A Winter Stroll Along the Mission River

We spent the afternoon strolling along the Mission River, enjoying the variety and huge flocks of birds wintering along the tidal flats near the mouth of the Mission River.  The river is a favorite spot for birders with their binoculars and large telephoto lenses. A Winter walk along the river is a great way to get out and see all sorts of migratory waterfowl, all while staying within the city boundaries.

 This common merganser was hunting for fish between the boulders along the shore.

Two snowy egrets were following the common merganser, hoping to snatch a fish or two scared up by the merganser.

This Eurasian Wigeon was hanging out with the flocks of American Wigeons, a bit far from it's normal Eurasian breeding grounds.  This was the first time I've seen one of these; add another bird to the list!

White pelicans dipping their beaks into the water for fish in the Mission River.  When they found a school of fish, they would surround them, all seemingly dunking their heads in unison.  Watching them slowly drifting back and forth across the river, dunking their heads in and out of the water as they herded the schools of fish, was a total National Geographic moment.  These are not common here along the coast.  I'm feeling pretty lucky if I see them once a year; so, I was feeling pretty fortunate to see a whole flock of them.  Perhaps it has something to do with the recent rainstorm washing nutrients out into the river and stirring up a bunch of plant and animal life or perhaps it was just one of those random lifetime moments.

Northern Shoveler browsing for food in the Mission River.

The Last Thing a Mud Goby Sees...

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, San Elijo Preserve. This is the last thing a mud goby ever sees in his sad, mud skipping, invert eating existence. The egrets wade in the shallow water, waving their feet in little semi-circles above the mud. The moment one of those little gobies so much as twitches, bam. Bird food. This egret would catch the gobies in the tip of its beak and then toss them up like little peanuts, catching them in its gullet (a photo for another post).

Snowy Egret with Blenny

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, with what appears to be a small green blenny that it snapped out of the seaweed along the tidal zone. These beautiful little birds appear to be quite smart and somewhat opportunistic. This one was roiling the sand with his feet to scare up small fish and shrimp. I've seen others going through the cast off sand that fishermann scatter when digging for worms. Still another was attempting to steal fish out of a school being driven in front of herding mergansers. Others hunt for grasshoppers in newly mown grass. I even saw one particularly aggressive bird carrying off another bird's chick.

Snowy Egret Contemplating Himself

Snowy egret, Egretta thula, contemplating himself in the waters of the Mission River.

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, hunting in the shallows of Tijuana Slough. These very adaptable birds are found from the Northern United States clear down to Argentina. I've seen them eat a wide variety of foods including fish, shellfish, and crabs as well as the occasional insect, lizard or small mammal.

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, Mission River Preserve, San Diego, California. We went to the preserve to see if the ducks had made it this far South yet. They had not. There was not a duck to be seen anywhere. There were, however, lots of terns, egrets, herons and an early flock of avocets.

Who's Fishing in All that Eel Grass?

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, in flight over the Mission River. This little egret was flying by on Sunday as I walked along the Mission River. These are much smaller than the great egrets, only reaching about 20-27 inches in height and are identifiable by their black beak, yellow feet and yellow loral spot just before the eye.

Snow in San Diego?

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula. These little birds will walk in the shallows, using one foot to shake the reeds, keeping a beady eye out for any fish or critters that would swim out into the open. It seems like some are right footed and some are left footed but I didn't watch any given bird long enough to be certain that they never shifted the foot that they used as the "bush-whacker." I snapped this at Sunset, hence, the deep water hues and sunset tones.

Most Profuse Egrets...

Hahah. So much for the corny title, huh? The big white bird with the black legs is a Great Egret, Ardea alba. While once profuse, nesting in huge colonies, they were hunted for their beautiful plumage. Their numbers have since recovered somewhat but are now hampered by dwindling wetlands and human encroachment. They are still quite a sight to see. The smaller egret with the orange legs is a probably a Snowy Egret(note black beak vs orange beak for Cattle Egret), Egretta thula. These are a little more frequent.