New
River Ponds/El Centro
Dec
30, 2001
-
60-70
degrees
We surveyed the New River Project ponds and checked out a pecan grove
west of El Centro.
54 species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
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Suzanne, Adriana,
Gaby and I met Bob at his place and then drove to the Imperial
Ponds. We counted good numbers of the usual suspects, and
got some photos of more elusive species, like this moorhen.
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Common Moorhen |
Bob and Gaby |
Gaby was ready and willing to help out Bob whenever
possible. The dragonflies and damselflies had all but
departed, so Bob's new hobby was put on hold. There were
good numbers of Forster's Terns and Cattle Egrets, but on this
occasion we only saw two Green Herons.
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| A new bird for the Imperial Ponds was Brewer's
Sparrow--we got great looks at a pair of them. Then, at
the Brawley Ponds we got another new bird for our survey--this
immature Red-shouldered Hawk. It posed for a picture; then
headed up river. |
Immature Red-shouldered Hawk |
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American Kestrel |
The Brawley Ponds aren't quite as birdy as the Imperial Ponds, but
we still got to see quite a variety, including a Sora, flickers,
Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Belted
Kingfisher. Our next stop was a pecan grove west of El
Centro, where this kestrel awaited us.
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This pecan grove at the edge of town was bursting at the seams with
bird-life. As we walked towards it, a pair of Lewis' Woodpeckers made
themselves very conspicuous. Unfortunately, they were too active for
any good photos.
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Black Phoebe
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Northern Flicker
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They constantly chased the Northern Flickers (like this one) and
the Gila Woodpeckers, and never perched in the open for more than
a few seconds. Several days ago a Vermilion Flycatcher was
working the grove, but on this date all we could find was the
Black Phoebe pictured above.
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While waiting for better views of the marauding Lewis'
Woodpeckers, we snapped some of the plentiful and gaudily colored
European Starlings. After a few minutes the Lewis's moved
out of the grove, which gave the flicker above a chance to work at
the stump in peace.
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European Starlings
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Sharp-shinned Hawk
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On his last visit to the grove, Bob watched a
Prairie Falcon dining on a Ground Dove. During our visit
this Sharp-shinned Hawk tried for a feathered snack. It
wasn't as lucky, but I did get this photo before it
departed. Soon after we called it a day and headed back to
Yuma.
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