Hi all,
May 24, 2013. 8:30am
Guy McCaskie and Elizabeth Cooper found a HUDSONIAN GODWIT at Kershaw Pond this morning. The bird is a female. It is feeding quite successfully so it may well stay for the rest of this day but the odds are very high that it will take to the air and be VERY far from here when it lands again somewhere in Canada or Alaska as they are known to fly over a thousand miles at a time in migration!
These birds nest in the extreme north and spend their winter in South America. They look similar to Marbled Godwit which are common along the shore of the Salton Sea right now. There are no other Godwit on the Kershaw pond with this one though.
This small pond in on the east side of Kershaw Road, just north of the Alamo River, a few miles north of Rutherford Road and about half a mile south of Titsworth Road. This road carries a lot of farm and truck traffic so please get as far off the pavement as possible.
Here is what I have been able to gather in limited time so this is NOT the absolute facts! Hudsonian Godwit sightings in California “average” about once per year. There may only be two records for Imperial County and one of those records was of a bird that was found dead. All spring records in California have occurred between May 9th and May 31st.
See ya at the sea………………………
Here is the eBird report for my one hour visit
Kershaw Rd. pond, Imperial, US-CA
May 24, 2013 9:05 AM - 10:11 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: Submitted from BirdLog NA for Android v1.7
23 species
Gadwall 2
Mallard 14
Cinnamon Teal 8
Redhead 1
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Blue Heron 1
Snowy Egret 3
Cattle Egret 1
Green Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 3
American Coot 6
Killdeer 2
Black-necked Stilt 17
American Avocet 8
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Hudsonian Godwit 1 Found by Guy McCaskie and Elizabeth Cooper.
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
White-winged Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Cliff Swallow 15
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 50
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14226972
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Hi all,
On May fourth…..I spent the morning in search of a Great Black-backed Gull that had been seen on the north end of the Salton Sea a few days earlier and had not yet been seen again. If it is not on that end of the Salton Sea then it might be on my end! If the record is accepted it will be the first for California! Sure thought I had found it at Lack and Lindsey when I found a large dark bird sleeping on the beach there. That bird had a fine nap because it was over an hour before it stood up. Turned out to be a Yellow-footed Gull. Hate it when that happens! Had some great sightings on the day though. Watched a Bobcat chase a rabbit, my first of season Black Tern, two Franklin’s Gull in breeding plumage and two adult male Snowy Plover in battle.
More pictures from the day can be viewed on Flickr here.
Some video of Snowy Plover males battling over territory can be viewed on YouTube here.
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Desert Cottontail, Eurasian Collared-Dove and a Common Ground-Dove.
A baby Desert Cottontail and an adult male Gambel’s Quail.
Late for the season male Common Goldeneye.
Great Black-backed SUSPECT that slept for an hour…..Yellow-footed Gull.
Convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens)
Seven-spotted Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
Immature Yellow-footed Gull.
See ya at the sea……………………………..
eBird report for the day.
Imperial Valley–general area, Imperial, US-CA
May 4, 2013 6:37 AM - 12:22 PM
Protocol: Traveling
53.0 mile(s)
Comments: Black-backed run. From Brawley on Hwy 111 to Sinclair. Garst Road and Red Hill then birded the shore of the Salton Sea to Poe Road with stops at the SBSSNWR visitor center, Obsidian Butte, seawall to Young Road then to Poe Road.
70 species
Gadwall 4 (2) in pond off McKindrey road on east side of Obsidian Butte, (2) at Lack and Lindsey.
Mallard 6
Cinnamon Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 7
Common Goldeneye 1 Photographed. Male in very worn plumage. Possible immature. in pond south of seawall coming off of Obsidian Butte
Ruddy Duck 100
Gambel’s Quail 18
Eared Grebe 200
Neotropic Cormorant 1 Lack and Lindsey
Double-crested Cormorant 300
American White Pelican 16 North end of Poe Road
Brown Pelican 4 Lack and Lindsey with NECO
Great Blue Heron 45
Great Egret 15
Snowy Egret 10
Green Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 75
Turkey Vulture 2
American Coot 300
Black-bellied Plover 2
Snowy Plover 6 North end of Poe Road. Including (1) very young fledgling.
Semipalmated Plover 15
Killdeer 30
Black-necked Stilt 200
Spotted Sandpiper 4
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Willet 5
Whimbrel 3
Marbled Godwit 30
Western Sandpiper 200
Long-billed Dowitcher 50
Wilson’s Phalarope 50
Red-necked Phalarope 1
Bonaparte’s Gull 8
Franklin’s Gull 2 In alternate plumage along seawall south of Obsidian Butte
Ring-billed Gull 30
Yellow-footed Gull 2 (1) near adult still showing black on bill.
California Gull 20
Gull-billed Tern 8
Caspian Tern 15
Black Tern 1 In alternate plumage north end of Lack Road on Seawal
Forster’s Tern 6
Black Skimmer 14
Rock Pigeon 40
Eurasian Collared-Dove 40
White-winged Dove 15
Mourning Dove 30
Common Ground-Dove 15
Great Horned Owl 2 (1) Red Hill, (1) SBSSNWR visitor center
Burrowing Owl 35
American Kestrel 10 Including one deceased fledgling lying in the roadway on young Road just east of seawall.
Black Phoebe 25
Western Kingbird 25
Warbling Vireo 2
Common Raven 2 Lack and Lindsey Roads.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 30
Verdin 4
Marsh Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 40
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Townsend’s Warbler 3
Wilson’s Warbler 3
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 300
Western Meadowlark 50
Great-tailed Grackle 30
Brown-headed Cowbird 7
House Finch 3
House Sparrow 4
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13989153
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/california/)