Bennington Lake

It was raining this morning, but we walked anyhow.  Once the rain stopped the birds came out so it ended up being a fairly productive morning.  A spotted sandpiper has returned - we usually have two pairs of them that nest at the lake.  Western kingbirds and house wrens were abundant and noisy.  Yellow warblers were singing.  Other warblers seen were orange-crowned and yellow-rumped.  There were three osprey today and a nice variety of waterfowl species including bufflehead, northern shoveler and western grebe.  Swallows were everywhere - mostly cliff and tree.  We did see two pairs of northern rough-winged swallows - one pair along and canal and another pair at the parking lot.  These are their usual nesting sites.  Only one young great horned owl was present today in the parking lot and it was out of the hole on the bank.  A turkey vulture flew over the fields to the east and a sharp-shinned hawk chased a flock of goldfinches in the parking lot.   We're still waiting for the orioles......   Ginger