Today's predicted temperatures in the Watsonville area are going to be about 100 so I decided not to stay too long at Moss Landing. After going back to the hotel to pick up my sister and her hubby, we decided we would first go to the Pinto Lake County Park as this had been recomended as another good place to see birds as had the Pajaro River Dunes.
Off to the lake where we saw Western Scrub-Jay, Oak Titmouse (lifer), Chestnut-backed Chickadee(lifer), Downy Woodpecker, Bushtits (lifer). We also saw groups of gals and guys playing Frisbee Golf which really looked like fun. By that time the day had gotten pretty hot so off we went to 2 communities along the beach. Along the way we saw a White-tailed Kite(lifer) hoovering over one of the strawberry fields that dotted the landscape.
Both of the communities are gated but if yoiu ask nicely you're allowed inside to walk around the nature areas. The first we'd visited in 2010 where we walked around the ponds. Today, there was not much going on. We ate lunch under the shade of the large oak trees then went to the Pajara River Dunes. This is where we hit paydirt. First, when going down onto the beach we saw a Long-billed Curlew foraging along the beach. When looking down farther & the beach we could see the mouth of the river along with lots specks that we were sure were more birds. So off we went... First we found some intact sand dollars, then we found little birds - Western Sandpipers (lifer), Snowy Plovers (lifers), Sanderlings and more, next came another Long-billed Curlew roosting, a group of Brown Pelicans along the water's edge, more Long-billed Curlews, plus Marbled Godwits, Elegant Terns and more. It was a smorgasboard of birds that I normally don't get to see here in my area. We were there several hours and I would have gladly stayed longer or come back again but vacation time is running out so until another visit I'll have to be happy with the time I had seeing and photographing all the different species of birds.
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