I made it out to Ocean Beach this morning and had good viewing conditions. It was great to be able to walk out alongside the estuary and really see what was in there. T
he Sooty Shearwater flock continues off-shore. I didn't spend a lot of time on it as I was more interested in checking out the shorebirds in the estuary. There was a good selection including several Dunlin, but there was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper Mark Baird photographed a few days ago. Both species of Dowitcher were present--a good opportunity to put into practice Nick Lethaby's excellent tutorial on telling the two species apart.
The Tern flock was large and quiet, for a change, which permitted good viewing. I found only Elegant, Royal and Caspian Terns in it--no small terns while I was there. There are good numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes throughout the estuary, included in the flooded Salicornia areas.
I checked the cattle feed lot across from the Park entrance to see what Blackbirds might be present. I didn't find any Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the flock, which was mostly Brewers and Redwings with a few Cowbirds thrown in. I spotted only one Tri-colored Blackbird in the flock.
Florence Sanchez
