Birding the Morro Bay Marina

 The morning was perfect.  The tide, having been quite high at 6:00 am was on the way out.  The pickleweed was very wet, not only from the tide but from the 1/2 in. of rain we received last night.  The mud was very wet, reflecting the sun light - ideal conditions for a variety of birds to feed. 

From the boardwalk one could see thousands of birds.  Feeding in the pickleweed were Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and 300 or so Brant Goose.  The Brant chat continually as they feed - a soft and pleasing sound.    Can you find the Snow Goose?

 Of course, here and there is a Great-blue Heron, an Egret, a few Canada Goose, Avocet, flocks of Sandpiper, and scads of shorebirds; on a distant sandbar 18 Harbor seals sunned themselves and I had not yet walked 20 feet. 

Much fun watching two Long-billed Curlew engaged in a heated discussion.  A Merlin was perched atop of one of the two scraggly pine trees located on the bay side of the boardwalk. Twice it flew off, returning within a few minutes to the same twig - quite a treat as Merlin sightings are not frequent.  

While focused on the Merlin, deep in the brush came a flutter of activity and the alarm call of a male ( photo) Quail - a Cooper's Hawk had swooped down on a covey of Quail.   The Cooper's Hawk captures a bird with its feet and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it.  Fortunately for the little covey, the Hawk was not successful.  The flurry of excitement happened in just a few seconds.   

In the Marina (above) were Bufflehead, Scaup, Surf Scoter, Eared Grebe, Kingfisher, an Osprey calling, and my very special, always feeding in the mud along the edge of the Marina........my favorite,.....a......Spotted Sandpiper.  Birding the Morro Bay Marina this morning was a premium experience. 

Pickleweed - A Yummie Treat!

First, a little information on pickleweed.  Photo of Black Phoebe - Note the pickleweed turning red.

Morro Bay Estuary - Pickleweed, is ideally suited to the estuary as it can survive periodic inundation by salt water; saltwater travels up through the pickleweed roots where it is stored in the top of the plant.  In the fall the top sections turn red and fall off, and the cycle begins anew.  Pickleweed which covers most of the estuary provides habitat for many species of animals, such as insects, crabs, a variety birds, including shore birds, song birds, wading birds, ducks and geese. 

Morro Bay Marina Boardwalk - Yesterday morning - An extreme high tide silently pushed many species of the bay birds to the edge of the pickleweed, and as a consequence making them much easier to observe from the boardwalk that I was standing on.

"Much easier to observe," is rather an understatement, for only a few feet away were eight Brant intently feeding in the pickleweed.  Usually, Brant fly if you are within 500 feet.  A boy rolled by on a scooter and the geese didn't even raise an eyebrow.  I watched them for about an hour and as the tide ebbed and hundreds of Avocets, accompanied by three Caspian Tern, moved into the shallow water, the Brant continued browsing through the pickleweed.  For me and two out of town birders this was a rare sighting.  

 Now I am faced with a question, what were they eating?  Ah, a bird related mystery that bears investigation.   Oh, oh, it's getting late, had better finish this blog and get my stocking hung on the fireplace.  Do not want to miss Santa.  Merry Holidays.

TURRI ROAD DRY POND

The Turri Road Mostly Dry Ponds (photo) - A flock of about 50 Semipalmated Plover were resting in clumps of pickle weed. Every few minutes a small flock of Plovers would fly in and settle into the weed. When I first arrived I did not see them, as none were moving. It was after a flock came in that I began to see them in the vegetation (I wondered what else was out there that I was not seeing). One Western Sandpiper was feeding, and in the small pond to the East were a Lesser and Greater Yellowleg (really enjoy seeing them together). The Lesser was feeding in the water in a manner similiar to a Phalarope, pursuing the insects by spinning around. That was a fun sighting!