Birding day with Charlie Swegles

Charlie Swegles collects me at 0545 for a day birding the local region. We set off in his truck for:

1) MUGU LAGOON Part of Mugu State Park. Habitat: Ocean backed by cliffs, salt marsh. Location: From Hwy 101, exit Las Posas Road. Drive south to Hwy 1 (PCH). Turn left onto PCH and drive past Navy Base. Lagoon overlook is on right side of road approx. 1 mile. Additional stops between overlook and firing range to scan wetlands recommended. Mugu Rock overlook on right side of PCH immediately after road cut through cliff - 1/2 mile south of lagoon. Park along cliff edge between Mugu Rock and smaller rock to the left. Best lighting conditions during early morning before sun is in south and wind and waves pick up. Peak migration in mid-April when 1,000s of Pacific Loons and Surf Scoter may pass by every hour. Highlights: Lagoon: Herons, Egrets, Ducks, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Belding's, Savannah Sparrow. Rock: loons, grebes, shearwaters, scoters, jaegers, gulls, terns and alcids. White-throated Swifts and Rock Wrens resident on Mugu Rock. Mammals: Harbor Seal, Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Common Dolphin, Gray Whale in season. Best Season: Winter, spring.

Not much seen except a Great White Heron (Great Egret) and a Willet. On the way in I saw an Osprey. We decided to move on to Sycamore Canyon.

SYCAMORE CANYON ( Part of Pt. Mugu State Park) [Parking, Restrooms, Camping -- Fee.] Coastal sage scrub, Eucalyptus and sycamore groves. Easy walking in camp area; canyon more difficult.Location: Follow Hwy 1 (PCH) south past Mugu Rock about 4 miles (see directions for #10). Park on highway or pay day use fee.Highlights: thrashers, towhees, migrant flycatchers and warblers, grosbeaks, woodpeckers.Best Season: Early spring, summer, fall.

Here we saw plenty of California Towhee, Black Phoebee and, unexpectedly, four Black-hooded Parakeet that seemed to have roosed in the top of a tall riverbank tree and only departed sometime after we first spotted them. They returned up the canyon some time later. Other interesting birds were Nuttell's Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, house Wren, Mountain Chickadee, Song Sparrow and Spotted Towhee. Several frustrating sightings of what were certainly parulids remained unidentified but I did see one good Yellow Warbler and an Orange-crowned Warbler. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen and an American Kestrel tried several times to fool us into thinking it was a Peregrine atop a dead limb on a tall tree! As we were leaving a blast from a pack of Coyote yelping from very close in the almost dry watercourse indicated a kill according to Charlie. However, we could not see them! On the way out we had a look at a typical bottle shaped nest of a Cliff Swallow that was tucked under the eave at the end of low building. A few Cliff Swallows were flying bout nearby in the campsite.

Next we moved to Ormond Beach-Point Hueneme Beach:

ORMOND BEACH/PT. HUENEME BEACH [Restrooms, Parking, Fee at Pt. H. Beach, free at end of Perkins Rd.] Coastal strand, dunes, marsh between ocean edge and water treatment plant.Location: From Ventura, take Harbor Blvd. (becomes Channel Islands as curves to left). Stay on that to Ventura Rd. and turn right. Follow to end. Pay fee, park, bird. Or, turn left on Hueneme Rd., continue to Perkins Rd. (just past ìJî St.), turn right, go to end. Free parking at end of road on right.Highlights: Endangered Least Tern/Snowy Plover nesting site. Sea and shorebirds, terns, Brown Pelican, bitterns. Rare migrants often found.Best Season: All year, esp. summer for shorebirds; late spring and summer for nesting species.

Not a lot to see because a paraplane was in action in the dunes and a few unsavoury characters lurking about mde us nervous of leaving valuables in the truck. We saw some Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbirds and lots of Western Gulls in the nearby cultivated floodplains.

The next point of call was an unnamed canyon on private property but there was an airfield for model planes and a lake where model boat racing was scheduled. This area was a former dairy ranch now with abandoned decaying buildings including a huge barn and remnants of the feeding troughs that had been used by the cattle. We were hoping for a Say's Phoebe but no luck - only Black Phoebe. The noteworthy birds seen here were Black-headed Grosbeak and Northern Shrike.

We then moved on to the campus of California State University Channel Islands where we found a Great Horned Owl in a tall tree in the quadrangle below the Bell Tower. Barn Swallows in the courtyards. At this point we took a break and Charlie prepared a late breakfast at his house which is on the campus.

We then went to McGrath State Beach. As the website says:

SANTA CLARA RIVER ESTUARY and MCGRATH STATE BEACH [Restrooms, Interpretive Center, Parking, Fee -- McGrath St. Beach]. Habitat: Coastal estuary, salt marsh, riparian.Location: From Hwy 101, exit at Seaward Ave. Turn left (south) onto Harbor Blvd. Continue south to Spinnaker Drive. Turn right onto Spinnaker and continue past entrance to Ventura Water Treatment Plant (Site #9). Park at Surfer's Knoll (parking lot on left, to reach it you take a U-turn once you've passed the lot). From parking lot walk down to estuary (approx. 400 yards). During May-August avoid fenced-off Least Tern colony on your way down there. Also check the breakwaters at the end of Spinnaker drive for turnstones, tattler and surfbird. Channel Islands National Park Headquarters are at end of Spinnaker Drive, while Island Packers boats for Santa Cruz Island leave from dock off Spinnaker Drive. For a shorter walk and better lighting during mid-day, continue south on Harbor Blvd. Over bridge and turn into McGrath State Beach (fee). Park at head of nature trail and follow out to the estuary. Highlights: shorebirds, gulls, and terns. Least Tern and Snowy Plover nest on north side of estuary. Peregrine Falcon often present in estuary during winter. Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Wandering Tattler often visible on breakwaters during winter.Best season: All year. Shorebirds July-September, gulls October-March. Least Terns (May-August).

After parking the car we moved down the trail to the edge ogf the river where it became lost. I suspect the river bank was eroded during the heavy rains some months back and the trail lost. Anyway, we cautiously worked our way out over the mud avoiding the soft sinking bits and got onto some good shorebirds. A family party of Kildeer Plover (at least two young of the year), some Semipalmated Plover and flocks of Western Sandpiper numbering several hundred, with probably more than a thousand seen. These Western Sandpiper seemed very keen to get out of the wind into hollows if they were resting but by far the most of them were very actively feeding including flies that were in swarms often covering the mud in a carpet of movement around some shallow pools. I think they must have been new arrivals from the north and very keen to refuel. Many seemed to be young of the year. On the far beach we could seen a large flock of Brown Pelican, again close to a thousand in number, I guess. Some Long-billed Curlew. two Caspian Terns and calls of Elegant Terns from the direction of the beach. There were many large gulls and doubtless more species of wader to find but we were not able to get closer because of the soft muds. There was much debris in this estuarywith lots of signs of rbbish pollution.

Back home for a late Saturday lunch. A very enjoyable day.

Western Sandpiper