Hi Friends,

Yesterday, August 10th, thirty birders walked around San Elijo Lagoon enjoying a cool Saturday morning on the coast. Some of the people who were part of this large group expressed disappointment when they learned that Doug Nail would not be leading the hike and that I would be the substitute field trip leader. In order to keep their hopes up, I made the mistake of telling everyone that San Elijo is a California birding hotspot and many species are always found there. Unfortunately, yesterday was a real quiet day for the birds. We tried really hard to find them, and 46 species was the best we could come up with. Here’s our list:

Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
White-tailed Kite
Cooper’s Hawk
American Kestrel
Clapper Rail
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Least Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Bushtit
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
California Gnatcatcher
Wrentit
California Thrasher
Yellow Warbler
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

JIM BECKMAN