Shorebird Counting Day

Today is the day where, once a year, Point Blue Bird Observatory counts all the shorebirds around San Diego Bay at the same time. I was assigned the Coronado Island area.

My day started out with a curlew, though with her head tucked in, she looked just like a marbled godwit:

There were a couple of short-billed dowitchers with her:

The other two in the group were marbled godwits for sure because at least one of them pulled their head out and I could see the long, pointed bill:

This kingfisher was spotted with a fish and she dropped it when she saw me coming.  Then, she sat on this light pole hoping I would leave so she could go back and get her fish:

There were a whole lot of shorebirds in that spot:

Close-up of a willet and two godwits:

Look at that middle godwit and how he puts his toes up when he walks across the rocks:

I went to another area and people were chasing the birds!  Oh no!  I asked them to stop and they did, but it was definitely an awkward and uncomfortable moment there for a few minutes.  All the birds came back, I think.  I'm glad because there were a whole lot of them:

And, a sanderling was with them, too:

Some of the godwits were having a disagreement, plus the tide was going up:

And, here is the sanderling again:

There were two spotted sandpipers there today.  I saw this one who might be a juvenile:

Oops, water going over his feet:

Oh no!  My feet are getting wet!

In other bird news, there were plenty of surf scoters around:

This one was showing off and following me around:

And buffleheads.  Lots of buffleheads and coots:

Shorebird counting with PRBO

Willets

I did the shorebird count with PRBO again this year, second year in a row on the east side of Coronado Island.  Didn't see many shorebirds, though.

Like last year, there was a small flock of shorebirds just outside our study area that we couldn't count.  I think there were 44 marbled godwits, here, by the ferry landing.  Later, they flew over and mixed with a flock of willets just outside another study area, still not able to be counted.

Close up of some of the godwits.

We (another participant and I) did get to count a flock of willets, roosting.  That is before someone came up and scared them a little.

But, they went back to sleep after they moved away.  Later, they mixed with the godwits.

We also saw a couple of spotted sandpipers, including the same one I saw last year.  But, I couldn't get a clear photo of her because she wouldn't let me get too close.  And, there were several ospreys there, too.

Shorebird counting with PRBO

Today, I did my first official shorebird count with Point Reyes Bird Observatory.  I was paired up with Lynne, who is very experienced at doing this and we went to the east side of Coronado to look for shorebirds.  However, the shoreline there was not very conducive to shorebirds as it's very rocky.  Though, we did find a few.

We surveyed a couple different sections, one north of the ferry landing and one near Glorietta Bay and south of the ferry landing until we got to just past the bridge.

It was a nice, bright, sunny day:

In the first section, all we saw was this little spotted sandpiper.

Up ahead, there was a small roost, but they were outside the study area.  Three sanderlings, some godwits, and a black bellied plover.

At Glorietta Bay, I saw my first Heerman's gull, though gulls were not part of the count:

Lots of grebes of all kinds, but we weren't counting those.  Here's a western grebe:

Lots of buffleheads here:

A few pacific loons (too far away to get a good photo):

This marbled godwit and black bellied plover were very co-operative.  They were located just south of the ferry landing:

The purpose of this census was to check on the population health of various shorebird species.  Many of these birds breed in the far north in areas that are not accessible for research.  It's possible that the warming of the arctic may have an effect on these species' breeding.  So, they are counted while they are in their wintering areas.