Birding Notes

The wind was up making photos difficult. We chanced a brief conversation with another birder who mentioned a water reservoir at Stirling that often had birds. Since that was on our planned way to Pakowki Lake we thought we would stop off and have a look. We did see a Western Meadowlark and a Merlin but that was all. The wind was very strong, so we decided against going to Pakowski Lake and opted to simply stop off at a bird viewing area north of Stirling on the west side of highway 5. We were fortunate to see a small flock of Snow Geese (about 70) but they were too far off for a good photo. I did manage to get a couple of good images as a small group flew overhead. I also took a photo of a gull and when looking at the image later, realized it was a California Gull.

Snow Geese

 

California Gull

 

Snow Geese

Here is a table summarizing the day's observations.

Name	Photo	Time	Location	ID#	2007 #	Lifer
Greater Scaup	Yes	8:45 am	Henderson lake	117	52	.
Western Meadowlark	.	9:45 am	Stirling	5	56	.
Merlin	.	9:46 am	"	44	4	.
Double-crested Cormorant	.	10:08 am	Hwy 5	122	60	.
Snow Goose	.	10:09 am	"	63	61	.
California Gull	.	10:39 am	"	123	62	Yes

SUMMARY of the session: Not a good day for birding. The strong wind made everything unpleasant and we saw few waterfowl. However we did see 3 birds for the first time in 2007 and 1 of these was a lifer.