Date: 1/4/26 7:38 pm From: Lisa Ruby via groups.io <lbruby1...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Winter Wren late this afternoon
Hi,
I went to try for the Winter Wren late this afternoon. Here is my experience
I arrived at the trailhead off El Camino Del Norte a little before 3:15
pm. I was the only one there. I used these coordinates to get to the
general location, but did not walk this far down the trail before I had
my first encounter:
33.047370, -117.227719
When I got just a little bit down the trail I heard the bird chipping.
(My description of locations is all relative to facing the creek.) I
managed a quick, partially blocked glimpse of it in a narrowish
bush/small tree with dark green leaves. Saw enough of it to know what it
was. It then flew low into the eucs to the right of the bush where I saw
it and I lost it. The dark green bush was between the very large pepper
tree with red pepper berries on it and the stand of eucs to the right of
the bush. It was pretty close to the eucs. I heard the bird again
briefly not long after my first sighting, but didn't see it. Then around
4:00 it made a bunch of rapid sounds and I found it in a small
dead/dormant bush that was below and to the right of the large pepper tree.
I normally wouldn't post this part, but since it's been publicized that
playback has been used I will. I'm guessing that anyone who sees my
photos that I was insanely lucky to get is going to assume I used
playback. I did not, but I did end up pishing. I originally wasn't going
to do anything other than watch and listen. Anyone in the local
community who knows me very well knows I don't do playback and I almost
never even pish. I gave in this time and pished. I did so when I could
already partially see the bird in the dead/dormant bush by the pepper
tree. The bird popped out into the open on that bush, bounced up and
down a couple of times, stretched a wing, and disappeared again. So full
on playback seems to not be needed, at least if the bird is already
close by. A quick, loud pish (ending with an sh sound not sss sound) was
enough, and hopefully was less harassment than playback.
An FYI - I ran into a couple of people on the trail who live in the
area. They said when it rains the creek floods up over the trail. I
didn't think to ask how much rain it takes before that happens. It had
clearly happened recently. They said it recedes pretty quickly when the
rain stops. It's supposed to rain tonight, but not a huge amount.
Most of this info is also in my eBird list.
Lisa Ruby
Sabre Springs
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Lisa Ruby
Sabre Springs
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