Hello! Most of my posts take place around San Diego County, (Mostly Lake Murray) unless otherwise noted.
For more posts and photos, I also post on Hubpages, a site that is a bit different than others. Thanks!: Shorebirdie on Hubpages

Monday, November 11, 2013

San Diego South Bay birding with a curlew

I took a short trip to the south bay this morning, visiting the Bird and Butterfly Garden, the sod farm, and the 7th street area.   It was my first trip to the Bird and Butterfly Garden and the sod farm where I hear of a lot of unusual birds, but I didn't see a whole lot.  Here are a few pictures:

At the bird and butterfly garden, I saw a ruby crowned kinglet, but couldn't get a photo.  I also saw several dark-eyed juncos.  Here's a photo of one of the males.




At the sod farm, I didn't see a whole lot, either.  I saw about five hawks and several turkey vultures sitting in one area, which I thought was kinda strange.  Two of the hawks flew off when I went to take a photo.  I think they were a family of three or four juvenile red-tails and an adult.  Here are three juveniles and a turkey vulture:



One flying off:



Here's one that looks like a dark morph, which is unusual for this area:



I saw at least two kestrels, one at the Bird and Butterfly Garden and one at the sod farm:




At 7th street, I didn't seem more than a few birds and a few ducks.  It was low tide.  I saw mostly killdeer and this long-billed curlew stayed close by.  Here he is eating what I think might be a mussel:





Whenever the killdeer flew over, he stood very still and did not move for several minutes before feeding again:


Very still, watching:


I saw him also eat several fiddler and sand crabs.  He was very thorough and I would bet he ate just about every crab and mussel he came across.  None of those stood a chance with him.

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