THIS PINT-SIZE DUCK is a marvel. The male in breeding plumage is oddly proportioned, calling to mind a rubber ducky, and improbably colored. His plumage is bright and sanguine overall; the cheek is gleaming white; and the broad bill looks like it was dipped in a can of blue paint. This is worthy of a kindergartner with a new box of crayons. The birds on the breeding grounds are given to bacchanalian outbursts of belching and bubbling, huffing and hissing, and what is euphemistically referred to as forced copulation. The species is highly unusual in many other aspects of its natural history: nestling biology, molt schedule, egg morphology, and more. That’s all an afterthought today. All you need right now is to see a Ruddy Duck. You and your birding buddies are winding down a Big Day, and you still don’t have the species for your list. But you know where to look. While scouting for your Big Day earlier in the week, one of your teammates discovered a small flock roosting in the corner of a small suburban reservoir flanked with cattails. So you make the short detour to the “rez,” drive up to the water’s edge, see the ducks, and continue on to your next stakeout. You don’t even get out of the vehicle.”
—How to Know the Birds: The Art and Adventure of Birding by Ted Floyd
Located right on the San Andreas Rift Zone, this artificial lake is part of the aqueduct system.
In addition to the glorious ruddy, we saw a snake a pair of Clark’s Grebes!
Dewdrop World 