Last weekend I went down to the Bay Area to visit a good friend.. She is fully aware of my bird-craziness and found a great place to take me to: the Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto. It was a beautiful day and we saw tons and tons of birds.
Cliff and Barn Swallows had taken over the Nature Center!
We saw several Snowy Egrets...
A Barn Swallow.
There were lots of American Avocets around...
...as well as many Black-necked Stilts.
An American White Pelican passed by overhead..
I never knew what great yellow feet the Snowy Egrets have.
Also there were tons of Ruddy Ducks. Very pretty (and sleepy?).
It was so scenic!
Next we headed to the duck pond...
There were many domestic ducks like this Muscovy and these Mallards:
And of course some geese...
On the next trail we found this squirrel keeping watch.
Did I mention it was beautiful?
A couple of proud parents... Looks like 8 goslings?
A jackrabbit on the trail... he tried to hide in the grass while we passed him, but those ears could be seen for miles!
So many shorebirds! Looks like sandpipers and maybe whimbrels or curlews?
Several Forster's Terns were around..
What a great place! I hope to come back someday!
Next we headed to the duck pond...
And of course some geese...
What a cool place! I lived in Palo Alto for several years (during college), but had no idea it was there. But I wasn't a birder then—talk about wasted youth!
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