Date: 9/28/26 3:09 pm From: Florence Sanchez via groups.io <sanchezucsb11...> Subject: [sbcobirding] COPR Beach and Dune Pond, Sept. 28
Hard to do a good beach walk at this time of year with the low tides occurring in the wee small hours of the morning or late PM when the beaches are full of people, but I gave it a shot this morning. I had a few terns feeding off-shore but there were no Gull and Tern flocks on the beach while I was there.
Long-billed Curlew numbers have dropped; Marbled Godwits have increased, and finally, here are the Sanderlings in abundance--I counted 164 this morning! Also 105 Black-bellied Plovers. I picked up a single Dunlin here this morning.
I made the hike to the Dune Pond, where there was plenty of activity but I could pull out nothing rare. A Scope is really needed to do justice to the group of small Sandpipers, but they all appeared to be Western Sandpipers. There was a nice flock of Dowitchers, mostly or all Long-billed based on the "keek" calls I heard while they were feeding. A Bonaparte's Gull flew overhead. And there still were a good number of Red-necked Phalaropes on the pond.
Walking across along the bluffs toward Isla Vista, I found a Loggerhead Shrike perched on the utility wire at the edge of the large meadow.
Florence Sanchez
