Tag: birds

Walking along Salt Marsh Bird View Trail.

A short, easy side trail can be enjoyed north of the San Dieguito Lagoon near Del Mar. It’s called the Salt Marsh Bird View Trail.

Those who journey through the San Dieguito River Park along the Coast to Crest Trail might see signs indicating either end of the Salt Marsh Bird View Trail. (No bicycles or horses are allowed on it.)

During my own leisurely walk heading east, I saw one of these signs just beyond the San Dieguito River Park Lagoon Ranger Station, which is located off San Andres Drive and Via de la Valle.

As the trail’s name suggests, those who move along it can observe many birds in the nearby lagoon and its marshy vegetation.

This trail also passes the beautiful Birdwing Open Air Classroom, which I blogged about here. A short path leads up to Birdwing. There hikers will find a shady place to rest and feel alive, surrounded by nature.

Well, here are my photographs. Enjoy!

Over 200 bird species have been observed at the San Dieguito Lagoon.

Its various habitats include fresh water marshes, salt marshes, riparian forests, upland coastal sage scrub and chaparral plant communities.

Four endangered bird species that inhabit this lagoon are the Belding’s subspecies of Savannah Sparrow, Ridgway’s Rail, California Gnatcatcher, and California Least Tern.

Volunteer birders conduct monthly surveys at San Dieguito Lagoon. Learn more about that here!

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Nature’s beauty observed above Lake Hodges.

I took this series of photographs while walking on the David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge. They show the beauty of nature in Spring after a winter that brought much needed rain to San Diego.

The trees in and around the lake were bright green with new spring leaves. This part of Lake Hodges had been dry for many years during a long drought, but as you can see water fed by the San Dieguito River now lingers below the bridge.

The 990 foot long bicycle and pedestrian bridge has some benches for sitting and is a great place for birdwatching. I observed egrets, crows and swallows during my short visit.

The bridge is also notable because it’s the longest stress ribbon bridge in the world! You can learn more about that here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Parrots appear in San Diego for Margaritaville Hotel!

Two enormous parrots are now being painted outside downtown’s Solamar hotel. Why? The property will soon become Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter!

I spotted the new artwork this morning, then returned in the afternoon for more photographs. Several painters were on two suspended platforms creating the huge, colorful murals.

The new Margaritaville Hotel will have a Jimmy Buffett theme. Sunny and laid back. Just like San Diego.

According to its website, the converted hotel will debut this July.

Parrotheads rejoice!

UPDATE!

A week and a half later, this is what I saw…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Tribute to coastal advocate at San Dieguito Lagoon.

As I walked along the Coast to Crest Trail a couple days ago, a bit south of the San Andres Drive trailhead, I came upon a sign that pays tribute to Peter Douglas. He was an important coastal advocate who worked to protect the nearby San Dieguito Lagoon.

I learned that I was walking beside the Peter Douglas Wetlands.

As you gaze at the beauty of the San Dieguito Lagoon, watch birds flying, diving and foraging in the wetlands and wildlife scampering among the scrub and chaparral, you can appreciate the vision that led to the conservation and restoration of this scenic and biologically diverse open space, known as the Peter Douglas Wetlands.

Peter Douglas (1942-2012), one of California’s most visionary and inspirational environmental advocates, led a successful grass roots effort in 1972 that resulted in the creation of the California Coastal Commission…

The support and passion of Peter Douglas significantly influenced the ability…to realize (a) collective dream of preserving these wetlands in perpetuity…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

River life near a freeway bridge.

Walk the Coast to Crest Trail along the San Dieguito River where it passes under Interstate 5 and you’ll see signs of life.

Indeed, several signs east of the freeway bridge concern river life that can be found nearby!

Walking east in Del Mar along the San Dieguito River, approaching the Interstate 5 bridge. It’s early March and native vegetation is green from recent rains.

About to pass under the concrete freeway bridge.

On the other side, near bush sunflowers, we arrive at a place where one can relax and learn about the San Dieguito Lagoon environment.

Several old signs ahead…

Fish of the San Dieguito Lagoon. Over twenty different fish species have been observed in the lagoon providing evidence that habitats here act as a fish nursery. Species include California Halibut, Giant Kelpfish, Staghorn Sculpin, Kelp Bass and four species of Gobies. Small jumping fish are Mullet.

Pickleweed likes the salty environment in the lagoon. It is also known as sea asparagus, Pacific swampfire, or glasswort!

What’s for dinner for various wetland animals who live here, including raccoons, American kestrels, killdeers and bats?

In one day a Great Blue Heron will eat…

…23 anchovies, 2 mice and a frog. Yummy!

A place near the freeway bridge to rest, gaze at the river and think about life.

In Life, Choose Happiness.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

The many birds of Lakeside’s Lindo Lake.

Those who love to watch birds are in for a treat at Lindo Lake County Park in Lakeside.

Walk along the shore of beautiful Lindo Lake and you’re almost certain to see hundreds of birds. What’s more, some of the birds seem fearless in the close presence of humans.

