I went to my lunch break just after noon and again decided to go try to find anything interesting at Timnath Reservoir. I first checked the little bit of open water that is at the inlet on the northwest side of the reservoir. There was a little over 100 birds on the water and on the ice next to the water. Most of those birds were Mallards, but I was also able to see Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Common Merganser, and Common Goldeneye. Then while heading towards the County Line Road I stopped at a ditch crossing and found a Great Blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher that have been hanging out in the area all winter. I then got to the outlet on the east side of the reservoir on County Road Road. After unsuccessfully checking the marsh for Swamp Sparrow I scanned the iced inlet. I was able to see 16 birds running out on the ice. Most of them appeared to be shorebirds. I then got my scope on the birds and I counted 12 Killdeer and the other 4 birds were blackbirds with a bunch of rust color on the back and head with a bold rust colored supercillium and yellow eyes, Rusty Blackbirds!!!
After work I decided to sit on the east side of Timnath Reservoir looking for Short-eared Owls. I first stopped to try to see the Killdeer and Rusty Blackbirds again, but I didn't see them. After sitting by a field I started to hear an interesting bird calling as it gave several calls, with the most common call being a cheew note. After walking through the field just as it was getting dark I was able to get a brief view of the bird, a Snow Bunting. While walking through the field I heard a couple of the Killdeer flying off and also heard a couple Great Horned Owls. Snow Bunting was a great conciliation prize for sitting for an hour and a half while trying for and missing Short-eared Owl.
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