.....grabbed my camera and went off looking for birds. I am pretty sure I have never done that, at least not for a couple of years now, but I had a great time. On the north end of town, there is a large agricultural area that is bordering the local sewer treatment plant. Not the best smelling of areas, and for obvious reason, not a lot of people hang out there. With the "cooler" temps, the odor was not to bad, as during the heat of the summer it is....well, just plain over powering!!

I only had two hours or so before dark but I think I managed to get a couple of pretty nice shots!

Much like the area that I was shooting in during the Christmas break, there were many new migrants, who will be gone in the new month or so, so It was nice getting to see them before they head back north.

Cinnamon and Blue-Winged Teal...







It was really fun to see the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks





There were a lot of Pintails....not something we get to see very often on the lower end of the Baja




Here are a couple of fun shots of the Black-necked Stilt








There was even a small flock of Greater White-Fronted Geese, a bird I have not seen since my duck hunting days back at Summer Lake





Given all the bugs flying around, think sewer smells.......it is not surprising that there was a huge number of swallows. Lots of Tree swallows and Violet Green Swallows, and with a little luck and a little skill, I was able to catch this Northern Rough-winged Swallow as he/she flew by.





Anytime you have water, and bugs there are bound to be some flycatchers around, and this area was no exception. I got to spend quite a bit of time watching this Black Phoebe snacking on the pesky little buggers that kept flying in my face.





Another nice surprise was the incredible number of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the area. This was the first time I had seen them showing an almost flycatcher like behavior. The Pacific Northwest birds I have observed never feed in such a manner.



UPDATE!! After a couple of e-mails and a discussion with Richard Hubacek, I/we have come to the conclusion that this bird is an American Pipit! And last, but certainly not least......is a .....well, I am 90% sure it is a Sprague's Pipit. Ok, I am 99% sure, but everything I know about the Sprague's is that it has a little bit paler legs, so I am going with Sprague's Pipit, with a nice tan on it's legs from it's time down here in Mexico!!





So, all told, it was a very nice break, one that I need to do more of!!