> Hi, > > Thanks to Matt for finding and sharing such a great bird! > > In case the bird sticks around through tomorrow and decides to make an appearance where it is visible from J Street, here are details of how things were when I was there today from around 10:45 a.m. until around 1:30 p.m. > > As Paul mentioned in his email, tide height matters. According to tide charts I found for the Chula Vista Marina, low tide was 1.5 feet at 11:46 a.m. and high tide would have been 5.95 feet at 6:17 p.m. The tide came in pretty quickly after low tide. > > A scope is required to see this bird from J street, unless it decides to go to the J street mud flats, which it did not today. > > When I first got there the bird was sometimes popping up onto a mud berm I think near the oyster balls (behind and to the right of the balls). For those that don't know about the oyster balls, through a scope they kind of look like big rubbery rough ball shaped things with big holes in them. I think they may be made of concrete, but when viewing them from a distance they don't look like concrete. There are five of them. They sit in the water, but may be covered during a higher high tide. The bird then disappeared behind and below the berm for quite some time and then Ron Wilson spotted it a ways out to the right of the oyster balls up against tall grass, behind where a bigger pile of rocks were at the water's edge (where the rocks appear related to water will depend on tide). At the time there were five Gulls on the sand in that area. It was pretty far away, but still findable in a scope with effort. It moved back and forth along the edge of the tall grass for a while. > > Then it flew left and it took a bit before we found it again. I next saw it in a semi circle area of sand off the edge of the water. That was the easiest place to spot it. Near the right side of the semi circle is a shorter right leaning rusty looking post with some large bumpy looking things at the base. The post was shorter than some of the others. It would wander away from that spot in both directions and then return. When it decided to run it moved fast. At one point it also went to the left of a high section of sand/dirt that casts a big shadow. Sometimes it went into the rocks. It is extremely difficult to spot when it does that. When I left I think it was still in the semi circle of sand. > > As the afternoon progressed conditions became more difficult with increasing heat shimmer and wind strong enough to cause scopes to vibrate quite a bit. It wasn't too bad during the later part of the morning. > > I've posted some Experience section photos in my list showing some of the places I've described where I saw the bird. > > Since it's so far away, the easiest way to pick out the bird from the Semi-palmateds and other shorebirds is to look for the reddish coloring on the upper part of its body. At some angles the red is not visible, but if it's facing you or facing sideways it is. It appeared larger than the Semi-palmateds. There were also Black-bellied Plovers and other shorebirds. I heard there was a Ruddy Turnstone also in the area, which could confuse things. > > Lisa Ruby > Sabre Springs > > On 6/10/2026 1:13 PM, Justyn Stahl via groups.io wrote: > >> Brennan Mulrooney reports that it is still present as of 1pm visible from the “J St. mudflats” at Chula Vista Bayfront Park looking across to the oyster balls at the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve. >> >> Justyn Stahl >> >> On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 9:49 AM <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> wrote: >> >>> The Siberian sand plover found earlier this morning hopelessly inside the Salt Works by Matt sadowski has been relocated by his group and by us public from the end of J Street. Looking way over to the mud that's now being exposed right behind and to the right of the oyster balls. The infamous oyster balls where the white-wing tern would sit last summer. >>> >>> Paul Lehman, San Diego >>> >>> [Sent from AOL on Android](https://aolapp.onelink.me/eG2g?pid=NativePlacement&c=US_Acquisition_YMktg_320_EmailSignature_AttributionDL&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=US_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100002473&af_sub5=SentFromNewAOLApp__Interstitial_&af_ios_store_cpp=ce85ce34-ad0f-4811-a92b-a172743b064e&af_android_url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?<id...>&listing=email_signature_attribution) >> >>
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