Hi Friends,

We had a wonderful field trip this morning, Saturday November 21. Thirty birders checked out the Salt Works on a beautiful San Diego day. Good birds and friendly people.

We found 70 bird species. The highlight of the day had to be several Short-eared Owls. The birds were perched in the brush, on the ground, and flying low over the water. We were unable to determine the exact number of Owls present since we saw the birds at several locations. But at one stop we observed 3 Owls together. There’s a chance there were more than just those three. The other good bird for the day was the Common Goldeneye.

Many thanks go out to FWS Ranger Debbie Good for setting up and leading the field trip. Today we had two vans, and a brand new porta potty on site for our use.

Here’s our bird list:

Brant
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Redhead
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark’s Grebe
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Reddish Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Western Gull
Royal Tern
Forster’s Tern
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Short-eared Owl
Anna’s Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Cassin’s Kingbird
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch

JIM BECKMAN, trip leader