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  Another gorgeous day in Southern California – autumn is coming, the air was crisp and the weather was perfect for birding – hats were needed as was sun screen. Many birds had left for the winter, but there were plenty to keep us interested and going just a little farther to see what was there. We were joined by a group from Kern Audubon Society. They needed a fix of shore / ocean birds as that is just about all that Kern County, the birdiest inland county in California, does not have. We were pleased to share.  We birded for almost four hours and some were still going.

The highlights were the shore birds and the biggest raves were for our friends the Reddish Egrets. They were very active, visible and dancing to their own rhythms (or maybe fishing). We were delighted to find an adult molting Black Tern (little guy!). We also had many of the usual birds…. 3 different teal, 3 different grebes, 6 herons/egrets, and a total of 71 different species including the dowitcher sp. (both of which can be found there in abundance and we could not tell which was which). Even the Great Blue Heron posed for us – staring with his great yellow eye. An excellent day for birds and people.

Bolsa Chica Conservancy has a new (2011) checklist that we found most useful.
Link to prior Bolsa Chica field trips: October 2011, October 2009.
[Ellen Vahan]

Trip List – Bolsa Chica	6 October, 2012
Brant	Red Knot
American Wigeon	Sanderling
Mallard	Western Sandpiper
Blue-winged Teal	Least Sandpiper
Cinnamon Teal	Dunlin
Northern Shoveler	Dowitcher sp.
Northern Pintail	Ring-billed Gull
Green-winged Teal	Western Gull
Ruddy Duck	California Gull
Pied-billed Grebe	Black Tern
Eared Grebe	Forster’s Tern
Western Grebe	Elegant Tern
Double-crested Cormorant	Rock Pigeon
American White Pelican	Mourning Dove
Brown Pelican	Anna’s Hummingbird
Great Blue Heron	Allen’s Hummingbird
Great Egret	Belted Kingfisher
Snowy Egret	Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Reddish Egret	Downy Woodpecker
Green Heron	American Kestrel
Black-crowned Night Heron	Peregrine Falcon
Turkey Vulture	Black Phoebe
Osprey	Say’s Phoebe
White-tailed Kite	Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Harrier	American Crow
Red-tailed Hawk	Bushtit
American Coot	House Wren
Black-bellied Plover	European Starling
Killdeer	American Pipit
Greater Yellowlegs	Common Yellowthroat
Willet	California Towhee
Lesser Yellowlegs	Savannah Sparrow
Whimbrel	Savannah (Belding’s) Sparrow
Long-billed Curlew	White-Crowned Sparrow
Marbled Godwit	House Finch
Ruddy Turnstone	Total Species – 71