This post is dedicated to Chris Fisher, a virtual assistant and owner of her own company, Virtual Assistant For You.net of Concord, California. I have known Chris for about three years through a real estate professional networking site. I highly recommend her for anyone needing a virtual assistant anywhere in the world, not just the San Francisco Bay Area. Be sure to visit her web site to see the many members of her zoo family.
Dedications are my way of trying to provide a little extra Google juice for people I have come to know and respect over the years.
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Less than a mile from where I live is Lake Murray, part of the gigantic Mission Trails Regional Park system.
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It’s a large reservoir that offers boating, fishing, and, most importantly to me, bird watching. I’ll often walk, bike, or drive over there to feed the birds — American coots, Canada geese, swan geese, mallards, rock pigeons, California gulls, and cormorants. It’s a major stopping point for migrating birds; 149 different bird species have been sighted at the lake, including the endangered
tri-colored blackbird.
With all the rain we’ve had these last three days, I decided to stop by this afternoon to check on the lake. It was full, overfull, in fact. That meant that lots of birds were enjoying themselves, especially the American coots:
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Some of the birds that I’m making an effort to identify when I’m out are the gulls and terns, more commonly simply known as seagulls. Today I found the following bird and recognized it as one that I didn’t know:
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My National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (p. 198) seems to indicate that it is the second winter coloring of a ring-billed gull. Up until recently a “seagull” was a seagull, but I’m making a sincere effort to learn my local wildlife.
Russel Ray Photos 