Saturday Birding

This Saturday was Libby's last day of class, and rather than sit around and twiddle my thumbs awaiting her return, I decided to drop by Bolsa Chica and see what was up. I decided to check Harriet M. Weider Park, an area on the west side of Bolsa Chica I'd not been to before. I was handsomely rewarded, and will definitely be adding this park to the general Bolsa Chica experience.

As I drove along Bolsa Chica on PCH on my way over to the park, I noticed that the tide was higher than I have ever seen before. There was no exposed mud, and much of the vegetation was covered by the water. I'd heard that Sunday was supposed to be a dramatically low tide, so maybe that was linked somehow. Anyway, I figured I wouldn't have much luck with shore birds. That wasn't quite the case, though, as there were many shorebirds (thousands) viewable from the park, and I stayed until the tide was quickly going out.

Anyway, at the park I saw hundreds of American Pipits (FOS), hundreds of White-crowned Sparrows, a FOS Northern Flicker in the trees, and a dozen Meadowlarks. I also had my FOS Hermit Thrush. Walking out along the oil pipelines in the area would thrush giant flocks of all of these species, and as I got down closer to the water, the sparrow flocks became more heavily Savannah Sparrows, though the White-crowns continued. At the furthest point I reached, I set up the scope and scanned the oil fields. I found a sitting Peregrine Falcon on a distant post, and a closer Say's Phoebe, which was another first for the season. Among the ducks in this area were also my first of season American Wigeons, Northern Pintails, but there were also Gadwalls, Green-winged Teals, and Mallards mixed in with the flocks. There was also a gorgeous White-tailed Kite hunting there the whole time. It was pretty exciting, to tell the truth!

The giant shorebird flocks were mostly Western Sandpiper and Black-bellied Plovers. There were also some Dowitchers and Godwits around, though.

After that, I jumped in the car and drove over to the Boardwalk. There I was treated to some Eared Grebes, and my FOS Surf Scoters, Lesser Scaups, and Red-breasted Mergansers. I believe I haven't ever seen a Greater Scaup. At least, I don't think so. I walked down to the tide gates, hoping to find my FOS Buffleheads. I was pleasantly rewarded by two or three beautiful little males mixed in with the bobbing Ruddy Ducks. At the tide gates, the churning water attracted a flock of Brown Pelicans, Forster's Terns, and two Bonaparte Gulls, which I don't see very often. They're so small, I didn't notice them at first. They blended in with the Terns!

Anyway, it is beginning to look a lot like winter, now. It looked like there were a few Elegant Terns left, which surprised me (and I might be wrong about it, anyway), but otherwise the avifauna is basically wintry now. There aren't the numbers there will be later, but most of the species have returned. Here's my list for the day:

Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Turkey Vulture
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
White-tailed Kite
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Dowitcher Sp. ( who knows?)
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Western Gull
Royal Tern
Elegant Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird
Tree Swallow
American Crow
House Wren
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
American Pipit
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
House Finch

67 Species is a pretty good day!