From left, C.J. Feinberg, Adrian Blumberg and Eva Berg, who recently visited the county. Courtesy photo of Leona Butts.

LAKE COUNTY – The Lake County Visitor Center in Lucerne helped add a personal touch to a group's visit to the county.

When contacted by C.J. Feinberg of Walnut Creek, who wanted to bring a friend to Lake County for a birthday birding tour, she was referred to Leona Butts, board member of Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association.

On May 8, Feinberg, birthday lady Adrian Blumberg and Eva Berg arrived in Lower Lake to begin their planned tour, arranged and led by Leona and D.A. Butts.

First was a walk in Anderson Marsh State Historic Park on the Cache Creek Trail to the creek observation platform. Among the many sightings were wild turkeys, black phoebes, violet green swallows and Western and Clark’s grebes.

Western pond turtles were sunning on logs; carp were spawning in the shallows. The common yellowthroats were calling whitchey-whitchey from seclusion in the tules.

After a lunch break at Konocti's Classic Rock Café, where cliff swallows were observed collecting mud pellets from curbside for their gourd-shaped nests, the tour continued on Soda Bay Road for views of Clear Lake, a discussion of Lake County geology and a stop in Clear Lake State Park.

From the park’s newly installed boardwalk, great blue herons, green herons, great egrets, a nesting pied-billed grebe and a pair of nesting osprey and were among species observed.

The tour returned to Lower Lake via scenic Highway 29 where the ladies left for Walnut Creek with parting words of what a great day and what a beautiful area.

{mos_sb_discuss:2}