During my last meeting with Chuck Carlson he mentioned about the bird walks lead by Chris Runk at White Rock Lake fish hatchery area and he mentioned it would be a good walk to learn lot about the birds. The walk starts at around 7:30AM. The weather was pretty chilly and with wind too. It was challenge to bird near the Dam area because of the wind. We saw lot of Gulls and cormorants near the dam and huge batch of Bonaparte's gull flew by. It was my first sighting of this bird and size difference between Ring-billed and Bonaparte's was very obvious to the naked eye.
We saw lot of birds in the wooded area which include Woodpeckers, Flickers and sparrows. We also saw Wood ducks, Mallards and Shovelers in the wooded area. We came back to the dam after the sun was out and this time we saw lot of birds near the trees. We got very good looks of Golden-crowned Kinglet and ruby-crowned kinglets. We also saw Yellow-rumped warblers and orange-crowned warbler. We also saw a lone Sapsucker.
After this me and Chuck went to TD hills area at White Rock lake to see the birds around. We saw Mallards, Coots and Shovelers here. But the highlight was seeing the number of Black-crowned night herons. We saw atleast 5 juveniles and atleast a dozen adult herons. I also saw few yellow-rumped warblers, field sparrow and monk parakeets here. Also saw both Neotropic and Double-crested cormorants. A very good place to observe the difference in these 2 cormorants. We also saw a lone Red-shouldered hawk and I saw crows chasing another Red-shouldered hawk here.
After this I decided to head towards the sunset bay area to try my luck with Buffleheads. Enroute on the lake I saw lot of Ruddy ducks. They had congregated at at 3 places and in total they were about 50 birds and all of them were kin of sleeping with the necks tucked inside :-). Really liked the way their tail feathers show up :-) Reached the sunset bay area and all I saw were Gulls, Coots and Mallards. There were lot of Cormorants on the lake too. Then I saw lone female Bufflehead and when I was trying to photograph it I saw all the cormorants took to air. And when we tried to see the reason for all this commotion I saw a big bird flying over this group and immediately took a photograph and looking at the bird I thought it had to be an eagle and when I reviewed the photo it was clear that it was a Bald Eagle, my first sighting of this bird:-) I had been waiting to see this bird for a long time. After this I headed back home with Bald Eagle flight running through my mind.
Ebird lists for the day.
WRL Fish Hatchery area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
TD Hills area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Sunset Bay area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day.
We saw lot of birds in the wooded area which include Woodpeckers, Flickers and sparrows. We also saw Wood ducks, Mallards and Shovelers in the wooded area. We came back to the dam after the sun was out and this time we saw lot of birds near the trees. We got very good looks of Golden-crowned Kinglet and ruby-crowned kinglets. We also saw Yellow-rumped warblers and orange-crowned warbler. We also saw a lone Sapsucker.
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| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
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| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
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| Northern Shoveler |
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| Northern Shoveler |
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| Shoveler Beak pose |
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| Double-crested Cormorant |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Neotropic Cormorant |
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| American Coot |
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| Ring-billed Gull |
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| White-winged Dove |
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
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| Song Sparrow? |
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| Field Sparrow |
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| Yellow-rumped Warble. |
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| Rudy Duck |
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| American Kestrel |
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| Bufflehead |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Northern Mockingbird |
WRL Fish Hatchery area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
TD Hills area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Sunset Bay area : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day.
| 1 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| 2 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| 3 | Wood Duck |
| 4 | White-winged Dove |
| 5 | White-throated Sparrow |
| 6 | Tufted Titmouse |
| 7 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| 8 | Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) |
| 9 | Ring-billed Gull |
| 10 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 11 | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| 12 | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| 13 | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| 14 | Pied-billed Grebe |
| 15 | Pied-billed Grebe |
| 16 | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| 17 | Northern Shoveler |
| 18 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 19 | Northern Flicker |
| 20 | Northern Cardinal |
| 21 | Neotropic Cormorant |
| 22 | Mourning Dove |
| 23 | Monk Parakeet |
| 24 | Mallard |
| 25 | Herring Gull |
| 26 | Hermit Thrush |
| 27 | Great Egret |
| 28 | Great Blue Heron |
| 29 | Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| 30 | Field Sparrow |
| 31 | European Starling |
| 32 | Eastern Phoebe |
| 33 | Eastern Bluebird |
| 34 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 35 | Double-crested Cormorant |
| 36 | Dark-eyed Junco |
| 37 | cormorant sp. |
| 38 | Carolina Chickadee |
| 39 | Bufflehead |
| 40 | Bonaparte's Gull |
| 41 | Blue Jay |
| 42 | Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| 43 | Black Vulture |
| 44 | Bald Eagle |
| 45 | American White Pelican |
| 46 | American Robin |
| 47 | American Kestrel |
| 48 | American Crow |
| 49 | American Coot |
