This gull (seen here with a Double-crested Cormorant) has a darker grey back with pink legs and a distinctly heavy bill... and though not completely clear in the photos, I think I can detect a pinkish ring around the eye.

The American Coot has an unique method of taking to the sky, by essentially running along the surface of the water, gaining the necessary speed for lift off. It is amazing to me that their steps are so quick, that the splashes in the water can be seen in a still shot, looking like footprints in time.

These guys are actually quite attractive; that is, if you can ignore the feet! Now don't get me wrong, the feet themselves are quite spectacular... but they seem intended for a different bird... or reptile.

This was the most colorful Yellow-rumped Warbler that I have seen. Besides an effusion of bright yellow on the crown and chin set off by a dark face, it even seems to have a pink ring around the base of the beak. I'll post several views to illustrate this.

This image is part of an observation I made a couple of days ago, but there was so much going on, including three different avian species, that it merits further comment. Here I am focusing on a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron (seen in the background) as it peeks out of the brush at a much larger Great Blue Heron, attempting to drive off a Red-shouldered Hawk which has landed on the island. A discarded shopping cart and other assorted trash, washed down the river by a recent storm, adds to the sense of discord, as does the turbulent water boiling in the background. Interesting to note, the hawk remained calmly on the fallen branch throughout the display (which included lots of loud squawking) until the large heron quieted down before flying off.
So how is this observation about the Night Heron? I simply could not get over the look of that juvenile bird reacting to the conflict.

After making several passes, including hovering briefly, this Osprey flew to a mid river tree where he settled in. The rain has ended and the curent slowed, but I think the water is still to silty for them to see the fish.

Okay... you know how sometimes you take a photograph... and then you edit it... and the subject was doing something you never noticed, or expected. After shooting some Brewer's Blackbirds in a mid river tree, I got home and saw an expression on the bird right out of Steven King (or Alfred Hitchcock). Usually those large yellow eyes seem so comical! Brrrrr....

After watching this Mallard pair for several minutes, I was rewarded when they began "dabbling" (tipping forward head down into the water to feed on the bottom) in tandem. They tipped, in unison, several times before swimming on.

I just couldn't resist using this long shot of a juvenile and adult Black-crowned Night Heron resting in their tree, but I have included close up shots of each of them. These guys must have been exhausted after all the rain. Even more surprising... I eventually spotted a second juvenile in the same tree.