Birds I'm Watching: Lake Ralphine, Santa Rosa (October 31, 2011)

I took a quick walk around Lake Ralphine today, in Santa Rosa's Howarth Park. The winter ducks haven't arrived yet, although there were about 100 Coots on the water. I watched a Belted Kingfisher dive for fish and got to see a pretty Townsend's Warbler, but the highlight was this handsome Great Blue Heron fixated enough on his fishing to let me get rather close.

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

Birds I'm Watching: Two Unusual Flyovers

While in the yard today, avoiding work, a white Canada goose flew over the house, one of a group of five geese. Canada geese are common around here, even in the winter. They've taken up more or less permanent residence in the lakes of Howarth Park and Annadel State Park nearby. Many more fly over in the spring and autumn as part of the seasonal migrations, sometimes in huge Vs of twenty or thirty birds, looking just as you imagine they should look. They fly so low, you can hear the whistling of their wings. Grunts and honks usually give an early warning of a flyover. I've never seen a white one before. At dusk, a great blue heron flew over the house, only the second time in eight years I've seen one from home. Even my son was impressed by the size of the bird.