Under Clear Skies

Long-billed Curlew – Luke Tiller

With LA being a nightmare to traverse traffic wise on normal days we used the holiday to scoot across town to do some birding down at Bolsa Chica. It was actually the second time I’ve been but the last time we didn’t quite make it before the sun had essentially set. A sweet idea of Catherine’s post arriving at LAX, but  it just didn’t go quite as planned due to traffic. Still after getting a flavor of the place I was desperate to get back and have a rummage through the shorebirds and stuff.

Obviously a couple of lifers in the form of Reddish Egret and Elegant Tern were a big highlight but to be honest I think my favorite birds (beyond the abundant and accommodating Marbled Godwits and Long-billed Curlews) were the Western Sandpipers. These birds were in such spiffy breeding plumage and marked such a contrast to the generally ratty versions we get out east as ‘strays’. Absolutely stunning little guys. Hopefully there will be some opportunity to do some more shorebirding before I head east – at the moment my eye is on Imperial Beach in San Diego.