The star of the show at the Bird Preserve on Saturday was FOG! There was thick fog blanketing this side of the valley, I almost missed the turnoff in the dark and the fog. It was really kind of neat, I've seen fog on the ponds before, but never this much and never in town.
Initially, I thought the fog was going to put a damper on my birding, but it really didn't take that long for it to burn off once the sun came up. I ended up seeing 33 species, with six new species to add to my year-to-date list. After searching all month for Redheads and American Wigeons, I finally figured out where they are -- at Sunset Park in the pond begging for bread. But I did finally find one pair of Redheads laying low in Pond 8.
This Song Sparrow was kind of cooperative, and let me take several pictures. I saw a few other Song Sparrows, and there are still lots of White-Crowned Sparrows around.
This Snowy Egret was looking for lunch in Pond 1. The best bird of the day was a Peregrine Falcon; I didn't get a great look, but I wasn't the only one who saw it, and I did spend some time with my field guides and got a lesson in Peregrine wing and tale shape that will stick with me. This little project is doing me good. I wouldn't have hit the books so hard if I wasn't keeping track of what I see.
