Day Trip to Famosa Slough

This week has been unusually rainy and cold. We even had hail at the beaches and snow in the nearby mountains. Finally, the sun was out again today... perfect weather for birding. Eve had invited me to go on a day trip to check out the Famosa Slough in San Diego. She told me that she had seen several Little Blue Herons on her last trip there so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get to see this beautiful heron on our trip today!

We got a good early start taking off at 8:00am and it wasn't long before we were at the Slough. The lagoon is surrounded by buildings and it is located right under the flight path of the airport. The first bird subjects I saw were the American Avocets.

 

There was a group of them some still sleeping. Notice the dark cinnamon color head and neck on a few of the Avocets. They are in breeding plumage.

Eve spotted a Northern Flicker, this one is a Yellow-Shafted (Taiga/eastern) female. The field ID is the red nape crescent as seen in this photo. Another life bird for me!

This is a front view of the female Northern Flicker yellow-shafted. The male yellow-shafted Northern Flickers have a black mustache. 

 

Two female Buffleheads or maybe juveniles swim by, sometimes they are very hard to tell apart. 

 

In this photo we see the always flashy Snowy Egrets, even more flashy than usual with their breeding plumage.

 

This one was a bit soiled looking but the slough is quite muddy after the rains. 

We walk north across West Point Loma Blvd. to enter the trail that leads us north. Immediately I got a shot of this cute little male Anna's Hummingbird feeding on flowers. 

He flies around and the light reflects off his crown and chin. 

As fast as he appeared he is gone in an instant. 

Some beautiful flowers greet us near the entrance. 

Eve spotted this Red-shouldered Hawk down the trail, I tried to get a closer look but as soon as he spotted me he decided to fly. 

Showing us a beautiful underwing pattern.

The crescent moon markings on the outer edge of his wings really show from this angle as he lands on a bare tree across the tide channel.

We soon came to thed end of the trail and started back but got a nice little shot of this Great Egret in a majestic pose.

 

A disturbing sighting, a large cat the size of a raccoon came into the tide channel banks from under the chain link that is supposed to keep him out. 

A group of Blue-winged Teals swam by. A nice reflection in the water of this pair.

 

Four drakes and one female made up the group.

 

These are one of my favorite ducks... Blue-winged Teals are gorgeous and so beautifully marked. 

We decided to run across West Point Loma Blvd again and check the south side of the Slough to see if the Little Blue Heron was around. As soon as we reached the chain link by the sidewalk, Eve spotted this Eared Grebe diving for fish right in front of us but I had to find a frayed area of the chain link and stand on my tiptoes to get my camera over the chain link fence to get these shots. 

Eared Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis measures 13 inches long with a wingspan of 16 inches.

One more shot of the Grebe and I'm ready to go hunt for the Little Blue Heron. 

We decided to go south on Famosa Blvd. and found a short trail to the water where a Great Blue Heron was out searching for prey and appeared a little too interested in the Eared Grebe.

 

Scanning the area for the Little Blue Heron, I finally spotted him on the north edge foraging for breakfast. I quickly ran around to the West Point Loma Blvd trails to get some shots before he walked further east.

It seemed like every few minutes a huge plane would fly over the Slough. 

This photo of me taking shots of the Little Blue Heron was taken by Eve with her cell phone. The orange arrow shows you where my bird subject is. I had to walk east to get a clear view and as he was traveling eastward, I was hoping to get some head-on shots. This photo also shows the surrounding buildings around this slough. Right behind me there is a four-lane busy street that you will need to cross to get to the north side of the Famosa Slough trails. It would be best to find a crosswalk.

Close-up of the Little Blue Heron in full adult plumage taken with my 400mm lens at the exact spot shown in the photo above. 

I was thrilled to get this beautiful little heron out in the open but wished the light was more in my favor. 

He spots something as he freezes and readies for a strike. 

This is their classic way of striking the prey in the water. 

And he has himself a nice little fish!

He has caught this fish using his bill like a pair of forceps striking down and grabbing the fish in a lightning fast move. Now he just has to hold on to it until he gets it down the hatch. He will have to swallow it whole, for these birds do not rip their prey apart.  Their bills are made to grab or spear their prey and will need to swallow it whole. This fish is a little one and the Heron should have no problem consuming it.

He is just delighted with himself on getting this prey.

Walks out of the water to higher ground. He probably wants to be sure that if it slips out of his beak he still will be able to retrieve it.

He has quite a vice grip on his prey as he walks up closer towards me. 

 

Wow, this has given me a chance to get the Little Blue Heron facing in another direction where the light really shows his blue color with the purplish head and neck. A beautiful bird. 

Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea measures 24 inches long with a wingspan of 40 inches. When they are a juvenile, they are pure white and look very much like a Snowy Egret juvenile. He quickly consumes his fish and heads back towards the waters edge.

One last shot of this beautiful Little Blue Heron and it's time for us to go home. It's been a great little birding day trip and I got to photograph this beautiful bird and got acquainted with another great birding spot in San Diego. Hope you all get a chance to visit this place too.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!