Today I went with Doaf to the Upper Truckee River meadows area, in South Lake Tahoe. First we tried the east side of the marsh, accessing it off San Francisco Road. We immediately heard the raucous sounds of the Yellow-Headed Blackbirds that were numerous in the area. I had seen these in the Reno marshes and in my Reno backyard, but this was the first time I’d seen them in the TBY birding area. We weren’t able to take the trail all the way to the lake, because the trail became too wet and we had left our waders at home. We saw several water birds flying, including great blue herons, and what we later identified as White-Faced Ibis and Forster’s Terns. The trail roughly followed the housing development, so we could see into people’s back yards. Along a back fence with some scrubby bushes, we spotted at least one Marsh Wren. I was happy to identify it as I’ve been seeing many wrens, but they all turn out to be House Wrens. We also heard woodpecker-type tapping and were able to locate a beautiful Northern Flicker. After this brief excursion we drove round to the west side of the Upper Truckee marsh, near the boat marina. By then it was after 11 am and getting quite hot. Even with a lot of people around, we saw geese, ducks more Forster’s terns, and one more new TBY bird, a Black-Billed Magpie. In fact, we saw several magpies, which seemed to be scolding us. It was a great trail, and I’ll vow to get there at 7 am next time I come – so many people and with kids and dogs and plus a hot day, the birding there wasn’t so good.
Today I added 5 species to my Tahoe Big Year list!
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