Ramona birds

Common Mergansers – I checked Sutherland Reservoir yesterday, and saw 17, mostly females, mostly in the north part of the lake. I told Mel and Max, who went out right away, and they saw 16, all male, in the south part of the lake. So there are 20-30 Common mergs out there. Please note that the lake is closed, and you must use a scope from the road to see these birds.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – originally reported on Jan 2 for the Escondido CBC, I refound the bird on my third try. This is at the Nuevo Memorial Gardens on Ash Street (currently not a hotspot, but I will suggest it!). This adult male was in a small oak tree northeast of the circle driveway. If you are standing near the vertical headstone of Geo T Hall and look downhill, you are looking at the correct tree.

Mountain Bluebirds – the large flock that had been at the dairy fields on the corner of Dye Rd and Laagerwort Dr seems to have dispersed. The farmer had been spreading manure on those fields, and there had been a good-sized flock of MOBI. However, the field has now been disked, and the attraction is over. The few bluebirds we saw flew in from the actual dairy, which is distant and mostly out of view.

Rangeland Rd – yellow-headed blackbirds continue, but the many hundreds of blackbirds out there disperse widely, and sometimes you see no blackbirds of any type. Mel and I saw three cackling geese and one snow goose fly in with the Canada goose flock. The wigeons have not been grazing close enough to even try looking for the Eurasian drake that was in the flock. We saw one Golden eagle on the distant hillside to the northeast, scope view only.

Nancy Christensen

Ramona