Lindo Lake

I spent a couple hours this morning at Lindo Lake in Lakeside. I saw several interesting birds and got good pictures of most of them. Ones I didn't get pictures of included Common Moorhen (interesting because I saw at least 5 of them) and American White Pelican.

Vermillion Flycatchers started showing up at Lindo Lake a few winters ago. I've been there to see and photograph them before. This year an adult and an immature male are both wintering at the lake! The imm. male was very cooperative and I managed to get several decent shots. This one is cropped slightly. My main complaint with the shot is the distracting background. I tried to move to a position to get a clear background, but I'd need to be about 5 feet into the lake for that to happen... :)Equipment: 300D, 400mm F5.6, 580EX, Better Beamer
Exposure: ISO 100, 1/200, F11
Image: Cropped to 40%, Levels and Sharpening Applied

The Gray Flycatcher is a rare visitor to San Diego and usually seen in the Anza Borrego desert after wet years. It is a member of genus Empidonax - a group of annoyingly difficult to differentiate flycatchers. Some members of the genus can only be distinguished by their habitat and calls. The Gray Flycatcher has a lot less yellow on the belly than the Pacific Slope Flycatcher - the more common Empidonax flycatcher. It also has a habit of waging it tail downward - something other Empidonax flycatchers don't do. This year one has chosen to take up residence on the East end of Lindo Lake. Not sure how long he'll stay, but he's been here a couple weeks already, so maybe the whole winter.Equipment: 300D, 400mm 5.6, 580EX, Better Beamer
Exposure: ISO 100, F22, 1/200
Image: Full frame, levels and sharpening applied

Another fun identification challenge are the various sapsuckers: Red-breasted, Red-naped, and Yellow-bellied. To make it even more fun all three species have been reported at Lindo Lake in the past couple weeks. Toward the end of the morning another birder told me that he had found a sapsucker in the group of trees near the inlet to the lake (near where I found the Gray Flycatcher). After a few minutes looking up the trees I found the following sapsucker.Equipment: 300D, 400mm 5.6
Exposure: ISO 100, F8.0, 1/500
Image: Cropped to vertical, Levels and Sharpening Applied

He worked that spot on the tree for several minutes. While he did that I worked on getting a good picture of him. While at the lake I thought it was a good chance that this was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but examination of the pics reveals that the red on throat is not completely bordered by black, so this is a Red-naped Sapsucker. I wasn't disappointed by my revised ID, because either was going to be a life bird. :)
Eventually this sapsucker flew away - unfortunately while I was looking at the camera and not at him. However, I was quickly able to find another sapsucker. A Red-breasted this time. Notice how much more extensive the red is on this one.Equipment: 300D, 400mm 5.6, 1.4x Extender, 580EX, Better Beamer
Exposure: ISO 100, F14, 1/200
Image: Full Frame, Levels and Sharpening

One last picture - As I was walking back to the car I saw this Pied-billed Grebe.

Equipment: 300D, 400mm 5.6, 1.4x Extender, 580EX, Better Beamer
Exposure: ISO 100, F10, 1/200
Image: Full Frame, Levels and Sharpening