Dixie Birders Ride Again!

["William J. Hunter" <dixiewili at redrock dot net>]

Hi all.

This morning Charlie Sheard and I met at the SR-9 (Hurricane) Sewage Ponds
for a look see at what was there. Here is what we saw:

    Double-crested Cormorant
    Great Blue Heron
    Green-winged Teal
    Mallard
    Northern Shoveler
    SEMIPALMATED PLOVER: Bird: Foraging on southern shore of the middle
"puddle" of what is called the Northwest sewage pond, at waters edge.
Thought at first it was a Killdeer, but realized it had only one
stripe/breastband. Was also smaller than a Killdeer. It had yellowish legs,
a white "forehead" and wings were longer than tail. Back (dorsal surface)
was a dark brown. We watched it forage and preen for several minutes, then
we looked for more.
    Killdeer
    American Avocet
    Greater Yellowlegs
    Lesser Yellowlegs
    Western Sandpiper
    Common snipe
    Wilson's Phalarope

Absent in our sightings were some of the finds of Rick Fridell, et all. Not
to say they weren't there, just these two intrepid birders could not single
them out.

After an hour here we moved up to the inlet area of Quail Creek Reservoir.
This is where Rick had seen an Indigo Bunting, and where, last week, we had
seen much activity. Boy! Everything has moved on. Of interest were three
species of wren:
    Bewick's Wren
    House Wren
    Winter Wren
Bird: Good observation of 2 Winter Wrens, 1 Bewick's Wren and 1 House Wren
all in same rocky habitat and at times, side by side on rock and in the
Desert Almond. (Pronounced "Ahmend" for those of you who grew up working in
the Almond orchards of Tehama County, California.) This was an excellent
opportunity to compare three species of wrens within the same Chaparral
habitat.
Also, of interest:
    Gray Flycatcher
    Verdin: Bright yellow head, like "he" had been eating out of a mustard
jar.

A fun two hours.
Happy hunting.

Bill Hunter
St. George

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