This morning Jack and I headed to Huntington Beach State Park to walk the beach out to the Jetty. But first we'd explore the south end of the park while waiting for the tide to come in; the purpose was to help flush any Seaside Sparrows from the saltmarsh next to the jetty to help make it easier to find them. It wasn't.
We arrived at 8 am to clearing skies, mild temperatures (50F) but high winds; they'd reach 40 mph by the time we got to the jetty. In the meantime we kicked around the causeway, headed to the Visitor's Center, then checked out the south end of the park.
The causeway was quiet. No shorebirds (Dunlin) were around so we headed to the feeders at the Visitor's Center. Initially they were quiet, but we managed to kick up a couple of Carolina Wrens and a House Wren.
After a short bit the Pine Warblers (as many as six) came into feed. This one had a crossed bill deformity.
The rest showed normal bills but variations in brightness and color.
A small flock of White-throated Sparrows were foraging on the ground below the feeders and baths.
We walked out onto the boardwalk to check the saltmarsh. The tide was out, but was expected to come in within the hour. The place was quiet except for this pair of Black-bellied Plovers that were sitting quietly on the rail at the edge of the damaged pier (the last major storm took half of the pier and deposited it on the other side of the causeway; its still waiting repair).
We returned to the feeders. By now Carolina Chickadees made appearances. Note the plain dull primaries on the wings compared to the white-edged primaries of our more northerly Black-capped Chickadees.
Several Yellow-rumped Warblers made appearances. They were chipping everywhere in the park.
Just before leaving I spotted a Brown-headed Nuthatch attempting to get peanuts from the feeder.
We then headed to the south lookout dock to look/listen for rails. Nothing. But we did see a nice flock of Great Egrets, American White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Great Blue Herons and a few Common Gallinules at the south end of the pond.
A couple of the pelicans even made a close fly-by as we stood on the edge of the pier.
Returning to the causeway we found a single Dunlin on the mudflats in the NE corner of Mullet Pond. A couple of immature Little Blue Herons (white) were tucked into the tiny canal near the parking lot.
We then headed to the north end of the park where we'd hike out to the jetty. Sandpiper Pond held a few Wood Storks, Hooded Mergansers, Pied-billed Grebes, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Little Blue Heron. The trail nearby yielded a close Orange-crowned Warbler but it would not yield any photos. Instead we settled for a mini-fallout of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Northern Cardinals. We had hoped for a Blue-headed Vireo but dipped.
I managed a single Chipping Sparrow before we grabbed the scopes and headed to the beach.
To be continued...
