Visit to Famosa Slough

Since my Julian trip, life has been fairly quiet, except for my 8 year old grandson's baseball games.  Today, I walked to the Famosa Slough (San Diego) to see if I could find any migrating birds.  Instead, I was greeted with regulars, which of course are worth seeing.  It was a quiet respite.

When I arrived, the first bird I spotted was a  male Mallard, whose bill looked blue.  The photo of the male and female displays the male's bill as yellow.  The photo shown below on the left shows a bluish tint on the bill.  In every website I checked, experts said the male Mallard's bill is a bright yellow.  Each photo below is of the same male Mallard.  This pair was the only one at the Slough today.  The male Mallard's beautiful colors really stand out.

Male and Female Mallards

American Kestrel

The next bird I found was the American Kestrel, which is a small hawk.  It's head is well defined by two black stripes on each side of its head.  When attending a bird tour at the Slough, others more knowledgeable then I, can spot one faster.  So, today, I was happy it stayed in the same place long enough for me to get a few poses.  The photo to the right is the best.  My camera doesn't have that long a range, so this is what I get.  It's a very striking bird.

As I walked further into the property, there were some sparrows and finches.  I walked along the path and heard the call of a Song Sparrow.  I finally found it, but it was too far from me to get a good photo.


Before I started for home, I decided to cross West Point Loma Boulevard to see what I could see, so to speak.  I was hoping to see a Clapper Rail, a marsh bird that hangs out in the tall reeds.  On one of the tours I attended last fall, I was able to see one, but today, nothing.

As I was intently scanning the reeds with my eyes, I heard the familiar call of a Song Sparrow.  It was so loud it felt like the bird was sitting on my shoulder.  I turned and checked out a small tree behind me. It's flowers had died off for the most part, but there near the top was a Song Sparrow.

Song Sparrow

I did receive an email regarding the sighting of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron at the back of the property near the 8 (Highway).  Since it's far off the main road, I usually only go there when I'm with a bird tour.  It would be great if that bird would spend the month here, but I think it will be on the move.

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More Bird Photography

Last Saturday, volunteers came together with the Friends of Famosa Slough (in San Diego) to do some clean-up work.  This occurs on the second Saturday of every month. They clean up paths and clear away any non-native plants.  This was the first time I participated.  I didn't help with the clean-up, but covered the sign up table providing information and snacks.  During the quiet times, I took some photographs. 

I discovered the photo on the left when I downloaded the contents of my camera.  I was taken back by the timing of the birds' passage through that segment of the waterway.  

The photo to the right is of a Snowy Egret who seems to feel that he owns the place.  He regularly chases other birds off his turf (so to speak).  I believe he was fishing for his brunch this time.  Every so often I would spot a silvery fish under the water.  I think this Egret did as well.

I believe these Mallards (left below) are resident and have written about them in an earlier post.   The juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron shown on the right below was just passively watching the activity.  Actually, there were two of them but the other did not photograph well.  I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I didn't tell him (or her).

                                                                     

                                                                                                                                   

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Bird Observations

Female Western Bluebird

Last week, I was walking near Tourmaline St in La Jolla, CA, a coastal community north of San Diego, and spotted the following bird on the lawn.  At first glance, I thought it was a Robin, a bird that can be found throughout the United States, but one that I've never seen on the West Coast.  Then, I saw a blue glint on it's head.  As I came closer to get a better picture, it flew away. When I researched my photo later and verified with a bird expert, it turned out to be a Female Western Bluebird.  A few years ago in Balboa Park in San Diego, I spotted a beautiful, bright blue bird (probably a Male Bluebird), but as I pulled out my camera, it flew away.  I've become more alert and almost always have my camera out and ready, although I'm convinced that as soon as the bird is aware of my silver camera they take off.

House finch

 

 Yesterday, I spotted a house finch at the Slough.

 Today, I walked the hills of Ocean Beach.  The weather was overcast and the birds must have been hunkering down since it was also cold.    On the way back, I stopped in at the Slough.  There I saw a man and a small child feeding two Mallards some bread on the Famosa Boulevard side.   As I walked toward them, they left.  The man and child then went around to the front entrance to the Slough.  Believe it or not, the ducks swam across the water to where these people were and followed them on the path.  That was amazing to me.  The ducks didn't come to me. as I had come around to the front and was just several feet from these people.  Did the Mallards recognize their feeders?                                                                                

                                                 

Mallard

Along came another man with a school bag.  He put his hand in the bag, dropped something for the ducks,and proceeded on.  The birds ate some of it and there was a piece between them.  Just then a small gull with black wings just swooped down and picked up the whole piece of bread.   One of the Mallards quacked and turned his head towards the airborne gull with the bread.  It sounded just like he voiced, "Wa-a-." (Like "what just happened here?")  That gull certainly was very deft in his actions.

White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Then, four White-crowned Sparrows hopped out of the bushes and pecked around for breadcrumbs.  This gave me an opportunity to get a close-up of them, since they usually hide within the brush.

Clapper Rail

While all this was going on, a Clapper Rail was intent on his own fishing in the water.

While I certainly don't know much about birds, I'm sometimes taken aback to view their almost human-like actions.

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Famosa Slough in late January

With the cold weather, other than my daily walk and exercise, my ventures have been limited.  I certainly hibernated during last week's rains.  I don't like heavy rain.  In fact, I don't like rain at all.  With the rains gone on Sunday, I took a walk to the Famosa Slough, a wetland in San Diego.  While it was quiet, there were a number of birds just hanging out, so to speak.

In the picture shown above, American Avocets look stately as they cruise along.  As you can see, the heads of some of the birds show that breeding season is near.  Their winter plumage changes to a pinkish tan color.  Both male and female take turns incubating the eggs.  The American Avocet is a beautiful bird.

Below are two pictures of a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.  I published a picture the first time I saw a juvenile, in a post in July.  (http://bicoastalgrandma.blogspot.com/2012/07/bird-watching.html)  The juvenile shown below was in the exact same spot as I found him in July.  However, if it is the same bird, he now has white spots on his back.  I took these picture from two different positions through a chain link fence about five feet from where he was perched.  Other than occasionally looking around, he never flinched at the click of the shutter.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

The Mallards came near.  The Northern Pintail looks regal, at least, in my opinion.  When they're foraging for food, all you see is their bottoms with the long pintail sticking up in the air.  It is a curious sight.  The center picture shows an American Wigeon on the edge of the island in the middle of the property.  There were also some Killdeer on the same island, but my camera range was not sufficient. If the Kildeer is facing you, it looks like the bird is wearing a turtle-neck sweater due to black stripes across its breast.  If a predator is near, the Kildeer will feign a broken wing to lure the predator away from the nest.  It is a cute bird.

Mallards

Northern Pintail

American Wigeon

As I was preparing to leave the Slough, I spotted another bird.  It flew from bush to bush about 20 feet away.  I took some pictures and then, later last night, (since I'm so new at this) compared them to bird pictures on the Internet.  Then I verified it with a birding expert.  The bird shown below is a Say's Phoebe, a flycatcher.  It winters in California, but it was the first time I'd seen it.

 

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