Spring Breakers Part 2

4/12/15

    To finally go on a nice biking trip for spring break, I decided to do some light birding on the 12th, travelling to my usual areas around the Bay and hoping for migrants. I left home at 6:30 am and was treated to a gorgeous misty sunrise. Birding on this spring day was quite nice, with a good diversity of species seen and many winter residents entering breeding plumage before their northward migration.

Picture is worth 1000 words

Ah I wish every morning could have these conditions

    Following my arrival at Shoreline, I was immediately treated to a show of Black Skimmers as they elegantly skimmed (who knew?!) the surface of the Coast Casey Forebay in the first rays of the morning sun. Although my pictures were far from stunning, they came out much better than the last attempt to capture this amazing behavior 

Flying in unison before the feeding began.

Observing skimmers never gets old

When I was young and foolish, I thought that this feeding behavior involved flying at a medium speed over the water for a long period of time. After seeing it in real life, however, I realized that on the contrary, skimming was extremely fast, with each "skim" lasting a few seconds at most, and as a result, incredibly annoying to photograph.

A very handsome Lincoln's Sparrow in Cheeseweed provided a nice surprise at Salt Pond A2W

One of the many Forster's Terns seen throughout the day. Additionally at this area, my first Caspian Tern of the year flew by, too quickly for any pictures.

Savannah Sparrow

    Then, like normal, I went by Salt Ponds A2E and A3W towards the very socially acceptable place to hang out: the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant, seeing some more lovely lovely birds as I biked.

Male Northern Pintail in stunning alternate plumage at A2E.

Least Sandpiper entering its summer outfit.

Horned Grebe and breakfast.

My first Western Kingbird of the year with the skeleton of the NASA Ames Hangar behind.

This bright orange West Coast Lady stood out somewhat among the plentiful Painted Ladies. Not a life butterfly, but the first time I have ever viewed this species on the Bay Trail.

    I then biked to the Yahoo! parking lot, hoping to visit the marsh next to it to see if I could find the Blue-winged Teal reported there a few weeks back. For some reason, I could not find the really shady obscured entrance to the trail until...

...this gorgeous male Ring-necked Pheasant popped out from exactly where it was. Thanks!

And the Blue-winged Teal showed up!

Really unflattering picture of the North American teal trifecta.

Black-necked Stilt squabble

One of the abundant singing Marsh Wrens.

    After leaving the marsh behind Yahoo, I continued to explore the Sunnyvale WPCP before heading back on the same path whence I came.

A sizeable flock of Cedar Waxwings whistled from a stand of eucalyptus.

Male Bullock's Oriole in the same tree.

Both Audubon's and Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers in their gorgeous breeding attire.

Somewhat more unexpected in the eucalyptus stand were these 2 Western Kingbirds, probably passing through to breeding grounds.

Western Pond Turtle at the marsh. 

Caspian Tern at A2E

Red-breasted Merganser - my only merganser of the day and perhaps the last of this season.

A late-ish American Pipit passing by A2E.

The iridescent and stunningly beautiful upper side of the Gray Hairstreak.

My first in-flight shots of a dragonfly with a semi-focused subject!

Blue-eyed Darners are quite tough odes, having their flight in the Bay Area for the majority of the year in a pretty diverse range of wet habitats.

Hemipenthes eumenes - a bee fly.

Floriferous show of Coastal Tidytips at Shoreline.

Listrus sp. and Paragus haemorrhous in Hawksbeard. A whole new world in one blossom of an invasive plant, unlocked just by taking a closer look. Or I guess technically in a bunch of small florets in one inflorescence aaaaaaand my previously somewhat beautiful statement is ruined.

Cooper's Hawk soaring over Emily Renzel Wetlands

    As I returned home, I promptly left again for some driving practice at the Palo Alto Baylands. The Black-crowned Night Herons were nesting by Duck Pond, a throwback to my first short stint (hahaha) into birds during third grade.

Inquisitive birds staring at the plentiful perplexed people below.

Snowy Egret nest

Preening and a strange view of its feet.

Stop staring at me like that

Golden-crowned Sparrow with its summer golden crown growing in. A matter of time before it heads towards Alaskan tundra.

    Then, my spring break crashed and burned, transitioning into another week of school. It was fun while it lasted. Until next time, love life and enjoy nature!