Winter Birds of Mission Bay, California…

As I mentioned years ago in a blog one of the great reasons I love staying at Mission Bay RV Resort is the fact that it is a great spot for watching birds.The trail along Mission Bay provides great opportunities to see an abundance of shore and bay birds right in the middle of San Diego. The pictures below are of some of the bird species I spotted during our stay this year.

                  Male American Widgeon                     Male/Female American Widgeon

                       Brandt                                                      Marbled Godwit

                Female Bufflehead Duck                              Male Bufflehead Duck    

               Spotted Sandpiper                                                  Willet                

               Male Redhead Duck                                     Female Redhead Duck

               Female Greater Scaup                                    Male Scaup

                     Horned Grebe                                              Pied Billed Grebe

              Little Blue Heron                                                   Western Grebe

                         Says Phoebe                                              Black Phoebe

We saw many other birds here as well and again all of these photos were taken with my 3 year old Nikon Coolpix S9700. This small compact camera packs a great optical zoom of 30X which is powerful enough to zoom in on birds far away yet small enough to tuck in my pocket. I love this camera but have my eye on the newer Nikon Coolpix 500 camera with a 40X more powerful zooms. Even better is that it is on sale at Amazon right now…. tempting me greatly!

No Surf Scoters, Whimbrel, Black Bellied Plover or Long Billed Curlew this year and only a few Ruddy Ducks, There was one oddity that came through the park one day. We heard a loud noise which I was sure had to be some sort of Parrot. Scanning the tree tops I finally spotted it and it turned out to be an African Grey Parrot. I am sure it was somebody’s pet that had escaped but it was fun seeing it none the less.

NOTE: We are currently in El Centro CA until Jan. 8th before moving over to Arizona.

San Diego CA… It’s a Wrap!

We managed to squeeze in a few more fun things in San Diego before our departure. We keep discussing the possibility that this might be our last time to stay at Mission Bay RV Park but if things improve over time, who knows, we might return…

One thing we had never done during all our stays in San Diego was to walk out to the end of Ocean Beach Pier. It was originally named the San Diego Fishing Pier and at at 1971 feet It is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast.

Another interesting tidbit about the pier is that currently a fishing license is not required for fishing there. Fish such as calico bass, yellowtail, barred sand bass, halibut, surf perch, croakers, jacksmelt, mackerel, sharks, halibut, rays, barracuda, and white seabass can be caught.. Maybe next time I will fish there especially since a license isn’t required making it free to go and the views are amazing!

We also enjoyed several walks in OB (Ocean Beach) and of course couldn’t resist  visiting a couple of the well known establishments there. We mentioned Hodads for burgers and fabulous onion rings already but OB Noodle House is also a great place for a bite combined with a wonderful happy hour of half price craft beer!

Another hike we did that we had never done before was to hike to Black’s Beach. Black’s Beach is most well known for its nude sunbathing which is why many don’t go there. However, the day we went was cloudy and very cool so we figured that we wouldn’t have to see anything our eyes wouldn’t be able to un-see!

We began the hike at the Torrey Pines Glider Port where parking is free. The hike is only a short distance to the beach however, it is pretty much straight down about 400 feet on a not so easy trail down. They have done a good job of placing boards as steps to go down but with all the foot traffic and normal erosion it is a bit hazardous and required careful attention from us as we were descending.

Black’s beach itself is a great beach especially during low tide where we found many interesting shells.  The beach has a large expanse with cliffs rising above it. We walked several miles down the beach and back then eventually decided to just climb back up the trail we came down. We were surprised that we didn’t take more “breathing breaks” while ascending the trail and actually found it much easier to go up than down.

Before leaving San Diego we had one last Happy Hour with Jeff and Fran at their house. They treated us to some of the best shrimp from Mexico as well as an array of treats to snack on while we had some great conversation.  Thank you for your wonderful hospitality, Jeff and Fran!

Of course we also had to visit our favorite Happy Hour at the Draft House in Mission Beach to savor one more beautiful San Diego sunset…

NOTE: We are currently in El Centro CA until Jan. 8th before moving over to Arizona.