Bear River MBR

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

I birded Bear River MBR and the road to the refuge today.  I was very 
surprised to see few waterfowl species (just three) and few shorebird 
species (just ten).  The best shorebird activity was in unit 3 east of 
the auto tour loop.  The only shorebirds I saw in Unit 2 were stilts and 
avocets--that's really coot-heron-grebe-ibis-pelican land right now.  As 
far as the auto tour loop putting on a peep show--nada.  The peeps were 
all no-shows today.  

Best sightings of the day involved family activities.  I watched an 
adult Forster's Tern drop a silvery fish from the air to the spot where 
two juveniles stood on a little spit of land.  I presumed that the 
parent was giving fish collecting lessons by dropping the fish to the 
young in that manner instead of delivering it beak-to-beak.  The 
juveniles made a move to the fish but unfortunately, so did nearby 
California Gulls.  The gulls swooped down and upset everyone.  It 
appeared to me that no one got the fish.

I also saw a family of Virginia Rails in the canal along the southeast 
leg of the auto tour loop.  As I approached a sparse mass of reeds in 
the water, I saw a couple tiny black puffy chicks swimming through the 
reeds.  The way the chicks swam in the canal made it difficult to 
believe they don't have webbed feet.  Anyway, the chicks were jet-black 
with yellow bills and a vertical black stripe through their bills a la 
Pied-billed Grebes.  They looked just like chicken chicks except they 
were black.  Eventually all three chicks swam across the canal and 
joined their parents on the other side.  Then the troop hurried over the 
dike and they were gone.  

I noted several Yellow-headed Blackbirds that looked butt-less and 
faintly ridiculous because they're molting their retrices right now.  I 
wondered how they keep their balance in flight without tail feathers.  

Other areas that shouldn't be overlooked are the ponds on both sides of 
the road around the temporary visitor's center within a mile or so of 
the interstate.  I found a good smattering of birds there, including 
Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers, Forster's Terns, and Black-crowned 
Night Herons, among others.

The whole list of species appears below.  

Kris

Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed, Western, Clark's Grebes
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Franklin's, California, Ring-billed Gulls
Caspian and Forster's Terns
Mourning Dove
Western and Eastern Kingbirds
Loggerhead Shrike
Bank, Cliff, Barn Swallows
Marsh Wren
Lark Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird


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