Green-tailed Towhee at Hilltop Park, J Street Bald Eagle

This morning I decided to poke around a couple parks and at my first stop, Hilltop Park in Chula Vista, I found a Green-tailed Towhee. It was hanging out in the north side of the park, where it juts north a bit. There's a bunch of shrubbery along the border of the park and it was in there. I also had a surprise White-breasted Nuthatch working the sycamores in the center of the park. 

I checked Bayfront Park (J st mudflats) which would have been an uneventful stop, but right as I was getting ready to leave, every single bird — all the gulls, shorebirds, ducks, etc. flushed. I looked up expecting a Peregrine or something, but much to my surprise it was an adult Bald Eagle. I've never seen one directly on the coast before but I imagine with the increasing Channel Islands population we'll see more coastal eagles. Pictures will be on ebird.

Also, as a side note, Fiesta Island is incredibly lush right now with all the rain. I couldn't find anything of interest in the interior (they just mowed down a lot of the dog run), but as the grasses/fiddlenecks/daisies seed it is probably worth checking.

Ryan Andrews
Valley Center
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports