A mid-afternoon visit to Bolsa Chica Wetlands in search of the recently seen Yellow-crowned Night-Heron turned up fruitless. Mike Sanders and I covered quite a bit of ground, a total of 4.4 miles without success. However a visit to Bolsa Chica will never disappoint bird lovers. We generated a head count of 42 species and 2 taxa during our adventure. The Savannah Sparrows seemed ubiquitous with many juveniles foraging along the pathways in the late afternoon. Black Skimmers were seen most everywhere and the calls of the Elegant Tern at times were almost deafening. As we concluded our journey at the entrance of the walk bridge the Ridgway’s Rail was found hidden low and barely visible. A second Ridgway’s Rail appeared shortly thereafter within close proximity. Several photos of today’s journey can be found below. A complete checklist for this adventure at Bolsa Chica can be found on this eBird checklist for August 1, 2015.
Ridgway’s Rail (formerly Clapper Rail)
Semipalmated Plover
Elegant Tern in flight
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Western Sandpiper
Black Skimmer in flight
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