The Lost Trail

I birded at SJWS today because the cabin fever from this cold was starting to drive me up the walls. I spent more time than I should have considering how sick I've been, but it was such a nice day out. I started out sitting in the parking lot next to the pond, when you sit they don't seem to mind as much and come right up close like this avocet did.

There were plenty of ducks on the ponds, green-winged and cinnamon teal, mallards, shovelers, and back by the boardwalk I had a few gadwall. I liked this shot I got of the ducks all lined up, from left to right there's a male green-winged teal, followed by a female teal, then a male cinnamon teal, female shoveler, then male shoveler.

I watched a yellow-rumped warbler picking grubs off of a cottonwood, which was very exciting, and if the darn tree hadn't had so many branches in the way, I might have gotten a decent shot. It was cool to see it fly off the branch, pick up the grub and fly back to perch and swallow it as the grub wriggled trying to get away.

I walked along a trail I don't think I've ever been on, aptly named the "Lost Trail". It was a cute little stretch deep in the riparian section of the marsh. This area was quite birdy despite the wind, which was quite strong today, but nothing compared to yesterday. Orange-crowned warblers were singing, as were marsh wrens and spotted towhees. Bushtits called to each other from the trees around me, and yellow-rumped warbler's drippy calls were prevalent.

I flushed a great-blue heron that had been on the side of the path, as it flew overhead I got a few interesting shots, and as I was almost back to the parking lot, I looked into the first pond and saw a white-faced ibis feeding by itself, which pleased me because I don't have very many good ibis shots.

This white-crowned sparrow caught my attention. It's almost time for them to be heading out for the season, along with the yellow-rumped warblers and the ruby-crowned kinglets. Speaking of which, I haven't been seeing many of them lately, I think they're gone for the most part, although I did have one today while I was on the Lost Trail. Such cute little characters they are.