Coastal Purple Martins and possible Eastern Willet, Sept 2 and 3
Hello San Diego birders, On Sunday Aug 2 Joni Ciarletta and I, on the San Dieguito Lagoon monthly bird count, had two small flocks of PURPLE MARTINS pass over the lagoon mouth area within about 15 minutes of each other (about 15 minutes apart), about a half a dozen or so in each flock. These were flying purposefully south. And today at the San Diego Botanic Garden, we had two Purple Martins in a mixed flock of swallows feeding above the Lawn Garden.
Also of interest on the San Dieguito Lagoon bird count on Sunday was a possible EASTERN WILLET (subspecies), that stood out quite a bit from other nearby Willets on the sandbar immediately east of the San Dieguito River mouth and Pacific Coast Hwy and west of the RR bridge (small size, short and bicolored bill, browner plumage etc). As I was only able to get a bad cell phone digiscope, I noted its presence only under the generic 'Willet' category in eBird, but others may want to check it out, A photo is included on the following eBird list:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48246340
Susan Smith
Seiurus Biological Consulting
Del Mar, CA
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Susan Smith
Seiurus Biological Consulting
Del Mar, CA
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports