We had two days of no rain, so I boogied south 400 miles to the Merced NWR ( near Los Banos, Ca.) to see what I could see. Here is a collection of 20 pics that is a representation of the birds I saw on the trip.
(Great Blue Heron)
This message was edited Jan 31, 2010 11:28 AM
Red-tailed Hawk.
Greater White-fronted Geese.
Killdeer.
Snow Geese
Black-necked Stilt.
Dowitchers. (probably long billed.Thanks Resin)
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This message was edited Jan 31, 2010 11:17 AM
Western Meadowlark.
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Red-shouldered Hawk (first winter). (ID by Resin)
Part of one of several flocks of Snow Geese.
Bonaparte's Gull. (lifer)
Yellowlegs.
Trumpeter Swans.
Nice pics!
The dowitchers will likely be Long-billed, as Short-billed prefer tidal areas.
Resin
I saw several Yellow-billed Magpies, but couldn't get up close to any. I took this shot at very long range with a 2x teleconverter behind a 300mm lens. Didn't have time to set up a tri pod , so I hand held it and hoped.
Eurasian Collared Dove.
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and a Barrow's Goldeneye ( The Barrow's is a lifer)
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Common Merganser.
Very nice pics adel!! That looks like a wonderful place, thanks for taking us along with you!
Of course I'm in love with the Black-necked Stilt! Love your pic of the Red-tailed Hawk!
Turkey Vulture having a fish dinner. (Tha-tha-that's all folks)
PS............Just got an ID from Resin on another lifer I picked up on this trip. ( Northern Mockingbird)
Congratulations adel!
That was a great rewarding trip!!! Glad to see all your different sighting. Congratulation on your 2 lifer.
Congrats on the lifer Adel! I really enjoyed seeing your photos. I can't believe you saw the Magpie, I've never seen one in this state.
I'm also still searching for a meadowlark and here you found one of those too. Great job!!
Thanks all for the nice comments........Ducbucin if you go west on Hiway 20 over to I-5 and head south a short ways you should find Yellow-billed Magpies. Years ago I worked in the San Joaquin valley and I didn't know there were any magpies but Yellow Bills, they were fairly abundant then. There is still quite a few there but they are spooky. In this area we have a few Black-billed Magpies.
Glad to see you had a very productive trip, and all nice shot's! Congrats on the New Birds, really like the capture of the Goldeneyes with the Bufflehead!
