Some of our birders headed to the Little River area on Sunday to make our usual loop from the Little River Nature Sanctuary through a subdivision to the shoreline south of the ferry terminal, along the beach to the terminal and across it to check out the Little River mouth area, and then a return to our park along the river bank and back through the subdivision. This route generally takes two hours or so to complete and exposes us to the possibility of birds in a range of habitats. Our bird total on this occasion was twenty-seven (with a few only noted once the photos were downloaded onto the computer and processed):
Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbird, Northern Flickers, Violet-Green Swallows, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Common Raven, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures, gulls, Great Blue Herons, Common Loons, Surf Scoters, Buffleheads, Horned Grebes, Mallards, American Wigeons, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Mergansers, Scaups, Long-tailed Ducks, Killdeer and Yellowlegs.
We were impressed with the number of large rafts (groups) of Surf Scoters seen and especially enjoyed the sight of Horned Grebes in full breeding plumage....so pretty! It was also good to see the Eurasian Wigeon amongst the Mallards and American Wigeons - a rather uncommon sighting. Oh...and the nest between the subdivision and Little River Nature Sanctuary is once more occupied by a Bald Eagle.
Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbird, Northern Flickers, Violet-Green Swallows, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Common Raven, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures, gulls, Great Blue Herons, Common Loons, Surf Scoters, Buffleheads, Horned Grebes, Mallards, American Wigeons, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Mergansers, Scaups, Long-tailed Ducks, Killdeer and Yellowlegs.
We were impressed with the number of large rafts (groups) of Surf Scoters seen and especially enjoyed the sight of Horned Grebes in full breeding plumage....so pretty! It was also good to see the Eurasian Wigeon amongst the Mallards and American Wigeons - a rather uncommon sighting. Oh...and the nest between the subdivision and Little River Nature Sanctuary is once more occupied by a Bald Eagle.