Tuesday/Wednesday Birding: Looking for Winter Birds

Late October, early November is often the time of year when we have summer weather.  Monday morning felt like summer, a slight breeze, deep Blue sky, and a beautiful tranquil bay.
 
Sea Pines nine hole golf course has two easily viewable ponds, that is if you do not mind looking through chain link fencing. 

I was Birding with Mike.  Our first sighting was a “commotion” of Coots near the first pond (above).  Over a few greens Mike spotted a “plump” (12) of Greater white-fronted Geese.  A “dabble” of Mallards and a few Coots occupied the second pond (below). 

Sweet Springs - A high tide was just beginning to go out.  From the overlook our best sightings were an “incontinence” (8) of Greater Yellowleg, a “paddling” (22) of Blue-winged Teal, and a “season” (6) of beautiful Killdeer.  Two Black-bellied Plover, clad in their rather dull winter plumage, were having a bit of a tiff.  I think it was an adult and a juvenile.   

Near the Second Street Pier -  A Greater Yellowleg was hanging out with two Coots, out from the pier a Common Loon, in winter plumage, was diving for food.  They can travel underwater quite far as they chase down prey. 

Morro Bay Marina - We had not walked far when we saw the adorable Spotted Sandpiper teetering along the edge of the water.  This little darling is very reliable as she is always feeding along the edge of the marina. 

From the boardwalk we could see in the distance large flocks of shorebirds, numerous Great-Blue Heron, Great and Snowy Egret, and Harbor Seals hauled out on the pickleweed. 

A high 6 foot tide took me back to Sweet Springs this morning. (photo taken at 9am) Dabbling in the pickleweed were newly arrived winter ducks, Mallard, American Widgeon, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, and what I thought was a Male Northern Pintail,  but was unsure, as I could not get a good enough look.



Local birder/photographer Gary O’Neill, was at the overlook.  We immediately got into a discussion on the birds he had photographed.  Fortunately he had taken a photo of the Pintail, or what we thought was a Pintail, but did not have the long pointed tail.  This evening I compared his photo with photos on the internet and came to the conclusion that it was probably a Mallard/Northern Pintail Hybrid.  In the photo the possibly Mallard/Pintail Hybrid is in the foreground.  Beside him is a male Mallard.  Maybe the Mallard is his dad.  Ah, another bird mystery to resolve.

Memorable Sightings

 
 Turri Road Ponds at the junction of So. Bay Blvd and Turri Road.
 Memorable sighting No. 3 -  I was anticipating seeing Greater and Lesser Yellowleg, but upon arrival what we did see was a delightful surprise - six Red-necked Phalarope plus a Logger-headed Shrike that sped by at eye level.

Phalarope are fun to watch as they are active feeders, spinning in circles as they feed on tiny insects.  Below is a photo I somehow managed to get, when for a brief moment, a Phalarope stopped spinning.

    Memorable sighting No. 4 -  Third Street Coastal Access 

A mixed flock of rather adorable, Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit and Willet were feeding along the edge of the water - a very peaceful scene.  I mentioned to Mike that we should see a Black-bellied Plover, as one or two are often found in a mixed flock of shorebirds.  We found one by itself on a little sandbar.  It's beautiful black and white breeding plumage had already transitioned to quiet winter colors.  Photo of Black-bellied Plover in Winter Plumage.

    Memorable Sighting No. 2 -  Morro Bay State Park Marina

I was confident we would find a Spotted Sandpiper.  We were barely a few feet along the path when the tiny sandpiper appeared bopping along the edge of the water.  Translation of "bopping along" - Spotted Sandpiper teeter as they walk.  Chicks teeter as soon as they hatch.  The function of the teetering motion is yet to be determined.  Soon we discovered there were two Spotted Sandpipers, an adult and a juvenile.  The adult still had a few spot on its belly.  A great treat seeing these two little beauties.  If you squint, the belly spots can be seen.

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    Memorable Sighting No. 1 -  Morro Bay Marina Boardwalk

The primary reason for going to the marina was to see, at the least, one of the four or five Reddish Egrets that had been seen in the area of Morro Bay for about a week or so.  The Reddish Egret is one of the rarest egrets in North America.  It's easily distinguished from other Egrets and Herons by its shaggy appearance, reddish head and neck during breeding season, very active feeding behavior, and pink-and-black bill.  It is a resident breeder in Central America, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of the U.S, and Mexico, and has slowly been making its way up our coast.

We were standing on the boardwalk with binoculars focused across the vast pickleweed to the edge of the receding tide.  A scope would have been helpful.  While looking for the Egrets three women, one with binoculars and a humongous camera, sat down on a nearby bench.  The woman with the camera asked if we had seen the Reddish Egret. "No," we answered.  She points into the hazy west. "They're out there, four of them."  By expanding the photo (click or touch) you can see two of the four Egrets, far left and right center.

