The East Side of the Bay

  We visited the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge on the east coast of San Diego Bay. This was a beautifully kept piece of beach habitat. We were the only ones there. Robert followed two cars in, but they were employees. We walked halfway toward the bay, when a park employee sped his mule down the path in order to tell us to move our car. He would not let us ride with him because neither of us had a crash helmet. As we walked back to the misplaced car, it dawned on us that the bus we had seen was designed to escort us into the park. We parked in employee parking and went about with our birding.

  We made it to the ocean and immediately saw birds, so we switched into quiet mode. We pulled out binoculars and bird guide and settled into studying what birds there were. It is interesting to contrast the methods by which the various wading birds obtain food. The Reddish Egret (Egretta Rufescens) chases small fish by running left and right, flapping its wings. Berry thought that waving its wings might scare the fish. The Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula) just freezes in place and stares down into the water. Two very different strategies.

  The Black Bellied Plover (Pluvialis Squatarola) and the small flock of Red Knot (Calidris Canutus) dined right where a fresh water creek emptied into the salt water bay. The algae was thick, but the water was moving, creating a bug factory. This situation attracted both species. Neither species were in breeding plumage, so the Black Bellied Plover’s belly was not black and the Red Knots were not red. Birds change color according to the season. In the autumn think drab gray for every occasion. Three colorful avian on-lookers that kept peeping out from under some scrub bush were beautiful, red Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia).

  In one part of the bog, a Tricolored Heron (Egretta Tricolor) fought with a Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula) for position, like a basketball player, trying to get closer to fish in the water. We had fun watching them. The Tricolored Heron (Egretta Tricolor) resembles a Green Heron (Butorides Virescens) but it is larger and it has distinctive markings.

  At the most southern side of San Diego Bay are large fish farms, sea turtle habitat and large stretches of open water. There were large flocks of gulls roosting on one of the barriers. Berry and I got the brilliant idea to take LimeBikes©️ for a ride on a bike path through the marsh. We both are sixty-plus years old. What were we thinking? It is a good thing photos were not taken. You download the app and swipe your phone across the fender of the bike. Robert unlocked his lime colored bike and mounted it. Within the space of ten seconds, Robert had fallen into a bush. Berry rolled over to help him and promptly fell on top of Robert. It was ridiculous and absurd. Another bike rider noted that we were alright and rode off with both of us still tangled in the bikes and the bush. No birds were seen during this strange interlude.

  Robert and Berry

  Photos courtesy of danpancamo, wikipedia