Bennington Lake Birds

We enjoyed a sunny walk around the lake this morning.  When we arrived there were 6 common mergansers on the water along with canada geese, American wigeons, mallards, western grebes and a belted kingfisher.  Along the shore were 8 killdeer, a great blue heron and a greater yellowlegs.  Juncos were abundant.  There were also black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets, Bewick's wrens, song sparrows, white-crowned sparrows and a red-breasted nuthatch.  Several yellow-rumped warblers were enjoying the insects in the cottonwoods on the east side.  Two great horned owls were snoozing in the trees on the east side of the canal.  We saw several Townsend's solitaires, downy woodpeckers and flickers scattered around the lake.  The leaves were still crisp as we walked through them on the trail, adding to the enjoyment of being outside on such a beautiful day.  Ginger