Red-hot Egrets: Bolsa Chica report, 10 October, 2015

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Mad Dogs, crazy people and birders go out in triple digit sun, as we did at Bolsa Chica. We wore big hats and watched birds (particularly cormorants, herons and egrets) do gular fluttering and others panting. Hot!  Our group started with good intentions, but by the end were down to less than half  – all oblivious birders – who were trying to find one more bird!

Brown Pelican in winter (basic) plumage (Kirsten Wahlquist 10/11/14)

Bolsa Chica** is an Ecological Reserve in Orange County, separated from the beach by Pacific Coast Highway. Our first exciting bird (not that the kamikaze diving pelicans and terns were not exciting) was a Ridgway’s Rail which emerged from under the bridge,

A new species for California – Ridgway’s Rail!!! (formerly known as Clapper Rail)
(Kirsten Wahlquist 10/11/14)

wandered through the pickle weed and went south. We saw lots of Dowitchers bringing up the old question “Short-billed or Long-billed?” (we concluded both), Willets, Sparrows mostly variations of Savannah: Belding’s, Large-Billed and Common, and assorted other shorebirds, including impressive Long-Billed Curlews.

Belding’s Savannah Sparrow is always found near pickleweed
(Kirsten Wahlquist 10/11/14)

Savannah Sparrow – the usual form (R. Hargraves 10/8/11)

 One of our favorites, the Reddish Heron,  was represented by one adult and one immature (sort of a pastel version of its parent) – neither was “dancing”; they too were enervated by the heat and did not move much. We saw a Great Blue Heron do a Yoga pose – its wings

Great Blue Heron, sunning, cooling, or perhaps downloading from ‘Twitcher’
(C. Almdale 10/10/15)

akimbo – sort of a fountain – very weird – as we said – Hot! Our best bird (well, mine) was a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon who cruised in over our heads and parked on a dead tree in full view of us and vice versa. It kept looking us over as if to see if we were edible.

Juvenile Reddish Egret (L) & Great Blue Heron (R) (C. Almdale 10/10/15)