Terns Of Endearment

Western Tiger Swallowtail

I wish we could have slowed down our time in California.  It was such a nice stay full of great birds and memories.  We stayed close to the beach and had fun looking at the birds along the shoreline. 

Arctic Tern-blood red/orange thickish shorter bill

Besides the many Brown Pelicans, we also saw many terns.  The previous week in Arizona, we had a super rare Arctic Tern show up at a local watering hole. It had been my only tern for the year which was rather surprising!  Usually a Forster's or Least Tern shows up in April first.  Instead it was the super rare Arctic Tern.  Okay!  I'll take it. 

We did well staying away from people, but people gravitated towards each other and we had to be conscience of this.  Thankfully Cheroot, the wonder dog, helped maintain social distance with his grouchy demeanor. He's really not grouchy.  He loves hanging with his friends, but he doesn't like strangers! Or dogs off their leash!  I don't have a dog because I'm a cat person but dog owners are sometimes so irresponsible. Sure, you're dog is friendly and so am I.  However, some dogs are not friendly and are put on a leash for a reason(besides it being the law! to protect wildlife) "Free dogs" who are social put themselves in danger by running up to defensive pooches.  It was a new element to our birding that I hadn't much thought about.  A lady in Balboa Park laughed and said her unleashed dog was friendly and that it was "okay".  Yes, we love your dog, but Cheroot will rip the dog apart because of your negligence!  If I were a cat, I'd hiss. 

Forster's Tern

Let's talk about birds. While at the beach, we were noticing a lot of terns flying over our heads.  And with a closer look, we noticed quite a few species of tern.  My friend Celeste mentioned there was black at the tip of the bill.  That narrowed the bird down to a Caspian or Forster's Tern.  I saw her bird and then noticed it had a thin orange bill with a beautiful tail pattern.  Forster's. But what were the other terns?!

The next tern we saw breeds in the same area as the Snowy Plovers.  And sure enough, a Least Tern flew over our heads.  They weren't as numerous as the other species and an easy one to ID.  Small tern with a yellow bill. 

Least Tern

Wildlife and visitors continued along the beach of Southern California.  In one area, we had both Harbor Seals (or Common Seal) in one colony while several rocks over, we saw a huge group of California Sea Lions.  

Harbor Seals

It's tricky for birders.  Terns are magnificent creatures, but they aren't always easy in their varied plumage.  Often I go with the bill as a field mark.  We were lucky as we had clear marks.  I start getting into trouble when both Arctic and Common terns are in the same area.  Then there's the Elegant Tern vs the Royal Tern.  We did see a few Royal Terns while we were there. Let's take a look.

Royal Tern

Here's a shot of both species.  Royal Terns will also have the black cap.  This one does not.  The bills are slightly thicker with the Royal Tern.  The tern also has a paler orange/yellow coloring. 

Elegant Tern

When you look at the Elegant Tern, you'll see a longer skinnier orange bill.  It's also a large and elegant tern. REALLY:)  These terns are more common along the coast of Southern California right now and were the predominant tern species over the waters. 

Another tern that I know well is the Caspian Tern. It breeds along the shores of Lake Michigan in my home state of Wisconsin.  This tern is widespread and a bulky tern with a heavy orange bill with a dark end. This was the second most common tern species along the coastal waters.  

Caspian Tern

During the in between time, we'd all sit and enjoy the shade.  The ocean is great but the sun can still be very strong.  We found shade and charged our batteries under a tree full of Allen's Hummingbirds. 

A tern that I had been wanting to observe in the wild finally happened on this trek.  All of my friends have seen this species except me:)  That was such a wonderful discovery.  I thought I had seen one fly over my head.  My heart skipped a beat and my pace quickened on the beach towards the salt marsh.  These birds were outside the clouds of terns over the estuary.  They were fishing from the calmer waters of the salt marsh.  Easy to ID with that nice black bill. 

Gull-billed Tern

Where did we see all these terns?  Well, we found them at Imperial Beach along the Tijuana Slough that borders the ocean front.   Here is the list that we generated from our walk. Directions to get there are in the report.  One bird we did not see was the Ridgway's Rail which is often found there in good numbers.  But we didn't time our visits to the tide.  When the tide rises, you have a better chance of spotting this very cool and endangered rail. 

The end of the pier behind Celeste is where you can find the Pelagic Cormorants, when it opens again.  Great eats along that road as well

I want to also share with you that it's possible to observe all three cormorants in this area.  The most common cormorants seen are the Brandt's and Double-crested Cormorants.  The more difficult one can be the Pelagic.  But for some reason, the purplish hues of the beautiful Pelagic Cormorant love the end of the big Imperial Beach pier.  Even though the pier was closed, I did spy one bird fly towards the end of it. 

Brandt's Cormorant

It was a lovely walk.  The past two posts covered 5 principal areas of what I think are San Diego's premier birding spots.  There's a few more but we avoided those areas due to high human traffic.  We stayed near Balboa Park which is a really nice walk and full of great birds including the exotics.  We spied Red-crowned and Yellow-headed Parrots with Red-headed Parakeets.  Also feeding from the grasses were the Scaly-breasted Munia. 

