a few times, decided they did not like the looks of us, and continued on.
Another entertaining morning with the birds.
I will be taking a break for a few days. See you next week!
Some photos form this morning:
Mute Swan (and Mallard)
Northern Pintail (male)
Merlin being hassled by a Crow
Merlin
After today the year's total still stands at 269
The Score: Vermont 264, Green Big Year 269
Today I rode a total of 22.7 miles
More later,
Glenn
Glenn: the listing police is here to tell you that Mute Swan is not countable in California.
ReplyDeleteI was also reminded of that this morning. I need to fix that, seen way back on Jan 1st.
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