Date: 4/25/24 7:44 am From: Guy McCaskie via groups.io <guymcc...> Subject: [inlandcountybirds] Salton Sea (south) 24 April 2024
I spent the Wednesday 24 April 2024 (6:00 AM to 5:30 PM) at a few select
locations in the Imperial Valley and along part of the south shore of the
Salton Sea. I started the day at Fig Lagoon and the Rio Bend Golfcourse. I
then drove north into Brawley, stopping at Sheldon Reservoir and the
intersection of Carter and Fites Roads on the way. In Brawley I looked at
the hummingbird feeders on Willard Avenue, Cattle Call Park and in Riverview
Cemetery. From Brawley I then continued north through Calipatria to Niland,
stopping to look at Young Reservoir and the Calipatria State Prison on the
way. In Niland I birded north along International Avenue, west along 4th
Street and south along Luna Street. I then drove northwestward to the Wister
Unit. At the Wister Unit I only looked at the area around the headquarters.
From the Wister Unit I drove southwestward to the Salton Sea National
Wildlife Refuge HQ, stopping to look at Morton Bay and the north end on
Garst Road on the way. At the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge I looked
at the ponds adjacent to Rock Hill and briefly around the entrance. I then
drove southwestward to Unit 1 of the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge,
looking along the "seawall" on the way. After spending time at Unit 1 of the
Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, I drove southeastward through
Westmorland and Brawley to near the southeast corner of El Centro, stopping
at the flooded area adjacent to Neckel Road on the way on the way. After
spending time near the southeast corner of El Centro, I drove west to San
Diego, stopping at Rio Bend Golfcourse and Fig Lagoon before leaving the
Imperial Valley.
Clear with little to no wind until late afternoon when there was a strong
wind from the west, and with temperatures ranging from 60 to 90 degrees.
Species seen and/or heard - Snow Goose (18 - eighteen together at Unit 1 of
the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge), Blue-winged Teal (10 - two at the
Calipatria State Prison, four at the north end of Lack Road and four near
the west end of Young Road), Cinnamon Teal (20), Northern Shoveler (10),
Gadwall (4), American Wigeon (3), Mallard (20), Redhead (11 - seven at the
Calipatria State Prison and four at Morton Bay), Lesser Scaup (1 - one at
the flooded area adjacent to Neckel Road), Ruddy Duck (40), Gambell's Quail
(10), Pied-billed Grebe (5), Eared Grebe (350), Western Grebe (15), Clark's
Grebe (2), Rock Pigeon (75), Eurasian Collared-Dove (150), Inca Dove (10),
Common Ground-Dove (15), White-winged Dove (25), Mourning Dove (40), Greater
Roadrunner (1), Lesser Nighthawk (1 - one at the Wister Unit HQ),
Black-chinned Hummingbird (3), Anna's Hummingbird (12), Costa's Hummingbird
(3), Ridgeway's Rail (1), Common Gallinule (3), American Coot (75),
Black-necked Stilt (150), American Avocet (250), Black-bellied Plover (50 -
about fifty along the shore of the Salton Sea near the west end of Young
Road), Killdeer (15), Semipalmated Plover (20), Snowy Plover (10), Whimbrel
(20), Ruddy Turnstone (3 - three in alternate-plumage at the intersection of
Lack and Grubel Roads), Red Knot (75 - at least seventy-five along the shore
at the intersection of Lack and Grubel Roads), Stilt Sandpiper (25 -
twenty-five with Long-billed Dowitchers at the Hazard Unit of The Salton Sea
National Wildlife Refuge), Dunlin (1), Least Sandpiper (15), Western
Sandpiper (1500), Long-billed Dowitcher (150), Spotted Sandpiper (3), Willet
(5), Greater Yellowlegs (5), Wilson's Phalarope (75), Red-necked Phalarope
(50), Bonaparte's Gull (19 - a flock of nineteen on Fig Lagoon at dawn),
Ring-billed Gull (20), California Gull (50), Gull-billed Tern (45), Caspian
Tern (6), Black Tern (40 - the first that I have encountered this year),
Forster's Tern (10), Black Skimmer (15), Common Loon (3 - two adults in
alternate-plumage and one in basic-plumage on Fig Lagoon departed at
sunrise), Double-crested Cormorant (20), Neotropic Cormorant (6), American
White Pelican (15), Least Bittern (1), Great Blue Heron (15), Great Egret
(25), Snowy Egret (30), Reddish Egret (1 - one sub-adult near the west end
of Young Road appeared to be the same bird first seen here on 14 July by
Curtis A. Marantz), Cattle Egret (500), Green Heron (1), Black-crowned
Night-Heron (3), White-faced Ibis (350), Turkey Vulture (1), Red-tailed Hawk
(2), Great Horned Owl (1 - one adult at the Wister Unit HQ), Burrowing Owl
(10), Gila Woodpecker (5), Ladder-backed Woodpecker (1), American Kestrel
(10), Ash-throated Flycatcher (1), Western Kingbird (15), Black Phoebe (10),
Say's Phoebe (1 - one at the Salton Sea National Wildlife HQ), Vermilion
Flycatcher (5), Warbling Vireo (4), Common Raven (6), Verdin (10), Northern
Rough-winged Swallow (2), Barn Swallow (10 - including two with Cliff
Swallows at the intersection of Carter and Fites Roads where this swallow
has successfully nested in recent years), Cliff Swallow (250), Black-tailed
Gnatcatcher (1), Marsh Wren (10), Northern Mockingbird (10), European
Starling (350), House Sparrow (25), House Finch (30), White-crowned Sparrow
(1 - one adults with black-lores at the Wister Unit HQ), Song Sparrow (10),
Abert's Towhee (6), Yellow-headed Blackbird (15), Western Meadowlark (15),
Bullock's Oriole (10). Red-winged Blackbird (350), Bronzed Cowbird (2 - an
adult male and female together near the south end of International Avenue in
Niland), Brown-headed Cowbird (20), Brewer's Blackbird (30), Great-tailed
Grackle (150), Orange-crowned Warbler (2), Nashville Warbler (3),
MacGillivray's Warbler (1), Common Yellowthroat (6), Yellow Warbler (1),
Black-throated Gray Warbler (1), Wilson's Warbler (5) and Lazuli Bunting (1)
- 112 species.
