I have been getting ready for shorebird migration by walking our local beaches (mostly COPR and the UCSB beach) to get some baseline data on what species have over summered before the trickle starts this month.
Some large shorebirds like Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews have definitely over-summered as they usually do, though not in as great numbers as they did last year when the sandcrab population was very high. A few Semi-palmated Plovers have also been regularly seen. Last year, I found quite a few scruffy California Gulls at this time of year, but that has not been the case this year. And there has been a small but consistent group of Larger terns hanging around.
The only indication of shorebird movement has been with Willet. On June 16 when I did my first summer survey, I found 4 at COPR, all in alternate plumage. Yesterday, I found 5 and today I had 9 there (1 in basic plumage) and 2 at UCSB. Terns present today included Caspian, Royal, and Elegant (1); yesterday, I had an adult Forester's Tern with Royal and Elegant TernAs tide times permit, I plan to get back to these beaches as much as possible.
Florence Sanchez
