Virginia Lake, Reno, Washoe Co (9/6/12). 11:00am-11:30
The bird du jour was a juvenile Horned Grebe, the first I've seen at the VL since last spring. It was quite far out--near the middle of the lake just north of the island.
Other birds:
Ring-necked Duck--1 male
Clark's Grebe--1
Pied-billed Grebe--6
Black-crowned Night Heron--6
4-5 of the 6 Pied-billed Grebes must have just come in as I've never seen more than 1 or 2 at the lake lately. I watched one of them today for several minutes trying to choke down a crawdad the size of its head (I imagine the grebe eventually won, but I didn't stick around long enough see how things actually ended). Some of the night herons were also recent arrivals. Of the 6 this morning, 3 were perched on the chain-link fence surrounding the big circular drain in the NE corner; 2 were roosting in junipers at the SW corner; & one was foraging alongshore at the N end.
--Fred Petersen, Reno
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