It’s Sunday, and so we have a fine collection of bird photos by John Avise. His notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Other Lake Merritt Waterbirds
Last Sunday, Jerry posted my Thanksgiving photographs of ducks on Lake Merritt, a wonderful wildlife sanctuary in the heart of Oakland, California (see here).
This week, we present my photos of several non-duck waterbird species that are also common on Lake Merritt. These pictures highlight the point that you don’t always have to venture far from urban areas to find spectacular wildlife.
Another view of Lake Merritt:
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos):
American White Pelicans in flight:
Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis):
Brown Pelican in flight:
Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile (Nycticorax nycticorax):
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps):
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis):
American Coot (Fulica americana):
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis):
California Gull (Larus californicus):
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis):
Great Egret (Ardea alba):
Great Egret head portrait:
Great Egret with an itch:
Great Egret with Snowy Egret (Egretta thula):
Nice photos. It caught my eye that the American WHITE pelican is P. erythrorhynchos. I’m not a Latin or biology scholar, but it seems the species name would be better attached to a seasonal reindeer, or perhaps a subspecies? Just a random thought.
It seems to me to be a Yellow-crowned Night Heron, not Black-crowned, judging mainly from the thicker beak. Does anyone else agree with me?
I was judging mostly by the fact that adult Black-Crowned Night Herons are abundant on Lake Merritt whereas Yellow-crowned Night Herons are rarely if ever seen there. Nevertheless, it is certainly true that juveniles of the two species are difficult to distinguish in places where both species do co-occur.
The Great Egret has an itch to scratch 🙂
Interesting. When one sees a seagull its a seagull until its identified as a specific type. I will be more observant when seeing a seagull.
Seems like this could be converted to a tongue twister.