2016-04-20 Dirty Socks Spring

2016-04-20 Wednesday

The local birding community is well aware of Dirty Socks Spring. At the southern edge of the Owens Lake basin, it used to be a county park with a concrete lined pool adjacent to the natural pond and wetlands. It doesn’t see much use by bathers these days. Mosses have overgrown the water, attracting many thousands of brine flies that serve as food for many birds. Waterfowl and shorebirds often frequent this place, especially during migration. Yellow-Headed Blackbirds were my main source of entertainment during this visit, but I also saw Savannah Sparrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Lesser Yellowlegs, Cinnamon Teal, Eared and Pied-Billed Grebes, Coots, Orange-Crowned and Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Bank Swallows and Western Kingbirds.

I arrived late in the afternoon on Wednesday, and the wind was howling from the south. While driving, the tail-wind likely enhanced my fuel economy, but upon stopping, it created wind-chops on the water, and photographs on water always seem better if the surface is calm. High winds usually keep the birds tucked down in the bushes and hard to find. I parked the Travato, so the wind wasn’t hitting it broadside and then settled in for the night. By morning, the wind calmed, allowing me to find most of the passerines on the list above.

I didn’t photograph all the birds I saw, but those that I got can be viewed below: