Date: 2/12/25 3:15 pm From: James Pike via groups.io <jimpike444...> Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] LeBard Park to Mesa Verde Golf Course
During this rainy afternoon, a nice array of swallows were working the channel between the bike bridge and the golf course to the north. As Barn Swallows typically complete their molt on the winter grounds, it was interesting to see a flashy youngster still with worn brown secondaries and bleached-white juvenile outer primaries. No early nesting for this one. The channel held twenty Greater Yellowlegs and four Lessers, a winter high count here for the latter species. A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew through, one of very few I've seen this season. The pooled water in the river across from the golf course held a flock of 150 dowitchers, and, surprisingly, the first calls I heard were those of a Short-billed. Later when the flock flew, I only heard Long-billeds. While I expect I've had juvenile Short-billeds in fall migration here before, I'm sure I've never recorded a winter bird this far upriver.
