Birding Morro Bay Marina and Estero Bluffs

Moro Bay Marina - The tide was high - The morning beautiful.  A Clark's Grebe, was feeding at the flooded edge of the marina - a most unusual sight as Grebes are diving birds.  She was keenly focused on the vegetation and paid no attention to my presence.  

There were three Grebes.  I believe in the below photo, the top image is of a Clark's and the lower image  a Western.   Figuring out who's who can be tricky, as they are almost identical.  Western's eye is in the black and Clark's eye is in the white; Clark's bill is more yellow than Western.  At the least I figured out they were Grebes.  Water birds were few, a small flotilla of Coots, four adorable Pied-billled Grebe, a Common Loon, and a magnificent Osprey perched on a distant mast.  

Estero Bluffs State Park - This dense cluster of Eucalyptus is a bird magnet.

Although the Eucalyptus tree is non-native and often thought of as an invasive species; on Estero Bluffs it is the only place where an assortment of roosting birds can roost.  The Eucalyptus is located above San Geronimo Creek and due to dense vegetation is, fortunately, isolated from the public.

In the month of October I have been to Estero Bluffs five times.  There are three primary reasons for the multiple visits, very few people, great birding, and fascinating rocks.  On a recent visit there was an Osprey, five Double-crested Cormorant, Brewer's Blackbird, and a Great Egret roosting in the Eucalyptus at the same time.  On another visit, Mike and I were below the tree at the mouth of San Geronimo Creek watching Coots harassing four Canada Goose when suddenly a dozen plus Black-crowned Night Heron sped out of the Eucalyptus to disappear up the creek.  A few minutes later there was another exodus of Herons.  To say the least it was a rather unique sighting. 

Estero Bluffs - Saturday morning birded Villa Creek beach with Mike and Jerry.  The sea was rugged, tide coming in and the birds cooperative.  The Honeycomb Sandstone is one of my current favorite rocks.  The holes are the result of the interaction of physical and chemical weathering over a loooong period of time.  Watching the feeding shore birds was a delight.

 Godwits were organized and very busy - They only had a few seconds to feed before the next wave.  It never ceases to amaze me how fast their delicate legs can move.  Nearby was a Black-bellied Plover and a couple of Killdeer.  Higher up the beach, where kelp is located, were quadrillions of kelp flies that Western Sandpiper and the adorable Snowy Plover (below) were feeding upon.  The little Plovers were nearly close enough to touch.

Little did we know a surprise awaited us in the rocks.

Four Pacific Golden-Plover - A most unusual sighting.  I was only able to photograph one as I was distracted by the incoming tide and the kelp flies around my face.  The Plovers breed from northern 

Siberia to the coast of Alaska.  They winter from southern Asia to the Pacific Islands and occasionally the Central Coast.  Birding was cut short by fierce wind and blowing sand, but I can guarantee I will be returning to the Estero Bluffs.