From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Hi everyone! On this fine overcast day I made a visit with my Dad to the Glendale Recharge Ponds (which shall be abbreviated to GRP for the future) this morning. More birds were observed there today than usual, the Clark's Grebe that was reported by Kerry M. however, was not seen. None theless today was quite exciting. A NORTHERN HARRIER was the first bird spotted, just as we stepped out of the car! Next I saw a BALD EAGLE fly low to the water, and then landing on a bank. A few minutes later we watched as a PEREGRINE FALCON swooped and flew low over the water, attempting to pick a target from the crowd of BLACK-NECKED STILTS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, KILLDEER, LEAST SANDPIPER, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, AMERICAN COOTS, AMERICAN AVOCETS, GREAT and SNOWY EGRETS, WHITE-FACED IBIS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, CINNAMON TEAL, AMERICAN WIGEON and mallards! It made short work of the ponds, flying from one end to the other in about 30 seconds. A trip around 1 pond for us could take as much as 10 minutes, without stopping! In pond 5, a variety of species went about their daily lives whilst drifting on the surface of the pond. All species that were in pond 4 were present, plus a few more highlighter species. 6 male BUFFLEHEAD were floating across the calm waters, diving often. Today was the first time I ever saw males of the species! A few months before it would have been a lifer. High numbers of EARED GREBE were present, about 20-30! The number of RUDDY DUCKS has increased since my last few visits to my BP, (Birding Patch) from 100 to about 350! AMERICAN WIGEON were in the same numbers since last visit, 300 or 370! A single RING-NECKED DUCK resided in pond 5, in midst of hundreds of waterfowl and shorebirds. Flying off in the direction of houses, a SNOW GOOSE went overhead! Yet another state-lifer for the day! We also found and photographed a very cooperative DUNLIN, like the Snow Goose, a state lifer! Other birds found on the excursion were: An AMERICAN PIPIT, CANADA GOOSE, NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, RED-TAILED HAWK, GREAT BLUE HERON, PIED-BILLED GREBE, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES (4), WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, AUDUBON'S WARBLERS, COMMON YELLOWTHROATS (heard only), MARSH WRENS (heard only), ABERT'S TOWHEES, House Finches, Verdins, European Starlings, Mourning Doves, Rock Pigeons, Eurasian Collared-Doves and Black and Say's Phoebes. What an awesome and exciting trip to my BP! Note; Although I didn't witness the PEREGRINE catch a bird, I relocated him later feeding on a Great-tailed Grackle! Also, there are a pair of Coyotes (if there's a pair then there's a pack) so be mindful when exploring the GRP. Dunlin (bottom photo mine) American Pipit TTBs (total trip birds): 52 species!
I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next post!
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About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
Categories
Life List
Birds |