Hi everyone,
We had a nice day of birding at San Elijo Lagoon on Saturday. Despite a bit of rain at the start it turned out to be quite nice. I would like to thank Paul for ensuring the rain stopped early by stashing his spotting scope in his car! There were 19 intrepid birders to start the morning with some people leaving early. We spent 20 minutes or so looking for the Nelson’s Sparrow but didn’t have any luck. There were a few people who hadn’t tried to see this before bird so they at least know the area for it now.
We had a total of 67 species which is pretty good despite missing some usual/expected species. I have copied and pasted the list of species below following the format of the county list.
Thanks to everyone who came out to make a good mornings walk.
Dave Cowan
Location : San Elijo Lagoon, Rios Ave trailhead
Date : Saturday, December 12th 2014
Total Species : 67
Total Participants : 19
SWANS, GEESE & DUCKS
Gadwall
American Widgeon
Mallard
Blue-Winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-Winged Teal
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-Breasted Merganser
GREBES
Pied-Billed Grebe
Western Grebe
PELICANS
Brown Pelican
CORMORANTS
Double Crested Cormorant
BITTERNS & HERONS
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-Crowned Night Heron
KITES, EAGLES & HAWKS
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red Tailed Hawlk
FALCONS
American Kestrel
RAILS, GALLINULES & COOTS
Ridgeway’s Rail
Sora
American Coot
PLOVERS
Glack-Bellied Plover
SANDPIPERS & PHARALOPES
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-Billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-Billed Dowitcher
SKUAS, GULLS, TERNS & SKIMMERS
Western Gull
PIGEONS & DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
HUMMINGBIRDS
Anna’s Hummingbird
Allen’s Hummingbird
WOODPECKERS
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Cassin’s Kingbird
JAYS & CROWS
Western Scrub Jay
American Crow
WRENS
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
KINGLETS & GNATCHATCHERS
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Gnatcatcher – species
BLUEBIRDS, THRUSHES & ALLIES
Hermit Thrush
Wrentit
MOCKINGBIRDS & THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
WOOD WARBLERS
Orange-Crowned Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
TOWHEES & SPARROWS
California Towhee
Savanna Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-Crowned Sparrow
FINCHES & ALLIES
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
