SJWS birds

Before attending the Sea and Sage Audubon's annual Summer BBQ yesterday evening, my dad and I birded San Joaquin (pronounced Wah-keen) Wildlife Sanctuary for a little while. A good spot. A couple of the ponds had low water levels, attracting some shorebirds. Some of the more interesting birds I saw included Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Wilson's Phalaropes (madly spinning!), Long-billed Dowitchers, Cinnamon Teal, Least Tern, Common Moorhen, White-faced Ibis, etc. At the BBQ, I was able to meet a ton of very friendly people, and seabird expert Todd McGrath gave an excellent presentation on pelagic birding. Here's a shot of a cooperative Cinnamon Teal at SJWS:

Also, on Friday, there was a brush fire a couple miles from my house. There was a big cloud of smoke, and a couple roads were shut down temporarily. It was quickly put out, only after burning about 80 acres. It came uncomfortably close (right across the street) to burning one of my local patches, Peters Canyon!