OPEN WATER (Lacustrine)

VEGETATION:

Typical lacustrine habitats include permanently flooded lakes and reservoirs (e.g., Turlock Lake and Modesto Water Treatment Ponds), intermittent lakes (e.g., playa lakes) and ponds (including vernal pools) so shallow that rooted plants can grow over the bottom. Most permanent lacustrine systems support fish life; intermittent types usually do not. The plants and animals found in the littoral zone vary with water depth, and a distant zonation of life exists from deeper water to shore. A blanket of duckweed may cover the surface of shallow water. Desmids and diatoms, protozoans and minute crustaceans, hyrdras and snails live on the under-surface of the blanket; mosquitoes and collembolans live on top. Submerged plants such as algae and pondweeds serve as supports for smaller algae and as cover for swarms of minute aquatic animals.

COMMON BIRD SPECIES:

Year-round Residents: California Quail, Mourning Dove, Killdeer, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, California Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Common Raven, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Wrentit, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren, California Thrasher, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Western Bluebird, Phainopepla, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lark Sparrow, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Brewer’s Blackbird

Winter Visitors: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Summer Visitors: Green Heron, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Violet-Green Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bullock’s Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak.