The Port of San Diego has installed two brand new information signs on the Embarcadero next to the Maritime Museum. They concern Port and U.S. Navy efforts to protect the environment in San Diego Bay.
I took these photos yesterday…
The U.S. Navy and the Port of San Diego – A collaborative partnership to manage and protect natural resources in San Diego Bay… The Navy and the Port work collaboratively with the goal to ensure the long-term health, restoration, and protection of San Diego Bay’s ecosystem along with the bay’s economic, naval, navigational, recreational, and fisheries needs.Navy ships based in San Diego – San Diego is home to roughly one quarter of all U.S. Navy vessels. There are more than 50 Navy ships stationed at Naval Base San Diego alone. Across San Diego Bay, aircraft carriers are stationed at Naval Air Station North Island and submarines are stationed a Naval Base Point Loma.Hospital Ship, USNS Mercy, docked at North Island across San Diego Bay.Visible behind a new Port of San Diego information sign are HMS Surprise and Berkeley of the Maritime Museum.Expanding Eelgrass – Eelgrass provides important ecosystem functions, including shelter for fish, food for sea turtles, and foraging areas for invertebrates… The Port and Navy seek to expand the acreage of eelgrass…Studying Fish and Protecting Birds, including the endangered California least tern. Fish health can be affected by water quality conditions, such as urban runoff and warming temperatures… To protect sensitive bird species, the Navy and the Port have several measures in place, including maintaining nesting sites, relocating nests, managing predators, marking and avoiding areas where nests may be present, and monitoring least terns and snowy plovers during breeding season.Monitoring Sea Turtles – The Port and the Navy monitor federally listed endangered Pacific green sea turtles by affixing satellite tags to the top of their shells and track their movements through San Diego Bay…
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Several signs posted along the edge of the San Diego River Estuary indicate: Endangered Species Predator Control in Progress. These signs were placed by the City of San Diego Public Works Department. I saw them today for the first time.
The Light-Footed Ridgway’s Rail uses the San Diego River Estuary as natural habitat, and efforts to protect this endangered subspecies involve trapping predators like raccoons, feral cats, and rats. The sign asks people to not feed feral cats, which are being trapped and relocated to the nearest Humane Society.
As I walked along the river on a beautiful late February day, I saw many birds in the water, among vegetation and on distant mudflats. I don’t believe I spotted any Light-Footed Ridgway’s Rails, but I can’t say for sure.
When I walked into the nearby Marina Village Conference Center, where Audubon’s San Diego Bird Festival is taking place all weekend, I asked an expert how the Light-Footed Ridgway’s Rail is doing. Hanging on, was the gist of the reply.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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A free “Bird Friendly Home and Garden Fair” will be open to the public this coming Sunday, February 25, 2024. It’s part of San Diego Audubon’s big five-day San Diego Bird Festival, which is presently underway at the Marina Village Conference Center!
The Bird Friendly Home and Garden Fair will feature local organizations and businesses that help you help birds. There will be exhibitor booths, educational presentations, and people can build a bluebird nesting box for the California Bluebird Recovery Project. The program schedule includes a family music program and a live birds of prey presentation. There will be information about native seed libraries, what to do if you find an injured or baby bird, and much more!
To read more about this unique weekend event, click here and scroll down. You can participate in other San Diego Bird Festival activities, too!
(If you’re curious about the above photograph–that’s a Great Blue Heron that was perched in a tree above the San Diego River. I spotted it yesterday while walking across the pedestrian bridge near the Fashion Valley transit 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A beautiful new mural has debuted in San Diego’s Rolando neighborhood!
Depictions of homes in the community, nearby San Diego State University, and familiar plants and animals enliven a wall on 62nd Avenue, a block south of El Cajon Boulevard. The mural was created in partnership with SDG&E, whose substation is located here.
This colorful public art debuted earlier this week and is the work of ArtReach. The lead muralist was Katy Yeaw.
(While visiting Katy’s website, I learned she painted a fun electrical box that I photographed years ago in Little Italy!)
Late this afternoon I checked out the three sides of this great new mural…
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Meet an old-timer on the Oceanside Pier–a California Brown Pelican named Michael.
Michael has been hanging around the pier about twenty years, according to Jeff who works at the bait shop. Michael the pelican likes to gobble handouts from passing fishermen.
He likes to watch people walking along the Oceanside Pier, too.
Michael had a foot problem. Humans helped him out and now he’s much better. I could plainly see that he and Jeff were close buddies.
But he doesn’t like strangers to get too close.
How did the bird get its name? Jeff told me that Michael has a tendency to dance around–like Michael Jackson.
(Jeff also explained that Iggy the snowy egret will sometimes join him inside the bait shop. When I happened by today, Iggy, Ziggy and several other egrets were being shy, standing on the bait shop’s roof.)
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Native wildlife found in Tecolote Canyon Natural Open Space Park is illustrated by dozens of beautiful art tiles at the Nature Center.
The handmade ceramic tiles decorate outdoor walls at the Nature Center. They were created by students from University City High School. (Years ago, students from the same school painted wildlife murals that decorate a fence at the south end of Tecolote Canyon’s main hiking trail.)
Take a look at this wonderful sculptural artwork. I photographed some of the tiles–there are birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, butterflies, flowers…
Many tiles are mounted individually to the walls. Others are combined to produce murals demonstrating the different habitats of Tecolote Canyon.
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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
If you’ve driven down Encinitas Boulevard under Interstate 5 you’ve seen this wonderful, very colorful public art. Four long mosaic strips depicting local plants and animals have added life to the freeway undercrossing for about a year now.
In 2021 the City of Encinitas chose this design by Minneapolis-based artists Amy Baur and Brian Boldon.
The three foot tall strips feature glazed ceramic surfaces that shine in the sunlight and resemble stained glass. Here’s an article concerning the installation. The artist has stated: “Imagery from Encinitas’ environment — birds, plants, water, coastal and mountain flora and fauna — are layered with geometric shapes reflecting concrete patterns above and below the artwork.”
During my last walk in Encinitas, I took photographs of the beautiful artwork. What birds and plants do you recognize?
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Look what I spotted while walking home from Balboa Park this afternoon! A red-tailed hawk was perched in a palm tree next to the Sixth Avenue sidewalk, at the west edge of the park.
The bird, perhaps ten feet above my camera, was unfazed by my presence.
A young person staring at a phone walked directly under the hawk without noticing it. What other wonders in this world go unseen?
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
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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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!
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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 