It took a while to get there and time was running short, so we didn't spend nearly as much time at Ruby Lake NWR as it deserves. However, there wasn't as much water in the impoundments as Scott and Linda expected. One of the volunteers explained that the water levels are dependent on snowfall, not rain, so, even though it had been a relatively wet spring, there wasn't a lot of water because snowfall had been sparse the last 3 or 4 years.
One of our group needed Trumpeter Swan for a life bird so we honed in on that bird and were able to find a nice pair that were easily viewable with binoculars. It is a good thing she wanted a big bird. At lunch we had Bushtit and Shari found a Black-throated Gray Warbler, always a nice bird to get and it completes the Black-throated trifecta for the year.
We had been seeing lots of eclipse ducks all week including many teal that just couldn't be told apart, but finally we found a few Cinnamon Teal with enough residual color on them to eliminate Blue-winged.
And finally we had some Western Tanagers in a large tree with Yellow Warblers and one warbler that we had to let go as "sp." Trees are so rare in that arid land that one big one can attract a lot of birds.
25 species
Trumpeter Swan 2
Mallard 15
Blue-winged Teal 2
Cinnamon Teal 3
Northern Shoveler 2
Canvasback 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 10
Turkey Vulture 3
Golden Eagle 1
Swainson's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 1
Black-billed Magpie 10
Common Raven 5
Barn Swallow 1
Bushtit 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 heard
Mountain Bluebird 3
Yellow Warbler 3
Black-throated Gray Warbler 3
Western Tanager 3
Western Meadowlark 1
Pine Siskin 1 heard
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