Saturday, February 5, 2011

Birds I'm Watching: Bodega Bay (Feb. 5, 2011)

I joined a Madrone Audubon group today for a day of birding at Bodega Bay--and there were a lot of birds around. The group saw nearly 80 species. I saw 63 of those:

Common loon, Red-throated Loon, Pacific loon, Clark's Grebe, Western Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Brant, Cackling goose, Canada goose, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Gadwall, Common Goldeneye, Mallard, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Eurasian Wigeon, Coot, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Herring Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Thayer's Gull, Western Gull, Forster's Tern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Black Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Marbled Godwit, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Surfbird, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Black Turnstone, Ruddy Turnstone, Whimbrel, Willet, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Kingfisher, Pigeon, Black Phoebe, Crow, Raven, Scrub Jay, Bewick's Wren, Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler (mostly Myrtle), Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, Song Sparrow, and House Sparrow.

Not bad for a single day's birding. I got some excellent looks at the Red-throated Loon (photo), but the highlight was the Long-tailed Duck, a life bird for me.

For more information about Bodega Bay and bird watching in Sonoma County generally, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

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