December 23, 2004
Homeward bound
Since the sun finally decided to make an appearance, I spent my last morning birding around Davis. At the Pedrick Road bridge I pished up a House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and one each of Song, Lincoln's, Fox and Golden-crowned Sparrow. A flock of 20+ Lark Sparrows continues at the west end of the UCD Arboretum - the adult males are surely a contender for most beautiful US sparrow.
Another nice surprise here was a Black-throated Gray Warbler, presumably wintering. The bird showed extremely well until my camera appeared!
In Solano Park Garden this bright Golden-crowned Sparrow caught my eye.
The regular Red-shouldered Hawk finally sat still long enough for me to get this pleasing shot.
Last stop of the morning was North Pond. Herring Gull is a pretty unusual species here...
... as is Canvasback.
This Ring-necked Duck seemed to be enjoying bath-time!
Tomorrow I return to England for the first time since moving to CA. Most of my time will be filled up visiting friends and relatives, but have packed the scope, bins and camera just in case...
Merry Christmas everyone, and looking forward to more birding adventures in 2005!
Posted by rjhall at December 23, 2004 1:55 AMLovely photos as usual.
Posted by: Dawn at December 25, 2004 12:16 AM