Kit Carson Park

September 14, 2017 – 34 species

 

Pied-billed Grebe – 1

Canada Goose

Mallard

American Coot

Snowy Egret - 1

Black-crowned Night Heron – 1

Killdeer – 1

Spotted Sandpiper – 1

Red-shouldered Hawk – (heard only)

Turkey Vulture

American Kestrel – 1

Mourning Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Acorn Woodpecker

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Cassin’s Kingbird

Black Phoebe

Crow

California Scrub-Jay

Bushtit – 1

Bewick’s Wren – 1

Marsh Wren – (heard only)

Wrentit – (heard only)

California Gnatcatcher

Northern Mockingbird – (heard only)

Western Bluebird

Starling

Common Yellowthroat – 1

Hooded Oriole – (heard only)

Song Sparrow

California Towhee

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Scaly-breasted Munia

 

Our Thursday morning birding walk at Escondido’s Kit Carson Park, under a cloudy sky, was enhanced by pleasantly cool temperatures that ranged from the upper 60s to low 70s.  Beginning at one of the park’s ponds, we saw a Pied-billed Grebe and lots of Mallards, while a Snowy Egret and a tail-bobbing Spotted Sandpiper were foraging for food along the shore.  Highlights of wooded places included lots of Acorn and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Cassin’s Kingbirds and Black Phoebes.  There were lots of ground-feeding California Towhees and Song Sparrows.  A California Scrub-jay in a nearby small live oak tree entertained us when it flew off with a bullet-shaped acorn protruding from its beak.  We had a brief glimpse of a Bewick’s Wren; and watched as Lesser Goldfinches busily feasted on the seeds of small shrubs.  We heard the repeated calls of a Red-shouldered Hawk and enjoyed good views of an American Kestrel.

Toward the end of our excursion, we paused at a pond densely fringed by cattails where a Black-crowned Night Heron stood like a statue among the reeds.  One of the last highlights was watching small flocks of the Scaly-breasted Munia (a.k.a. Nutmeg Mannikin), a species native to Southeast Asia.  After some of them escaped from captivity a few years ago, its population has been growing here in Southern California.

After our walk, most of our group lunched at the nearby restaurant, On the Border.