Sandy Pond

This has been one of my favorite birding areas. Though not far from civilization it is mainly used by fishermen instead of noisy crowds. I think this plays a big part of why so many birds find refuge here, that and the lure of fish.

Last year I saw a fair amount of terns visiting and it seemed like they were having much better luck catching fish than the fisherman around the lake. This was the first time visiting in 2018 and we stopped for only a few minutes before the sun went down. In that time I still found a healthy amount of bird species around.

There were, of course, the usual Mallards.

Like a ghost, this Red-winged Blackbird is leaping to a different branch. I liked the effect a lower shutter speed produced for this photo.

This Red-winged Blackbird is a male, note the red patches on the wings. Females are mostly brown in color and lack the striking wing coloring.
He was snatching insects off the branches of the trees in the evening light.

Below is an American Coot I sighted in the distance of the pond. It was standing on a patch of mud there and periodically would get in to the water and swim around close-by.

I saw a lone American White Pelican on the water.
Every once in a while it would dart for a fish.
Behind the pelican to the right is a fish surfacing in pursuit of its own meal for the evening.

Heading back to the parking lot, I looked up and saw these birds floating down toward me. They didn't flap once from the time I spotted them to when they made a landing on the water.

I also saw several swallows (one being the shadow in the photo above), European Starlings, and I heard a few different birds I could not name.

Although I spent little time there, it was a lovely evening and I was grateful that we stopped. Here is a photo of some of our beautiful mountains, I look forward to spending more time photographing them in the future. :)

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