March 30
 |
| Snowy Plover |
I spent the day birding with my wife looking for some newly
arrived breeding species after making a long-shot attempt at a reported rare
bird.
We started this morning by walking
the beach about a mile to the Tijuana River mouth.
While spending some time there fruitlessly
looking for plover Dave P called out,
“Booby in the feeding flock.” Quickly turning my scope in that direction I
was able to get onto the bird as it made a pass through the other birds.
I snapped a few low quality photos for ID
purposes and we all talked about how great it was to see this species from
shore.
My wife and I then headed to a
few other spots before coming home for a little bit of rest.
 |
| Western Screech-Owl |
This evening I went out to find some owls with Shannon W and had Western Screech-Owls, Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls. Of the Great Horned Owls we had a pair calling back and forth to each which was neat to listen to since we were able to hear the differences between the male and female.
 |
| Grasshopper Sparrow |
Tijuana River mouth,
Dairy Mart Pond, Mission Trails Regional Park
Brown Booby, Snowy Plover, Gull-billed Tern, Bell’s Vireo,
Cliff Swallow, Grasshopper Sparrow
Species to Date – 278
March 31
 |
| Sandwich-ish Tern among Elegant Terns |
A rare gull was found and word went out too late for me to
chase it yesterday so I headed over to the
location first thing today. After not finding it I headed out east to
meet a friend and learn a bit of botany while looking for more easterly (county-wise)
migrants and arriving breeders.
While
there I received a text alerting me to the presence of another rare gull near
the one that was found yesterday afternoon.
Upon arriving I was able to see it flying away.
The problem with this bird is that it doesn’t
look right for a pure Sandwich Tern.
There is too much yellow on the bill tip and in fact it went all along
the culmen.
But what is it mixed
with?
If determined to be mixed with a
Cayenne Tern (still treated as a subspecies of Sandwich Tern) then it could be
counted on my Big Year List.
But it
could have been partly Elegant Tern, a pairing that has happened here in
Southern
Another thing about
the bird is that the one found in the morning has much less yellow on the bill
so there may be a second bird.
I spent
the next 6 hours going back and forth between the two spots where yesterday’s
bird was found and the location of today’s bird.
I was joined by Doug A and Eitan A at one
point and Eitan hollered, “there it is.”
And this one didn’t have all the excessive yellow as the one from the
afternoon.
Yes, maybe a pure Sandwich
Tern.
I took a bunch of photos and added
those to the debate of “what type of bird is this?” that is currently going on
with many of us in the San Diego birding community.
Though there was much less yellow on this
bird’s bill, it was still a bit too much for a classic Sandwich Tern.
But is it within reason for variability as
some are thinking?
 |
| Laughing Gull |
California.
Making one last stop to look for yesterday’s bird paid off
when I spotted it sitting on a mudflat.
I was able to take
Jay K away from where he was
searching onto the Laughing Gull and we watched it triumphantly for a while
before I headed home.
Crestridge Ecological
Reserve, San Diego River, Robb Field
Ash-throated Flycatcher, Laughing Gull
Species to Date - 280
