results of today's 10 Sept San Elijo monthly bird count

 Thanks to 14 participants for conducting the 10 Sept 2018 San Elijo Lagoon monthly bird count: Steve Brad (beach/offshore, West Basin, nature center site); Steve Perry, Bradley Nussbaum (Pole Rd); Jayne Lesley, Gail DeLalla, Don Johnson, Kathy Knight, Shin Takeda (CBS= Rios to freeway); Maryanne Bache, Patti Koger, Mike Nelson (EBS = La Orilla to Sta Inez); Elizabeth Venrick, Jeff Clingan (EBE = Stonebridge Mesa); Robert Patton (EBNW = dike; EBNE = Escondido Cr; Cardiff Cove, I-5 fill).

Most areas were relatively quiet, but landbird migration was well-represented in a few key spots.  Species of interest included red-necked phalaropes & a violet-green swallow both in the west basin & NW of Rios; western wood-peewee, willow flycatcher, a white-breasted nuthatch, somewhat early ruby-crowned kinglet, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, and black-throated gray warbler along the Rios trail; black-headed grosbeaks along the Rios trail & at the nature center site; warbling vireo & Wilson’s warbler along the nature center site boardwalk; loggerhead shrike along the east basin dike; 2 hooded orioles at Sta Carina trailhead, common poorwill calling off Sta Helena pre-dawn (thanks Jayne!), and a relatively late yellow-breasted chat west of El Camino Real.

107 species were recorded: pied-billed grebe, brown pelican, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, black-crowned night-heron, white-faced ibis, mallard, gadwall, teal sp., turkey vulture, osprey, white-tailed kite, northern harrier, Cooper’s hawk, red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, peregrine falcon, California quail, Ridgway’s rail, sora, American coot, black-bellied plover, snowy plover, semipalmated plover, killdeer, black-necked stilt, American avocet, greater yellowlegs, willet, spotted sandpiper, whimbrel, long-billed curlew, marbled godwit, black turnstone, sanderling, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, dowitcher sp., red-necked phalarope, Heermann’s gull, ring-billed gull, California gull, western gull, Caspian tern, royal tern, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared-dove, mourning dove, great horned owl, common poorwill, Anna’s hummingbird, Allen’s hummingbird, Allen’s/rufous hummingbird sp., belted kingfisher, Nuttall’s woodpecker, downy woodpecker, western wood-peewee, willow flycatcher, Pacific-slope flycatcher, Empidonax sp., black phoebe, Cassin’s kingbird, western kingbird, tree swallow, violet-green swallow, northern rough-winged swallow, cliff swallow, barn swallow, California scrub jay, American crow, common raven, bushtit, white-breasted nuthatch, Bewick’s wren, house wren, marsh wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, blue-gray gnatcatcher, California gnatcatcher, western bluebird, wrentit, northern mockingbird, California thrasher, loggerhead shrike, European starling, warbling vireo, orange-crowned warbler, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, black-throated gray warbler, common yellowthroat, Wilson’s warbler, yellow-breasted chat, black-headed grosbeak, spotted towhee, California towhee, Belding’s savannah sparrow, song sparrow, red-winged blackbird, western meadowlark, hooded oriole, house finch, lesser goldfinch, house sparrow, scaly-breasted munia.

The next San Elijo monthly bird count will be Monday 8 October.  Counts are conducted by volunteers on the second Monday of each month, rain or shine.  Please spread the word or join us if you can (no RSVP required).  Meet at 7:30 am at the north end of Rios Ave in Solana Beach (north from Lomas Santa Fe Dr, west of I-5) to divide into groups to cover different subareas.  A compilation generally follows around noon at the nature center on Manchester Ave (bring your own lunch).

R. Patton
San Diego, CA
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports