Nine of us (Helayn Aranguena, Barbara Bain, Diana Barnum, Dave Bradford, Dick Fogle, Dean and Joan Luehrs and George Wall – Leader), got an early start at Tres Rios. Even though it was early in the morning, it was very muggy.

Just after pulling into the Tres Rios entrance, we saw a Yellow-headed Blackbird – a good sign that we’d have a nice birding trip. What surprised many of us was the amount of water along the river bed all the way up to where we parked and there were birds all along the way like White-faced Ibis.

At Tres Rios we saw or heard Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Mallard, Sora (H), Common Moorhen, American Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Whitewinged Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Gila Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Marsh Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, White-crowned Sparrow, Abert’s Towhee, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Finch, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Greattailed Grackle, Hummingbird (unknown species) and a Swallow (unknown species). We left there at 9 a.m. and headed for El Mirage Pond.

El Mirage Pond was full of water and Black-necked Stilts were having a field day along with the many Long-billed Dowitchers. What really was an exciting sight was to see a group of three Wilson’s Phalaropes doing their thing – spinning around like mad in a tight little circle. The other birds we saw there were the American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs right near each other, and a couple of European Starlings.