Lake Hodges - near Escondido, California

For my birthday this year Judy surprised me with a visit to Lake Hodges. We drove to Escondido and spent the night on Friday, April 17, and went birding at Lake Hodges on Saturday morning. We used to live in San Diego and I remember hearing about Lake Hodges back then, but I never knew where it was. I was very surprised to learn it was only 3 miles south of Escondido. It is on the San Dieguito River so it snakes along through a canyon and is not very wide. When full it has a maximum depth of 115 feet and a 27 mile shoreline. However, in 2017, following the Oroville Dam crisis in northern California, the state conducted spillway inspections on all state dams and Hodges Dam did not pass inspection. So the maximum level of the dam was lowered to 20 feet below the spillway so repair work could take place. The water level was further reduced in May 2023 when cracks and defects in the dam were discovered. Apparently construction of a new dam was started and the dam, lake and recreation area were opened again in June 2023. The new dam is anticipated to be completed in 2034. The current water level is about 76 feet. Following are photos of our morning:

Male California quail

Bushtit

Anna's hummingbird

Western bluebird

Red-tailed hawk

Clark's grebe

Western grebe. Distinguished from the Clark's grebe by its eye being part of the upper black part of its head, as opposed to in the white below the black part of the head. 

All of the grebes we saw were Western grebes, except for the Clark's grebe we saw first thing. The grebes were doing their fun mating rituals like this synchronized swimming. 

Killdeer with its tail feather fluffed out. I don't believe I've ever seen that before. Quite beautiful. 

The killdeer as it looks normally. 

Black crowned night heron. We saw four or five flying together land near each other in trees. 

Snowy egret in breeding plumage. 

Great-tailed grackle. Lots of them around. 

California scrub-jay with mansion on the nearby hill as a backdrop. 

Acorn woodpecker on a granary tree. Note all the imbedded acorns. 

Black phoebe working on an insect. 

Lesser goldfinch. 

Great egret

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared dove

Blue grosbeak. However, the beautiful colors are masked by the early morning light and fog. 

Northern rough-winged swallow. Swallows were heavy in the area flying in crazy patterns. I thought they were bats. 

Cliff swallow

American coot. 

Lake Hodges is a beautiful area with lots of wildlife. Very fun to go to a new location and expand our knowledge of California.