A Rare Visitor and a Life Bird

  Today was our first full day in San Diego. For breakfast, Robert ate French toast and strawberries, scrambled eggs with salsa and sausage. Berry had scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. We used today to orient ourselves to the general area. Robert needed meds so we found a drug store. Berry wanted to go to the beach, so Robert drove her first to Fiesta Beach Park and then to South Mission Beach Park.

  At Fiesta Beach Park we spotted Double Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax Auritus) diving and fishing in the bay. We saw plenty of Western Gulls (Larus Occidentalis) perched on buoys and standing in the sand on the beach. There were Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus Atricilla) and Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) in abundance. Berry wondered why there were no peeps picking at the sand on the beach until she found a Willett (Tringa Semipalmata) foraging along the shoreline.

  We drove to South Mission Beach Park where we saw the Pacific Ocean. There were Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus Occidentalis) dive-bombing for fish in the open water. We were delighted to identify some Dickcissel (Spiza Americana) running on the beach. According to the literature, Dickcissells are only a rare visitor to the San Diego area.

  We stopped in a parking lot to watch some sailboats. We saw a Dolphin playing in the water. For lunch we stopped at the Arizona Cafe in Ocean Beach. Robert had the fish tacos and Berry had a hotdog, while watching the Cardinals play the Cubbies on Robert’s phone. While Robert was parking the car, Berry pointed out four Black Chinned hummingbirds (Archilochus Alexandri) hovering near a tree. This was our first life bird of this trip. You should see the web version of this page to view our Life List. It is not seen on the Iphone version of this page.

  For dinner we found an Italian restaurant called the Red Door. They are proud of their hand-made pastas. Berry had the lasagna. Robert tried the Shaved Brussel Sprout and Feta Salad and then had the Short Rib Tortelloni. Delicious. We capped the evening off with Blueberry Creme Brûlée and Vanilla Bread Pudding.

  Robert and Berry

  Photo courtesy of wikipedia

Birding San Diego

  We got ready to finally take our birding vacation to San Diego. There are supposed to be more than five hundred species of birds in San Diego. After eating pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, we went to the clunky airport in Memphis for our 11:55am United flight to Houston. We there learned that our flight was going to be late, so we had lunch in the Memphis airport. Finally we were on our way.

  Because the plane to Memphis was late, we would miss our connecting flight to San Diego in the Houston airport. We were rescheduled for the 6:40pm flight by the staff in Houston. At that point, things went from bad to worse. The 6:40pm flight was changed to 7:40pm and then changed to “around” 8:40pm. We ate Korean BBQ Ribs and Kale in the Houston airport.

  Passing through Terminal B in the Houston Airport, we saw a small bird flitting around the rafters inside the airport. It was a lonely, juvenile English Sparrow (Passer Domesticus), searching for the food court.

  As we pulled up to the Doubletree, we came to realize that we were more than six hours late. We just got off the Rental Car bus, having listened to a positively rude Californian lady crabbily criticize the citizens of Alabama for their waving at her in the morning. There is no pleasing some people.

  Robert and Berry

  Photo courtesy of wikipedia

Drought at Riverport

   We need rain. That much was true. Berry and I drove to Riverport Road in Memphis, TN. The series of small ponds to the left, as you are driving in, were all empty of water or covered with scum. We decided to see what was here in the middle of summer in the middle of a mild drought. The US Drought Monitor says it will not last.

   There were about five Bank Swallows (Riparia Riparia) hanging out on the phone wires above the road. We slowed down to watch them play. Further down the wire, we found a couple of Eastern Bluebirds. This bird leaves the wire to capture insects, then flys directly back to its perch on the wire, which is called “flycatching”. Bank Swallows come in groups of five or ten. Eastern Bluebirds come in pairs or come alone.

   We found several Pied Billed Grebes (Podilymbus Podiceps) swimming in one of the ponds. Further down the road, there was a juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa Violacea), standing in another pond. This bird appears much different as an adult, but as a juvenile, to make the bird more difficult to see, it is a drab beige and gray and white.

   Neither of these, nor the Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) perched on one of the tall, electrical pylons, were at all surprising. What did take us back was the paucity of birds at the Riverport Road area during summertime, during a serious drought.

   At the tailing pond of the TVA power plant, we saw several Great Egrets (Ardea Alba) fishing at the edges of the open water. Another was perched on the concrete base of an electrical pylon.

   The birds we saw on this trip include:

• Canada Goose
• Barn Swallow
• Common Ground Dove
• Great Egret
• Eastern Bluebird
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Yellow Crowned Night Heron
• Great Blue Heron
• Double Crested Cormorant
• Turkey Vulture
• Red Tailed Hawk

   In a more pleasant year, with at least a moderate amount of rainfall, we would see many more birds and several species of duck, on Riverport Road.

   Robert and Berry

   Photo courtesy of wikipedia,cappeal