Orange County

David and I drove from San Diego to Los Angeles on Wednesday stopping off at the lagoon at Newport Beach and at Bolsa Chica on the way. A trail around a freshwater pond at the Back Bay parking lot at Newport Beach yielded Allen's Hummingbird and, as a complete surprise, Nutmeg Mannikin (which I've seen in SE Asia where it is known as Scaly-breasted Munia). Bolsa Chica had Least, Forsters, Royal and Elegant terns and 12 shorebirds - Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Long-billed Curlew, Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-breasted Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Red Knot, Dunlin and Least Sandpiper. I have always found good birds at Bolsa Chica. At the end of the day went to the beach at Playa del Rey and found 7 Whimbrel, 2 Black Oystercatcher and a Pacific Loon. All in all a good day's birding in which I added 10 new species for the year to end on 245.

Brown Pelican