An informative signs shows a variety of birds one might encounter, including Cooper’s Hawks, Red Shouldered Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Killdeer, Snowy Egrets, Black-Crowned Night Herons, American White Pelicans, Canada Geese, Mallards, and Wood Ducks.

Even though I’m far from an expert, during my walk yesterday I also identified Red-winged Blackbirds, American Coots, a distant Double-crested Cormorant, Domestic Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Brewer’s Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles.

Yes, and a whole lot of pigeons–I mean Rock Doves.

Enjoy these photographs!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

San Diego Bird Festival 2023 this weekend!

Looking for a fun adventure this weekend? Do you love the great outdoors? Do you love birds?

The San Diego Bird Festival 2023 has kicked off at Marina Village Conference Center and continues through the weekend!

The annual event is presented by the San Diego Audubon Society. The public is invited to attend a variety of educational lectures at Marina Village and bird-watching activities around the city.

The cool thing is many of the activities on Saturday and Sunday are free, including outdoor birding adventures along the San Diego River and at Santee Lakes!

Never gone birding before? Don’t know much about it? That’s fine! Bird lovers are a friendly, knowledgeable bunch and very welcoming. I happened to meet a few of them this morning during my quiet walk through Marina Village about an hour before the day’s activities began in earnest.

The San Diego Bird Festival also has a bookstore with every sort of bird-related resource one could ever need. And for those who are curious, there are displays of binoculars and other gear. There’s also an auction that features some very cool collectible items!

Who are those bicyclists I photographed? They were just setting off for a ride along the San Diego River. I wonder how many birds they identified?

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Dreamy ocean photos beyond Point Loma.

Today was an almost perfect day to head out into the Pacific Ocean beyond Point Loma.

For a mid-February day, the water was amazingly smooth and the cloud cover thin. The chilly wind was not unexpected.

I and many others, wrapped in jackets, enjoyed a four hour trip aboard Flagship’s whale watching ship Marietta.

We saw a mother gray whale with her young calf and followed the two from a respectful distance. In two of the upcoming photos you can see a spout. In my previous blog post, I gazed down upon some of the hundreds of dolphins we encountered very close up.

Enjoy a few hazy, dreamy photos I took from the deck of Marietta. There are sailboats, a line of pelicans flying, downtown San Diego, Point Loma, and the Coronado Islands of Mexico off in the distance.

I haven’t edited these photographs at all, except to crop the one photo where the whale spout is most evident.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Images and Expressions of a better world.

Three signs at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve contain the wisdom of local school kids. I noticed the signs during a walk up the Pole Trail. They are a bit distant from the trail, but easily spotted.

On one sign you’ll see Images of a better world; on another, Expressions of a better world. More words from young people who care about the world they live in can be read on the third sign.

Images of a better world. Skyline Elementary School, Grade 5, Fall 2007.

A world with no endangered animals.

Expressions of a better world. Cardiff Elementary School, MAC Kids, Fall 2007.

…With help from humans, mixed with the right amount of respect, the lagoon becomes a big, beautiful habitat for animals and plants, and a place for people to enjoy too…

Field notes and quotes. Rancho Santa Fe Elementary School, Grades 5 and 6, Fall 2007.

It’s best for people to know that our wetlands are very important. The wetlands are home to many creatures and it would be sad for them to go away because of habitat loss…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A walk through San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve.

Several weeks ago I enjoyed a fine, very easy nature walk.

I proceeded from the murals at Harbaugh Seaside Trails (near Highway 101 at the north end of Solana Beach) down the main dirt trail. The trail turned, passed through a tunnel under the railroad tracks, and entered San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve.

I then proceeded north up the Pole Trail (which runs parallel to the train tracks), crossed a couple of bridges, and ended at the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center at the south end of Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

Come along with me as we look at these protected wetlands and watch for birds and other native wildlife…

Sign at Harbaugh Seaside Trails at start of my walk.

These trails were made possible by Nature Collective.

Beautiful words a short distance from the Harbaugh Seaside Trails murals. Annie’s Bench.

Nearby overlook with views of the Pacific Ocean off to the west.

Beginning our walk in earnest.

Here’s the railroad tunnel.

Artwork at the tunnel entrance depicts birds.

We are looking across San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve.

San Elijo Lagoon in the winter.

Pools of water support much life.

Heading north we encounter a fenced area and sign.

Map of the reserve. To the east there are additional trails to be explored.

A big mound of soil behind this fence.

Sign explains the sandy habitat restoration. The elevated sand dune attracts endangered birds, like the California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plover.

Continuing north.

Vegetated and shallow channels are home to rare indigenous plant and animal species. Birds include Ridgway’s Rail and Belding’s Savannah Sparrow.

Here comes the first bridge!

A profusion of native sunflowers.

That interesting building up and to the left is the Nature Center.

A plaque along the way memorializes Beloved Friend and Engineer Brian A. Martin.

Another footbridge spans a channel of water.

Plaque describes The Buhr Nature Bridge. Gabriel Buhr’s forward-thinking, planning and vision helped make the restoration of the San Elijo Lagoon possible.

Almost to the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!