Having neglected it for a few weeks, I decided a post-work birding trip to La Presa was in order. I took the bike, believing I could cover a bit more ground. I also ambitiously had my scope and tripod. It made for a right scene - riding a dodgy bike over rough ground with shirt off, bins and camera round neck and huge telescope over shoulder. The very definition of poor play! I soon realised I was going nowhere fast, so launched some big scans.
Straight away I was into some classic birds of the reservoir. American Coots, Killdeers, Spotted Sandpipers and a dozen Baird's Sandpipers. 30 Grackles fed on the gunk around the edge of the reservoir. I'd expect nothing less.
A little further round I came across a few very elegant waders. Even pictured against a dying sun, they don't provide too difficult an I.D. Challenge.
In the middle of the Reservoir were rafts like you've never seen before. Shovelers by the thousand. I attempted to count and put the figure at around 7000. In places, they were so thick that I couldn't see the water on which they were swimming.
Realising I wasn't getting very far, I decided it was time for a rethink of strategy. I chowed down a muffin and some water (classic birding snack!) and proceeded to ditch the bike for a while and concentrate on the passerines in the lakeside scrub.
Great shout! Within minutes I was into Bronzed Cowbirds, Grackles, Verm Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbirds, Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, Lark Sparrows (ever increasing in number as we enter winter) and House Sparrows.
A distant flitter caught my attention. Closer investigation brought me views of a small group of Warblers. Nice - some winter visitors, but what species? This bright adult gave me a pretty good idea.
The next view confirmed it was my first Yellow-rumped Warbler.
A couple of these critters reached Ireland last week causing quite a stir. Here, they were in there intended wintering location. The records from across the Atlantic, the 10 I saw here, and another 2 I picked up in the town centre suggest that these birds have been on the move pretty recently!
I rode the bike to a friends for dinner. Not having had chance to go home first, I was suffering the after effects of a session in the field (birders breath, stubble and nose). However, on the plus side I still had my binocs with me. So when a small Woodpecker landed on the trunk of a tree outside the house in the last throes of light I was able to get on to it and confirm my second lifer of the day - a fine male Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
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