April 22, 2004
Birthday birds
Today I reached the grand old age of 26. Highlights of the day so far are receiving parcels from Canada and the UK, including yummy British chocolate (much better than Hershey's). I also had a brief trip out to the Yolo Bypass with Caz (fellow Brit in my research group) and her partner Z. There was much less water than on my previous visit, and a complete change of shorebird species: Long-billed Dowitchers and Dunlin were gone, replaced by smart summer-plumaged Western Sandpipers. There were a few more Marbled Godwits, 7 or so Greater Yellowlegs, a single Lesser Yellowlegs and many Least Sandpipers in addition to the resident Avocets and Killdeer. It was even windier than my last visit, which was not conducive to good photography. Here are the few half-decent shots I managed (click on thumbnails for larger images), showing Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs and Western Sandpiper respectively:
Watch the Hershey's comments, son. People have been deported for far less.
Posted by: Mad AZ Monk at April 22, 2004 9:07 PM