The first visit was a casual wander around the ponds seeing many of the birds expected at the Water Ranch at this time of year, lots of ducks, dowitchers and stilts. One highlight of this trip was the number of Gambel's Quail sitting and calling high in the trees. I added three birds to my year list - Canyon Towhee, Violet-green Swallow and Curve-billed Thrasher but missed a couple of species.
So a week later, having picked up our other son from the airport late on Friday, I ventured to the Water Ranch early on Saturday morning. Brown-headed Cowbirds and Tree Swallows has arrived, and two targets from the previous week - American Avocet and Green Heron. Avocets were around in large numbers and I surely did not overlook them the previous week! Green Herons were sitting high at on overnight roosting spot which made them easier to find than skulking in the vegetation near the water.
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| American Avocet |
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| Green Heron |
On both visits I tried for the Brown Thrasher that has spent its second winter been Ponds 3 and 4. This has not been an easy bird to find and I had no luck on either visit. I had also hoped to run into Rosy-faced Lovebirds. I learned from folks with Desert Rivers Audubon who were setting up for a bird walk that their population suffered from a virus last summer.
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