A late afternoon visit to the reservoir yesterday proved eventful especially with the shoreline visible (typically submerged with higher water levels reducing any possibility of shorebirds). About 7:15pm I noted (11) Long-billed Dowitchers, (4) Semipalmated Plovers, (1) Greater Yellowlegs, (8) Western Sandpipers, (1) Killdeer and (2) Black-necked Stilts. Outside of Shorebirds there were 2 areas where the (threatened) California Gnatcatcher were found. There was a total of 5 but surprisingly no Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the areas I had surveyed. One area was just past the archery (1 male and 1 female) below the homes and another was below the main gate on the left as you walk toward the 241 Toll Road. One male and two females were located and calls could be heard as I entered this gravel road. Of additional note was earlier in the year I had found a male Costa’s Hummingbird however this time around an immature male Costa’s Hummingbird was located in the same general area. This is possibly a good sign that nesting took place on the premises and this is the actual offspring.
I’ve included a California Gnatcatcher video and a few photos below (click any photo to view larger image for better detail, press the ESC key to close image). The Costa’s Hummingbird photo insert description also contains a link to Flickr where this video has been posted
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