A day at the beach

Actually it's just a water puddle on a gravel road at the ponds; the blackbirds are having a ball!

Creek

There is a small creek that flows through the marshes near The Ponds (Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District Sewage Treatment Plant), known by some as the Wildlife Ponds because of the prolific birdlife.  The recent rains brought the creek near to its banks.

Pyracantha berries

In California the most common winter red berry is the Pyracantha, a member of the rose family, as is yesterday's Toyon.  Both of these plants grow on the road to The Ponds.

In spring the Pyracanthas begin an exceptional white flower display. While individual flowers are small, they typically cover the plant. Flowers are borne outside the dark evergreen foliage, so they stand out like white sparklers. Plants tend to flower even when young, and mature plants bloom very heavily as long as they are in a good site. Like several other plants of the rose family (Rosaceae), the flowers do not have a pleasant odor.

Later those thousands of small white flowers turn into brilliant orange to red pea-sized fruits. The fruit display, like the flower display, is exceptional and typically lasts until late winter when they are eaten by birds. In California we see drunken robins that have eaten the fermented berries.

Adapted from University of Arkansas Dept of Agriculture

Toyon berries

This toyon bush near The Ponds displays its brilliant berries most of the winter and it's sometimes called the Christmas Berry.  In summer it has white flowers; its leathery leaves are evergreen.

Stilts

A couple of black necked stilts with their pink legs search for breakfast at The Ponds.

Red

Red abstract - at The Ponds.

Sunset

Sunset through winter trees at The Ponds. There seem to be never-ending possibilities at The Ponds!

Black crowned night herons

At The Ponds at the 'magic hour' last evening, black crowned night herons are lurking. 

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: With a range that spans five continents, including much of North America, the Black-crowned Night-Heron is the most widespread heron in the world. It is most active at dusk and at night, feeding in the same areas that other heron species frequent during the day.

Cows

Geese, ducks and stilts are not the only interesting sights to be seen at The Ponds; just take a short walk back along the entry road and one can see cows and tall trees in foggy St.Vincent's pasture.

Egret

Here is one last bird picture from my Tuesday sojourn at The Ponds: an egret wading in the shallow water near the edge of the first pond.

Flying geese

Last Tuesday at The Ponds the air was full of birdsong, a very good reason not to wear an iPod in one's ear as some people do, though I must say, I've never seen pond-walkers do this. Among the calls came the goose's familiar 'honk' along with a couple of warbeling sounds (trumpeting?) I've never heard before. Two of them were flying toward the ponds and as they went over they presented this picture.

Ducklings

It's spring and that means birdie babies! Here we see some of the duck variety with Mom & Dad at The Ponds on Tuesday.

Red-wing blackbird

We'll leave South America for a few days to show a few photos from The Ponds on Tuesday morning. This red-wing blackbird was giving its little song just for me (ha!).

Blue at rest

Here is last week's Great Blue Heron before he flew over the water.

Flying Blue

A Great Blue Heron on the wing at The Ponds

Ice

On Sunday, it was COLD here - 31 degrees Fahrenheit. To some of you that won't seem that cold, but we're not used to it. To demonstrate, see this dog watering dish at The Ponds. Someone knocked out some of the ice to give their dog a drink, and you can see how thick the ice is, about half an inch.