Mary Jo, Leslie, Cindy, Jack, Rustom, Richard and Hal went birding at Lake Hodges on Saturday, March 14. Despite the threat of rain, we stayed dry until the very end when we were driven to the bird list table by a misty drizzle. The birding conditions were really good—overcast, cool calm and we got some nice looks helped by 3 scopes. Best birds were a red-shouldered hawk on a nest and a great-horned owl on a nest. Here is the list of 53 species we encountered:
pied-billed grebe
western grebe
Clark’s grebe
double crested cormorant
great egret
snowy egret
American Wigeon
gadwall
mallard
cinnamon teal
ruddy duck
turkey vulture
Cooper’s hawk
red-shouldered hawk
red-tailed hawk
California Quail
American coot
killdeer
gull species (ring-billed gull?)
tern species (Forster’s)
mourning dove
great-horned owl
Anna’s hummingbird
belted kingfisher
acorn woodpecker
Nuttal’s woodpecker
northern flicker
black phoebe
Cassin’s kingbird
tree swallow
ruby-crowned kinglet
Bewick’s wren
house wren
northern mockingbird
California thrasher
wrentit
bushtit
white-breasted nuthatch
western scrub jay
American crow
common raven
European starling
yellow-rumped warbler
spotted towhee
California towhee
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
red-winged blackbird
great-tailed grackle
brown-headed cowbird
house finch
lesser goldfinch
American goldfinch
Leader: Hal Benham