 At this time of year they are without their roguish reddish head and neck.  What distinguished them to us was their athletic feeding behavior.  We observed them dash about, zig-zag, and leap with wings flapping, but they did have their quiet moments, strolling along the edge of the water with the shorebirds.  Certainly would be delightful to have the Reddish Egret as a regular winter visitor.  For your viewing please have included a 1.14 minute YouTube video on the feeding strategy of the Reddish Egret.
https://youtu.be/oPt70L1lAoM

On July 17 at San Simeon creek mouth local photographer Roger Zachary captured this excellent image of a Reddish Egret.

Return of The Terns

Elegant and Royal Terns have returned to Morro Strand Beach.  Huge flocks have been observed.  On Sunday the weather was lovely and the beach was filled with beach goers who often, unaware of bird etiquette, walk directly through a resting flock, disbursing them out to sea.  As a result of the busy beach, Terns were not abundant, but fortune did shine. 

North of the beach goers, was a long lagoon formed by recent, very high tides.  Three Terns were standing in shallow water, two were bathing. The smaller Elegant Tern was flanked by two larger Royals.  In the photo you will notice the smaller Elegant (right) has a slightly drooping, slimmer bill while the bill of the larger Royal is more robust in size and color.  Trying to identify the two species in a large flock may require patience.

 Arriving at the same time as the Terns are the Heermann’s Gulls.  Terns dive for fish, Heermann's Gulls do not, instead they steal fish from the Terns.  Technically speaking, Heermann’s Gulls are kleptoparasites, they feed by taking prey from another animal.  Heermann’s Gull is often found in close proximity to a flock of Terns.

Continuing north, stopped at Cayucos and Toro Creeks.  I would rate Cayucos Creek (above) as very sad and scummy, but did observe a flock of 7 beautiful Killdeer, one Canada Goose, and a bobbing Spotted Sandpiper in fading breeding plumage.  (The Cayucos pier is in the process of reconstruction.)

Nearly forgot to mention that on the Torro Creek beach, also know as Dog Beach, there was a mixed flock of Long-billed Curlew and Whimbrel. Since the dogs were playing down by the water, I was able to spend time looking at the flock, in particular two smaller resting birds.  Could they be juvenile Long-billed Curlew? I had never seen one. They stood up. Yes!  They were juvenile Long-billed Curlew.  That first time sighting definitely made my day.  

Morro Bay Marina Boardwalk - High Tide Birding

Morro Bay Calif - High tide is an excellent time to go birding from the Morro Bay Marina Boardwalk.  An incoming tide causes the shorebirds to feed in the pickleweed; the higher the tide, the closer the birds are to the boardwalk. 
 
Today observed huge flocks of Godwit, Willet; a few Long-billed Curlew (top photo); and one Whimbrel.  Here and there, Black-bellied Plover and Dowitcher.   In wetter areas several Killdeer and a solitary Spotted Sandpiper (above photo).  Farther out in the estuary were Great Blue Heron, and Great and Snowy Egret; even farther out, a flock of Avocet.

All the shorebirds birds were busy feeding until a Turkey Vulture (below photo) made a low pass, causing panic and chaos, thousands of birds took flight; the sound of the wings was music to my ears. In a few minutes the shorebirds were back feeding, their worries over for the moment.  Do believe Turkey Vultures enjoy teasing shorebirds.
 
On the inland side of the boardwalk, in the extremely dry vegetation, birds were sparse - White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow,  Bewick's Wren, a glance at a Palm Warbler, and to my delight, a Fox Sparrow - my second sighting of the year; the first was sighted on Alcatraz Island (the previous blog post). 

Before the boardwalk, there was a path along the edge of the estuary.  At high tides the path filled with water and for days afterward was totally unusable.   Now, one can leave their hip boots home and bird the estuary with ease.

ESTERO BLUFFS

The morning was perfect, sunny with a slight breeze. I parked at the fig tree (will get back to the fig tree later in the blog), and walked north along the bluff looking for shorebirds. Many Black and Ruddy Turnstone feeding among the rocks and on the colorful kelp that washes ashore this time of year. (photo-Black Turnstone) Feeding on the kelp were Turnstone, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Brewer's Blackbird, Savannah Sparrow, and many ground squirrels. On nearby rocks a Spotted Sandpiper bobbed.

An extra fine treat was seeing the Ruddy in its breeding plumage. (photo by R0ger Zachery) It was a perfect day for photography and I did not have my camera (bad decision).

Eventually I looked out to sea. Thousands and thousands of Shearwater were streaming south and about a mile out was a giant area of them - looked like an oil slick.

Now, back to the Fig Tree. It is a landmark of sorts, as one can see it from Hwy. 1., and it is often where birders park. Due to all the rain the tree has been reborn. The Fig is huge and lush. As I climbed up the path to the parking area, a cacophony of sound was eminating from the tree. A large flock of busy Bushtit had arrived causing Bewich's Wren and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to become highly agitated. California Towhee began chipping and sitting atop the shrub, oblivious to the melee, were a couple of House Finch merrily singing. A most delightful conclusion to a great morning of birding Estero Bluffs.