Hi Friends,

Yesterday, Saturday Dec 6, thirteen birders met up for a walk around Lake Elsinore. The weather was fantastic and we found 74 bird species. We had really good looks at a beautiful Red-breasted Sapsucker and an unexpected visit of a flock of Mountain Bluebirds. Lots of ducks, gulls, and pelicans. Thanks go out to Julie Szabo for showing us where to find the birds! Here’s our list of species:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Cassin’s Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
American Crow
Common Raven
Bushtit
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow

JIM BECKMAN