Red-breasted Mergansers at Rios!

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014

For the last few days, the birding has been very slow... spotted a raptor here and there but mostly too far away. Even the "king of drama" the Great Blue Heron has been seen mostly just preening and perched on his favorite mound.

Most local photographers will stop by the lagoon even at high tide just to see if there are any interesting subjects to shoot just because the lighting is so perfect. The only interesting bird subject lately has been the Great Blue Heron. He is landing in the same area where he grabbed the grebe the other day. But today all he did was preen and sleep.

LOL... This is what happens when we get bored and there are no bird subject to shoot! One of our local photographers and me kidding around. All the photographers are super talented and interesting individuals and lots of fun to be around. Wonderful friends and acquaintances makes birding a joy!

It was time to go to Rios to see what is happening over at the wild side of the lagoon! First I went to the peninsula trail to see if I could spot any Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows but I could only find what appeared to be an angry little House Wren.

This is the first time I have seen a House Wren here at the point.

  

He has a lot to say...

With no sign of the Nelson's Sparrow I head for the Pole trail. As I leave the peninsula trail, I pass a young Great Blue Heron standing in the pickleweed hunting for fish. The tide was so high he was only visible from his belly up.

The GBH catches a little fish but the pickleweed and the tall marsh grass obstructed a clear shot of the prey.

At the small earth-dam near the pumphouse, I spot a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher busy snacking on insects. 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher measures 4.5 inches long with a wing span of 6 inches. Looks much like the California Gnatcatcher except it has all white outer tail feathers as you can see in this photo.

We are both startled with the appearance of this magnificent raptor soaring by. This is the female Northern Harrier. Looks like she has a few tattered primary flight feathers. One feather looks broken near the tip.

It may take a year to grow back if it is one of this year's new ones... It will make it easy to ID this female.

Walking past the pumphouse and half way to the end of the Pole Trail, I saw a Great Egret hunting next to the trail. He let me get very close before he decided to fly.

LOL... This is what happens when you get too close to a huge bird and want to go for the flight shot. 

full frame!

Happy to have a close-up shot of the egret, I walk further south on the Pole Trail. And in an instant the whole trip to Rios pays off... I spot a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers!!!

Wow, this is my first spotting this year and I never expected to find them in the channel next to the railroad tracks! Both Mergansers were diving for fish and appeared to be having great success...

Red-breasted Merganser... "Mergus serrator". They measure 23 inches long with a wing span of 30 inches. They are known as the saw-bills and described to have long bodies and ride low in the water as seen in this photo.

According to the Sibley Guide to Birds the Red-breasted Mergansers prefer shallow, sheltered salt water which is what our lagoon has to offer.

The two Mergansers in the photos appear to be females.

As they head north I hear the Amtrak train approaching...

As the train roars by... the Mergansers are startled and take flight. The wing markings also indicate that this is a female.

The Merganser follows the channel for a short distance and veers to the left...  

She makes a wide circle and heads back to the channel by the tracks...

Coming in for a landing... What a great day this has turned out to be getting to see the Red-breasted Mergansers at Rios! It's time for me to head for home...

Have a wonderful day everyone.