Revisiting Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve

Where more than 200 bird species have been seen.

OH!

Not by us.

We saw only a fraction of that during this visit. 😉

The last time we were here was in June. Our visit was cut short when Katherine badly sprained her ankle. More than four months of physical therapy and one cortisone shot later, Katherine was ready to return.

It was a beautiful morning. The calm water reflected the birds swimming in and flying over it.

I was taking pictures of a Great Egret flying over the water.

“Why isn’t this coming into focus?” I thought.

Suddenly I realized that I was tracking the reflection…not the bird!

(A further clue would have been the fact that the “bird” was flying upside down. I was so intent on the focus that I didn’t notice that detail!)

We also saw a bird that we’d never identified before. These winter-plumaged Dunlins were busy foraging beneath the watchful gaze of a Western Gull.

Squadrons of Brown Pelicans were flying over from the beach across the highway and landing on the water in the marsh. We could hear them slapping their wings against the water.

Hidden amongst the Pickleweed, a bird sang noisily. I used the Merlin app to identify the bird by its song: a Marsh Wren. Looking closely, I finally spotted it. Can you?

Let me help you out…

We also saw a female Northern Harrier.

And she saw us.

Though we did not see over 200 species, we did see, in addition to the birds shown above, at least one of: Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, California Scrub Jay, Northern Flicker, Snowy Egret, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, and White-tailed Kite.

We also saw the birds shown below but I haven’t been able to identify them yet. If you know what they are, drop a line in the comments!

Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve is an amazing place for birding and enjoying nature.