Agua Hedionda Lagoon

April 28, 2017 – 21 species

 

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Mourning Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Cassin’s Kingbird

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

Cliff Swallow

Crow

Northern Mockingbird  (heard only)

Yellow Warbler  (heard only)

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow-breasted Chat  (heard only)

Red-winged Blackbird

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee  (heard only)

California Towhee

Black-headed Grosbeak  (heard only)

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

 

            This impromptu bird walk was enhanced by perfect weather – sunny with a light ocean breeze and the temperature rising from the mid-60s to the mid-70s.  We began at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation’s nature center.  The main attraction here was the dozens of Cliff Swallows flying back-and-forth – busily building their jug-shaped nests under the eaves of the nature center building with mud they gather from the lagoon’s wetlands.

            Other highlights included hearing the musical songs of Black-headed Grosbeaks, Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats; the repeated whistles, hoots and other notes of a Yellow-breasted Chat; and watching an Osprey perched high in a dead tree.