Today Pat and I got up early and drove over to Colusa NWR to see the famous Falcated Duck. Once again he was easily seen from the viewing platform which at one point later in the morning hosted as many as 25 people with their cameras and scopes. When we first arrived around 9 the light was perfect and the duck in excellent position. Every time he swam across the front of the island the light would show him to best advantage and the air became filled with the whirring and clicking of cameras and shutters. The excitement was palpable and Patrick was noticing the other species of waterfowl as well. After the excitement of this duck we headed out to drive the auto tour route and had an excellent morning of central valley birding. Our highlights were a really good look at an American Bittern, an adult Bald Eagle, and a Merlin feeding on a fresh Coot kill. We stopped once more on the way out for another look at the Falcated Duck and enjoyed the crowd on the platform.
From here we drove 15 miles into Sutter County to look for Mountain Plovers that had been reported in a recently plowed farm field. As is often the case they had remained right where people had been seeing them and even though most of the group of 10 or so was quite a ways across the field there was one within 200 yards that we were able to scope and get good looks at.
All in all a fun day (except for the speeding ticket I got on the way home). Patrick shows the signs of being an interested observer, very encouraging. Tomorrow we might try for Short-eared Owls in the southern marshes of the Napa River.
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