a four plover day (2/17)

the tijuana river is unknown to most people (even in san diego) - it's no mississippi or colorado - but for san diego birders, it's a huge attraction and an important birding area. this little river flows out of tijuana, mexico, across the international border, and into the pacific ocean at imperial beach, about a quarter-mile into south-western san diego county. as it approaches the pacific it slows to a crawl and spreads out like a giant, soggy picnic blanket, creating a sprawling coastal wetland complex. there are willow and cottonwood lined stream, acres of salt marsh, and long stretches of open beach which guard back shore dunes. besides numerous mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates, the area supports at least three federally endangered bird species (CALIFORNIA LEAST TERN, WESTERN SNOWY PLOVER, and LIGHT-FOOTED CLAPPER RAIL), and various other bird species that are nearly extirpated from san diego county. because of the size of the site, the variety of habitats found there, and it's situation along the coast it is a focal point for migratory birds from around the world. unfortunately, the river is surrounded on all sides by military bases, agricultural lands, and housing. almost all of the beach side is walled off by a large, sandy dyke, which protects the surrounding homes, and estuary form the sea (though the estuary really wouldn't need to be protected if there were no homes there...) it's still a damn good place to bird though, and honestly, the agricultural lands and military airport probably attract and support a greater variety of birds than the area otherwise would, since they are basically grassland-esque habitats, which, as far as i know, don't occur in that location naturally. but i could be wrong. anyway...

today, i decided to go down to the tijuana river valley to look for two PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERs that have been reported there with regularity over the last week or so. i was not the only one with this idea. when i parked on sea coast drive and exited my car i saw an elderly couple exiting the park with binoculars swinging around their necks. a quick glance atop the dykes revealed a party of four more birders, outfitted with scopes and other gear heading in the same direction i'd planned on. i decided to catch up, hoping to take advantage of their superior fire power, and scavenge a look through their scopes (i'm scopless, remember). turns out they were birding acquaintances of mine, and we all ended up birding the place together for about two hours, with scoping galore. we had hoped for a 5 plover day, but we struck out on the two PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERs, and only had KILLDEER, SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER, SNOWY PLOVER (year bird 134 for me), and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.
about the time i decided to leave, two more birders showed up to compliment our crowd, which had shown up to compliment two others (that's 9 birders total in case you weren't counting). it was like a little impromptu amateur ornithologists summit on the beach. well, i had to get off to school so i skipped out on the crowd, made my way back to the car, and left.

SNOWY PLOVER:


on the way home i stopped by the i.b. sports park to try to pick up the HAPATIC TANAGER that has been overwintering there, that i have failed to see on three occasions. well, that little red bastard was there this time, and i got quite a good look at him, as he was very active. a joy to watch. this 'lifer' brought my sd county list to 241 species, and my year list to 136 species (i also picked up AMERICAN PIPIT today, at the tj river).

HEPATIC TANAGER: