Rodeo Lagoon

This morning we went to Rodeo lagoon, west of Sausalito in Marin country. It was easily accessible, so we were able to get there shortly after dawn.

Huge (10 or 15 foot) waves crashed down at Rodeo Beach, so we stayed quite a bit away.

Huge waves on the beach at dawn

 It was a great time visit the lagoon, since there seemed to be quite a number of migratory waterfowl taking up residence. One of the most charismatic birds we saw was the Hooded Merganser. The bird has beautiful, stark colors and impressive hairdos.

 The female birds also have a unique appearance.

The majority of the lagoon seemed to be swamped by giant piles of american coot. Interspersed, we were excited to find the Ring-Necked Duck. We weren't close enough to see the brown colors on his neck but the beak rings were very obvious.

We saw a few species of grebe, included one or two pied-billed grebes.

Eared Grebe

In addition to the waterfowl, we also found a number of songbirds while hiking the trails around the lagoon.

Song Sparrow

Wrentit

Fox Sparrow

On the side of the lagoon, a few California Towhee posed very photogenically. I love the rust coloration of their faces. Not too far away, a couple of Spotted Towhee foraged around near the road as well.

California Towhee

California Towhee

California Towhee

We chanced on a flock of california quail grazing in the dry grass by the side of the main road leading to the lagoon. This was probably the highlight of our morning, since we previously have only seen Gambel's quail.

qualios!

To round it all out, we saw a fair variety of herons too.

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Green Heron

• Hooded Merganser
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Ring-billed Duck
• American Coot
• Mallard
• Eared Grebe
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Green Heron
• California Towhee
• Spotted Towhee
• Wrentit
• Song Sparrow
• White-crowned sparrow
• California Quail