I couldn’t resist going out with my birding lens while visiting the Morro Bay area. It was a little early in the season for breeding plumage and behavior. But I still managed to photograph a few birds. And a few of them were new sightings for me!
I stayed at the Morro Bay campground for a few nights. It is located near a marina and within walking distance to the main shopping and dining district. My first day there I ate at a wonderful restaurant right across the street from the campground at the marina. I was really looking forward to having some delicious seafood. I saw they had a fried shrimp, cod and calamari plate. Perfect!
After enjoying that wonderful meal, I explored the area around the marina. As soon as I stepped out with my camera, a Red-Shouldered Hawk landed in a tree right next to me. I’ve only seen this species a few times quite a few years ago. They are as small, beautiful raptor.
In the trees nearby there were lots of California Scrub-Jays carrying on with their harsh calls. Among the jays there were lots of California Quail foraging on the ground. I was thrilled as both of these birds were new sightings for me.
I was happy to see they had a boardwalk that took you out in the marsh areas. I love birding on boardwalks because they get you a lot closer to the areas the birds like to hang out.
My first sighting from the boardwalk was a nice surprise. It was a new bird for me – the California Thrasher. He was singing his beautiful morning song.
He wasn’t shy at all and I stayed awhile listening to him sing. Their dawn song is so beautiful.
Another songbird was singing his heart out nearby – a White-Crowned Sparrow.
Once out on the marsh, there were a lot of birds feeding in the various exposed pools. Even with the boardwalk out in the marsh, the birds were still quite a distance away. I had a difficult time getting any decent photos due to the distance.
A little closer to me was an American Avocet. Sadly they were still in their winter plumage. It is much plainer than their breeding plumage.
There were a lot of towhees foraging in the brush around the boardwalk. One jumped on to the boardwalk in front of me and allowed me to get fairly close for a photo. I was thrilled because this was another new bird for me.
While walking along the boardwalk, I kept seeing remains of large snails. Something had been dismantling a lot of snails – at least a good dozen of them. What seemed odd was that it didn’t seem like any part of the snail had been eaten.
After a while I discovered the culprit in the act of getting another snail. It was a crow. I watched him closely and saw that he was after a specific tiny part of the snail. It looked like it was eating a little pearl-like morsel. I’m guessing whatever it was, it probably provided a source of calcium.
After consuming his little morsel, he flew over to a group of crows nearby. They let me get pretty close to them. There was a pair of crows being very sweet together. I love crows because they are so intelligent.
With them was a Black Phoebe busily feeding on the insects flying around the marsh.
Then to my surprise I saw a woodpecker way up in a tree. And this woodpecker was a species I had been looking for for a long time – a Nuttall’s Woodpecker. It’s not a great photo, but it’s another new bird for me.
After walking the boardwalks, I started birding around the marina. There was a lot of activity in the water around the boats. After looking more closely, I was thrilled to see there were three Sea Otters hanging out and relaxing together. I could only get a decent photo of one of the otters, and he was so adorable! I think it’s so cute how they can relax laying on their back.
There were quite a few birds in the marina – in the water and along the shoreline.
One day I walked to the shopping and dining area of Morro Bay. It was a long walk, but it was nice to have a more intimate look of the area. I ate lunch at a bayside restaurant and it was delicious.
I saw a couple more birds while at the bay.
I hope you enjoyed seeing all the wonderful birds I photographed in the Morro Bay area. With all the new lifer birds for me, my life bird list is now at 490 different species!
My next post will be in the San Simeon area with a tour of Hurst Castle!
I have great news! My website is finally finished and available to view online.
www.travelwithkellyrv.com
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