Other stops included the beautiful Imperial Beach and Tijuana Slough, La Jolla coastal area, Torrey-Pines State Park, the Bird and Butterfly Garden near the Tijuana border, and Sunset Cliffs Natural Park where we saw this beautiful California Thrasher below. 

California Thrasher

If anything, this trek inspired me to get on the road soon.  But something was holding me back.  I'm glad I waited.  The bird gods have been kind to the birding community in Arizona. 

Maybe not exciting, but I think beautiful, the Western Gulls were nesting along the coastal cliffs. 

Western Gull

On our way home, we spied this very young Green Heron at a park in Yuma, AZ.  At one point I had to take this poor little heron out of the pond because a girl ran up to it and forced it into the water. It barely could swim. It needed a few days to get more strength. She knew what she was doing and it pissed me off. Back in the day, you could yell at kids freely(or talk to them nicely). I was hungry and grouchy and not in the mood to deal with kids. So instead, I had a talk with her mother while giving her the death stare. Then I rescued the little bird who couldn't get out of the pond due to the concrete pond wall being too high.  Hope this little one is okay.  Just needs a few days to strengthen up.  

juvenile Green Heron

So if you are chasing terns along the coast of Southern California, here are the terns we saw most to least being the Least:)

1. Elegant Tern-the most common
2. Caspian Tern
3. Forster's Tern
4. Gull-billed Tern
5. Royal Tern
6. Least Tern

We're back in Southern Arizona enduring the heat and wildfires.  Please think good thoughts for our Mt. Lemmon.  The Bighorn Fire was caused by a lightning strike for about a week now. As we were arriving back into Tucson, we hit the huge lightning storm. It has done some major damage to the mountain. I hope we can get it under control. Fire is good but it's not cool when you have your friend's home in danger of getting burned down.  It's painful to watch the wildlife flee their homes off the mountain.  June is already a stressful time for all the critters with water and heat being major factors. And the smoke! Is it covid or smoke that's causing the headaches? It's one thing after another these days. Next week, we take a longer and deeper look into the magic of Southeastern Arizona birding. 

Not my image, from ABC 15 news

Geronimo!

California Thrasher!

The great West can be daunting.  It's even more intimidating when one treks the vast desert alone.  I purchased water and all kinds of rations just in case my car decided to act up.  Cell phones don't work in certain areas and the landscape changes from Sonoran desert into the sandy Imperial Dunes near Yuma.  Eventually the driver reaches the forgotten lands of the Salton Sea full of pesticides, agricultural lands and the infamous Sonny Bono wildlife preserve.  Even further, one must cross the great mountains of rock and alpine shrubs.  Then begins the descent into the crowded urban area known as San Diego. I summoned the courage of the great Indian spirit, Chief Geronimo.  As I shouted his name, I took the plunge one last time into the area known as San Diego!

Bushtit

The end of the year would bring me once more back into Southern California to clean up most of the endemics found in this area.  However this trek was made alone since Pat had to work.  The year is winding down fast and I needed to find more birds! So I went into some of the most eccentric places around SoCal.

White-crowned Sparrow

I hit 4 major places.  The Salton Sea. The Tijuana Estuary.  Discovery Lake of San Marcos. And Lindo Lake of Lakeside.

California Towhee

Within the recently burned city of San Marcos, I found an oasis known as Discovery Lake.  There I witnessed mothers running with their children on the trails listening to annoying songs like, "Let It Go!"  Go ahead and click on the link.  I dare you:)  I was trying to listen to the lesser known "California Thrasher" song.  According to birders, it's one of California's better tunes...even topping the Momma and Papa's "California Dreamin!"

Discovery Lake was a pretty amazing area full of incredible birds!  I think I spent the entire morning there birding.  I heard the California Quail but I never saw them.  I heard all the other birds and DID see them.  Sometimes you just have to learn to "Let It Go, Let It Goooo!"  I had that damn song stuck in my head all day!

Wrentit

Another new bird for me was the Wrentit.  I'm never sure about these combo names in the bird world.  So what is it?  More Wren or more Tit?  Either way, I thought it would be harder to ID.  It wasn't.  The call was distinct and the bird was much larger than the Bushtits also found in the area. 

Brants

After getting a visual on 2 out of the 3 life bird targets, I decided it was time to move south to the Chula Vista area for the Brants.  I met up with friends Libby and Bonnie at their place and walked along the waterfront enjoying their company while of course observing the birds!

Surf Scoters

We were super thrilled to spot Surf Scoters.  I don't know why they are so cool, but they are.  Their bill is so strange and colorful!

Scaly-breasted Munia

And then there were these birds!  The Scaly-breasted Munia were almost on every one of my counts this last time.  I would hear them squeek and I'd think, "Are those strange Cedar Waxwings calling?" They can also sound like mice! Then they'd fly up and remind me that they're taking over Southern California.  And as for parrots!  A month ago I reported on the Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots of Orange County!  Well they are around the San Diego area as well.  I sometimes forget that there are parrots around those parts.  When it finally registers inside my tiny little brain, they are flying over my head!  

This was my road trip song to keep me going.  I want to let everyone know that I'll be catching up with you all soon.  I've been on the road way too much these past two weeks trying to keep up with the end of the 2014 year:) I'll carry on with my report from the other two areas next week. And when I'm feeling intimidated by the challenge, I just have to remember to say, "Geronimo!"