Foggy Bottoms at Bolsa Chica

Fog covered the Bolsa Chica hiding the wetlands beneath a wet, white blanket.

As I drove towards Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve just after six in the morning, I didn't know if I would be able to take any pictures or see much of anything. The fog lay low over everything. When I got there, white fog lay over Bolsa Chica. The ground and the bridge were wet. Water drops hung on the railings of the bridge.

The damp, dripping footbridge.

The footbridge is normally crowded with photographers and their tripods, some scattered birders, and locals out for a brisk morning walk. However the fog had evidently discouraged the morning crowds. This morning there was just a moist sprinkling of people on the bridge.

American White Pelicans find a drier spot on a small island of marsh grass.

The birds appeared and disappeared into the fog. It felt like when I misplace my glasses and can't see very far--except the wetlands was covered with a slowly moving white mist that hid the usually sparkling water. Today it was white and gray as I looked out from the bridge.

Willet in the muck.


This little Willet stood bravely on his little patch of pickleweed and green gunk.

A ghostly Western Grebe fed in the mist.

The limited visibility brought strange feelings of isolation and intimacy.

Socked in.

The normally clear path that you can see all the way down was shrouded in white.


Wetlands in the fog.


Some of the birds seemed distant like this Snowy Egret below on the post.



Snowy Egret sentry.


Then he got closer.




Snowy Egret on the footbridge in the fog.

The fog seemed to thicken and white out the landscape and the rest of the bridge.






Close up of the Snowy Egret in the mist.


The slowly swirling white mist made the birds and I seem alone together inside the fog. More like a room than the landscape I knew was out there.




Snowy Egret looking out into the mist.






The footbridge had a mysterious, New England air to it.

Dripping Willet.

Everything was damp, dripping, and cold.

Two Eared Grebes come out of the white mist.

By the bridge, birds swam in and out of the fog.

Red-breasted Merganser floats by in the fog.

My camera was not always cooperative. It tended to focus on the wisps of white moisture floating by and not the subject I was trying to shoot.

Loud Forester's Tern getting ready to dive for a fish or bomb dive an Eared Grebe. It was hard to read his intentions.

This loud little guy frustrated a few photographers as he flew all around and above the footbridge.

And heading back to the parking lot, the Ring-billed Gull sitting on the railing in the fog.

A mysterious, damp morning. A fine birder's morning.

Fogged In from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

OC Birder Girl Links

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

A Walk at Bolsa Chica Before the Winds

American White Pelicans

Eared Grebe--Podiceps nigricollis

The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns of Orange County

Red-breasted Merganser--Mergus serrator

Western Grebes

Willet--Catoptrophorus semipalmatus

Orange County Bird Checklists

Bird Walks and Nature Programs in Orange County

Migration--The Pacific Flyway and Orange County

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Two-stop Birding

Peeps. Hmmm. My best guess is Least Sandpipers and Western Sandpipers.

I like to hit several birding places in one outing. So today I went to Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve aka Newport Back Bay, and it was somewhat quiet.

Black Skimmers. Some lighter juveniles in the mix.


All over Orange County I am seeing mulefat going to seed. It catches the sunlight and looks pretty. So I took a picture. Provides lots of food for the birds in fall and winter.

Mulefat


I am thinking this is mulefat. Isn't it pretty?

A closer look at the mulefat.

It attracts lots of White-crowned Sparrows, House Finches , Lesser Goldfinches and lots of Bushtits, and other seed eaters.

Marbled Godwit and a peep of some kind. Peeps are beyond my scope. I am guessing a Western Sandpiper.

There are always mixes of Marbled Godwits, Willets, and Black Skimmers just beyond the parking lot on Back Bay Drive.

And the American Wigeons back from their breeding grounds. I often see them near the drainage pipe from the surrounding neighborhood.

The American Wigeons are often beyond the parking lot on Back Bay Drive, and occasionally have a Eurasian Wigeon tucked in among them. Many of the sightings of Eurasian Wigeons come from this spot. None today. I met a birder/photographer looking for an Osprey. He had been there for hours and hadn't found one. I mentioned he might want to check at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary since it is so close. Sometimes if you don't see them at Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, they are at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. It was fairly quiet at Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve aka Newport Back Bay , so I got back onto Jamboree and turned left. Turned right on Michelson, right on Riparian to the end, and down into the parking lot of San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sea and Sage Pancake Breakfast was finishing up. I had completely forgotten about.

Black-necked Stilt with its black-and white feathers and red legs mirrored in the water.

I had to park in the auxiliary parking lot which provided a closer view of the first pond. It was full of shore birds and ducks.

American Avocet in winter plumage foraging.


Lots of shorebird action.


Dowitchers. Long-billed? Short-billed? Guesses?

Semipalmated Plover

Pair of Killdeer--Charadrius vociferus scurrying about being vociferous.


Northern Shovelers shoveling.

Female Northern Harrier scattered the shorebirds.

When the shorebirds take flight, I look for a hawk. This time it was a female Northern Harrier looking for a fast meal.

Northern Harrier coming around for another turn around the pond.

Common sight. American White Pelicans coming into San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary for a rest.







Overhead a flock of American White Pelicans flew looking for a resting place deep in the marsh. I see them often on the islands or strands of mud in one of the ponds back in the marsh. Often see Black Skimmers there as well, but not today.

Osprey up in the Eucalyptus between the Audubon House and the trail by the pond. Notice the fish under his left foot. Look at that bill!

I met a birder and photographer in the parking lot that I seem to see everywhere in the Southland. Dave. Sunburned and peering through his telephoto lens. He pointed out an Osprey in the tree by the Audubon House. Many thanks to Dave.

He stayed up there eating for hours.

People told me the Osprey was in the eucalyptus tree eating for hours. He had a very large fish. Look at that seriously sharp, hooked bill. A bill made for fish!

Yummy.

Are you still there?


I took a lot of photographs, and all in all it was a good birding day. Have fun birding the Orange County!

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A Study in White

Filled to the brim with fish and birds.

I went walking one morning at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve before the crowds got there. As the tides go in and out, they form various temporary ponds. This one above was evidently filled with fish. There were 60 plus birds feeding out of this one little pond. Almost all the birds were white: Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, American Avocets in winter plumage. It was quite a sight.

Coming up to the pond at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

Look at that crowd!

I have never seen a sight like this before.

In the early morning light.

Study in White from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

I came back later on the way out of the Reserve, and they were almost all gone. Like the temporary ponds that form in the tides, the birds come and go depending on the food and the tides. You never know what you will see and when while birding in Orange County. It is an adventure.

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