Peters Canyon XIII

This morning I birded Peters Canyon Regional Park again, for the thirteenth time! I walked the Lakeview and Cactus Point Trails. It was even more birdy than usual (in some respects at least), and I added five new species to my Peters Canyon list: Ring-necked Duck, Eared Grebe, Greater Yellowlegs, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Savannah Sparrow, bringing my Peters Canyon list up to eighty-eight. Hurray for migration! I was particularly surprised to see the Ring-necked Ducks (two), and thought it was a little early for them - sure enough, San Diego County Bird Atlas says, "In fall the Ring-necked Duck arrives rarely as early as late September but does not become common until November...", so I guess they were the best birds of the morning. Waterbird numbers on the lake have spiked noticeably since last week - there were at least three hundred American Coots there, along with growing numbers of American Wigeon, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, etc. The Belted Kingfisher and Osprey were still there as well. Migrant passerines were virtually non-existent - I heard a few unidentified warbler chips overhead a couple times, and the only migrant warbler I saw was this Orange-crowned. This isn't the greatest shot, but I love Orange-crowns and I also like the bird's posture.