One goal during this travel opportunity is to view shorebirds since they’ll not hang out in the desert where I live. My birdwatching fun began while I was eating breakfast at my tent site. I observed and photographed a California towhee, a California thrasher and cliff swallows! I was also distracted by the numerous rabbits and squirrels running around the tent site and noticing the holes the squirrels dig. Seeing the California thrashers and California towhees was exciting and interesting too as I noticed their differences from the curve-billed thrasher or sage thrasher and Abert’s towhees I would see in Arizona! 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I drove north to Dana Point where a masked booby had been reported on eBird, and a CA friend had seen it just a few weeks ago, so I decided to see if it was still in the area. It is rare for the bird to be here. And, yes it was! 

I also saw a few great blue heron nests and one nest with 2 juveniles in it. I love seeing brown pelicans and all types of terns, but one really odd-looking bird was an Egyptian goose. See what you think of the bird flying over the car’s roof below. The terns and pelicans are amazing when they dive straight down into the water to catch their fish!

• 

• 

• 

• 

I then drove further north to San Joaquin Wildlife Marsh which is in conjunction with the wastewater treatment plant in the area. I spent most of my time at the San Diego River and finally to one small marshy area. As I walked the mile back to my car, I surprisingly flushed a killdeer off its egg! I remember seeing the bird earlier in my visit. The killdeer was walking along the berm; I thought it strange to be so far from the water and the other birds. But when I realized it was on an egg, I had to take a closer look at the egg. The bird allowed me a closer look. The egg was colored like the gravel it was on. I then gave the bird plenty of room as she watched me walk down the trail before she would return to her nest.

• 

• 

Another good day without interacting with to many people and those that I did were wearing masks. Most people were curious as to what the birds were that we were all looking at. It’s nice to know the names of the birds and be able to help other people out with the identification of those birds. That killdeer egg was a highlight today … I was the only one to see it!