Flush with excitement after my participation in the Big Day, I set out to view birds on my own. An old oil field patch, devastated by careless drillers from way back in the '40s, still has salty soil unable to grow plants; however and somehow, the berms we built to retain water have become a successful ecosystem for birds and other creatures. Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, Killdeer, Sandpipers, and now I discovered that even Dowitchers stop by to benefit from the myriad lifeforms the birds need to survive.
In addition to the shorebird life, sparrows, blackbirds, flycatchers, and orioles depend on the area for nesting and food.
Not surprisingly, I finished the morning with a long bird list: Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Shovelers, House Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Turkey Vultures, Common Grackles, Northern Harrier, Meadowlarks, Harris' Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Doves, White-winged Doves, Pigeons, Song Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Mockingbird, Bufflehead, White-bellied Sandpiper, Killdeer, Green-winged Teal, Canada Goose, American Kestrel, Lark Sparrow, Ibis, Red-tailed Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, Turkey, Hooded Merganser, Red-headed Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Gadwalls, Bobwhite Quail, Common Snipe, Lesser Yellowlegs, and, of all things, a Sandhill Crane tucked in the grass, perhaps injured or sick . . . or nesting?
