Red is the color of the day in Bodega Bay, CA

This weekend, I finally had a chance to visit Bodega Bay, where I've heard stories of great birding opportunities and that some rare birds had been seen in the area.

By accident, we got there just as tide was going out and it was excellent birding, even from the first parking lot where you could view big flocks of "peeps" and other shorebirds. I was speaking with a birder who reminded me that there had been some rare birds reported by the jetties of the harbor.

I drove down and parked at the end of the road. I found myself a spot on the rocks and started scanning the water for birds. Lucky for me, I got to see the Red-throated Loon and Red-necked Grebe. There were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers in the bay later. I even got to see reddish head of a Eurasian Widgeon amongst a flock of American Widgeons as I was leaving the area.