Santa Barbara Birding Post 2

After spending Sunday morning 3/15 birding at Lake Los Carneros Park, I headed over to Goleta Beach Park near UC Santa Barbara’s campus where I then walked about a mile along the beach. Brown Pelicans were everywhere. Above, a surfer boy ran towards a flock sending them flying away.

Here is a close-up of one of the Brown Pelicans showing off its beauty.

Mixed in with the pelicans were several Brandt’s Cormorants such as this one.

On the water were both Clark’s Grebes and Western Grebes. This is a Western Grebe. The black hood of the Clark’s Grebe does not come down and touch its eye as it does in the Western Grebe above.

Walking along, I saw many different shorebirds. This little guy scampering along is a Least Sandpiper.

The Western Sandpiper is a bit larger than the Least Sandpiper and has those nice orange tones.

This is a Long-billed Curlew. However, it has a rather short bill indicating that it is a juvenile. Older adults have bills almost twice as long as this one.

Mixed in with the Long-billed Curlews were a handful of Marbled Godwits such as this pair.

This Willet is of similar size to both the Long-billed Curlews and the Marbled Godwits.

Up on the bluff, a single Great Egret kept watch.

Meanwhile, in the shallows, this Snowy Egret fluffed its feathers as a display of anger towards another encroaching Snowy Egret.

The last bird I photographed before my final battery ran out was this Black-bellied Plover. At the beach, I added 18 new species to the 50 I had photographed at the park giving me a total of 68 species for the day. Overall, a very fine day of birding.