Today’s two hours of birding were on parklands located near OHCC and accessed from Lake Boulevard.  Low coastal overcast quickly burned off to bright sunshine with cool ocean breezes and the temperature rising into the mid-70s.  Easy trails led us beneath grand old live oak trees and through riparian (stream-bordering) wetland habitat. 

        While many birds have stopped their spring singing, we briefly heard songs of a Black-headed Grosbeak and a Common Yellowthroat, a few sharp notes of Hooded Orioles, trills of Wrentits and Spotted Towhees, the rattled trills of Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, and the scratchy calls of Western Scrub-jays.

        Our second stop of the morning was walking a short trail down to the bulrushes-bordered shore of Lake Calavera, where we saw a pair of Ruddy Ducks, a couple of Mallards, a Coot, and a Great Blue Heron peeking out from the reeds.  Some of our birders said that “the bird of the day” for them was a Say’s Phoebe that sat on a nearby fence post above the lake. 

        We were all especially impressed with how exceptionally polite and considerate the numerous walkers were who passed us on the trails.  Many of them were children or teenagers who cheerfully greeted us with “Good morning” or “Hi.”  After our walks, we enjoyed lunch at Teri Café on Plaza Dr., Oceanside.