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Birds (including Western Gulls, like this one) and people share San Diego Bay -- a deep-water port, navy ships, pleasure boats, and salt-evaporation ponds. Even so, it’s one of the best bird habitats on the West Coast. Western Sandpipers probe the mud for worms and snails. Egrets stalk the shoreline for fish. Royal Terns crisscross the air, diving for their fish in the deeper water. Black Turnstones forage on the rock jetties. Although the bay has been severely affected by development, efforts are under way to enhance and restore its habitats. The South Bay unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is the environmental crown jewel of the bay.
BirdNote®
San Diego Bay in Winter
Written by Dennis Paulson
This is BirdNote!
[Western Gull calls]
Birds and people share San Diego Bay: [Sound of ship’s horn], a deep-water port, navy ships, pleasure boats, and salt-evaporation ponds. Even so, it’s one of the best bird habitats on the West Coast.
[Western Sandpiper calls]
Western Sandpipers probe the mud for worms and snails in this largest contiguous mudflat in Southern California. [Great Egret call] Egrets stalk the shoreline for a breakfast of fish. [Great Egret call] [Royal Tern calls] Royal Terns crisscross the air, diving for their fish in the deeper water. [Black Turnstone calls] Black Turnstones forage for barnacles on the rock jetties. And wigeons and Brant tip up for eelgrass in the shallows. [American Wigeon and Brant calls mixed]
Although the bay has been severely affected by development, efforts are under way to enhance and even restore its habitats. The South Bay unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is the environmental crown jewel of the bay. It preserves almost 4,000 acres of salt marsh and mudflat. And habitat is being added by converting salt ponds to tidal marsh. The birds love it!
[Western Gull calls]
For BirdNote, I'm Mary McCann.
[Black Turnstone calls]
###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Western Gulls recorded by T.G. Sander, # 125387 Western Sandpipers recorded by M.J. Andersen, #136333 Great Egret recorded by Gerrit Vyn #134123. Royal Tern recorded by W.L. Hershberger, #107474 Black Turnstone recorded by G.M. Bell #67768. American Wigeons recorded by Arthur A. Allen, #2491. Black Brant recorded by Darryl Dahmer #57554.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org February 2013 / 2021 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# sandiegobay-01-2013-02-03sandiegobay-01
Dennis Paulson
Writer