Field Trip Reports

The August 16 field trip to the Santa Maria River estuary produced the expected hordes of Sooty Shearwaters (tens of thousands, quite a spectacular sight,) but little else of interest. With our escort, Chris Barr of US Fish and Wildlife, we were able to see most of the estuary, but in terms of shorebirds the trip was notable more for what we didn't find than for what we did. Red-necked Phalaropes were the most common shorebird in the estuary, with lesser numbers of Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, and Semipalmated and Snowy Plovers present. Two observers reported seeing a couple of Western Sandpipers, but I saw none the entire day. Add to this the complete absence of dowitchers, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, and yellowlegs, and you have a very strange trip. Conditions, incidentally, seemed excellent. The river has been flowing out to the ocean for the past week and there were plenty of mudflats, shallows, and margins for shorebirds to feed in.

In addition to the shearwaters, one Common Murre was seen just offshore. No shearwater species besides Sooty were detected, although several of us looked hard for something different.

Forty-five plus birders were treated to a very special field trip on Friday, July 11, from 6:30 until dark. Not only did Wayne Ferren give us a very informative and interesting account of the ecology and history of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve and the surrounding wetlands, but he told us we might be fortunate enough to see a Clapper Rail since 2 or 3 had been seen in the area. Well, lo and behold, just as the trip was coming to a close due to the sun set, Rebecca Coulter noticed a bird in the distance swimming in the water that she thought might be a Clapper Rail. Other experts identified it definitely as a Clapper Rail! To most of us it was just a dark image of a bird, even through a spotting scope. Much to our delight however, the bird flew to an area in the pickle weed about 25 feet from the road and everyone was able to view it closely. Although spotting scopes were not necessary to see and identify this bird, scopes brought every detail into sharp focus. It seemed as though the Clapper Rail was going to spend the night in the pickle weed as it never left.

We also viewed other birds of interest such as Belding's Savannah Sparrows, Willets, Great Blue Herons and their nests, Green Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, Snowy Egrets, Whimbrels and Least Terns.

I'm sure the entire group would like to give special thanks to Wayne for sharing his knowledge and time. Thank you Wayne, we really appreciate it.

Even though this trip included the bonus of the elusive Clapper Rail, all the Audubon field trips are special to me. The camaraderie and the knowledge of the leaders are great, and we always see something of interest that makes these field trips very special. The price is certainly right. Free! Join us on the next Audubon field trip.

In addition to the shearwaters, one Common Murre was seen just offshore. No shearwater species besides Sooty were detected, although several of us looked hard for something different.