The Famosa Slough

  We birded in the Famosa Slough, a 25 acre wetland inside the city of San Diego. It is a delightful feeding and nesting site for migrating birds, nestled between two apartment complexes and the freeway. There was a dusty walking path around slough with wood benches every so often. We noticed that we were seeing a fair number of migrating birds that are not in this area year-round, making identification of the bird more challenging.

  There were two wading birds perched on the wooden cross tie of an abandoned railroad bridge. One was the Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula) which seems larger here than the same species in northern Mississippi, and then, next to it, a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax Nyctiorax). Juveniles oF this species do not resemble the adult bird at all. In order to protect it from predators, genetics make the juvenile a mottled brown, gray and beige mix of colors.

  We have seen hummingbirds frequently on this trip. Today, we saw three Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte Anna) darting in and out of a bush that had berries on it. They are relatively easy to spot because they hover in the air. They are not so easy to identify because they never stop moving. In Tennessee, we only have one species of hummingbird, in California, there are six species.

  In some mudflats of the slough there were Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa Flavipes) wading and bobbing their tails in the shallow water, pecking at yummy insects. They use their bill to stir up a meal in the water.

  Swimming around the slough were male and female Mallards (Anas Platyrhnchos) and Blue Winged Teals (Spatula Discors) This group of ducks is called the “dabbling ducks”. They tip themselves upside down with their head down in the water to nibble grasses and plants on the bottom of the slough. It is really cute to see ducks dabbling in the water with their behinds wiggling in the air.

  For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant on the water named the Red Marlin. It is in Mission Bay, between the San Diego River and the Pacific Ocean. Robert ate a cucumber salad and a hamburger with pickled onions and two jalapeño poppers. Berry had a fruit and cheese plate. We took our Starbucks to a park and took a nap under a tree. We went shopping. Berry got cute long sleeved t-shirts and Robert purchased a pretty dapper hat. Robert napped while Berry watched the Brew Crew beat the Rockies in their best of five baseball series. Dinner at the Blue Water Seafood Grill was Halibut for Berry and Swordfish for Robert.

  Robert and Berry

  Photos courtesy of wikipedia, audubondotcom, flywaysdotcom