{"id":507510,"date":"2026-10-25T13:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507510\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T13:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:30:11","slug":"outdoors-san-diegos-mild-winter-a-haven-for-migratory-birds-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507510\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoors: San Diego\u2019s mild winter a haven for migratory birds \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was one of those blustery winter days at the seashore, and the residents had the sand and the sea all to themselves.<\/p>\n

I have friends who might think of themselves as residents at local beaches, but I\u2019m talking about the shorebirds who depend on this narrow interface between ocean and land for survival.<\/p>\n

As I zipped my fleece a bit higher and pulled the hood over my head, I was surprised at the crowd, even though I could see only a few people in the distant mist.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccrowd\u201d was composed of sanderlings, those tiny shorebirds who seem so joyful as they play catch-me-if-you-can with the rhythmic flow of incoming and receding waves.<\/p>\n

\"AA sanderling. (Ernie Cowan \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so much fun watching them as they move in unison, running to higher ground as waves roll in, then dashing back toward the water as the foam rolls back.<\/p>\n

It was not a game at all for the sanderlings.<\/p>\n

When not disturbed by beach visitors, this is a normal feeding behavior as they chase incoming and retreating waves and in between probing the wet sand in search of food that might include sand crabs, marine worms, tiny clams or beach fleas.<\/p>\n

While most people enjoy San Diego\u2019s spectacular beaches in summer months, nature lovers are now drawn to the coast to visit with the many bird species who have migrated here during the winter.<\/p>\n

While some common shorebirds are here all year, like the sanderlings, those populations will increase and be joined by migrants who travel from colder climates to enjoy our mild winter hospitality.<\/p>\n

Some of these migrating visitors travel great distances from their summer breeding grounds in the northern Arctic and arrive here as early as July with numbers peaking about now.<\/p>\n

\"AA western sandpiper. (Ernie Cowan \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Another species whose population swells in winter is the western sandpiper. By midwinter it becomes the most abundant shorebird along the San Diego coastline, most often found in tidal mudflats, local lagoons, Mission Bay and less frequently along beaches and rocky shores.<\/p>\n

Migrating shorebirds love our winter beaches, lagoons and bays and are a great way to introduce youngsters to the joys of nature because of their numbers, ease of locating and interesting adaptations to feeding.<\/p>\n

A great example is the long-billed curlew.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not lying when I tell you this bird looks like Pinocchio after a long day of telling fibs.<\/p>\n

\"AA long-billed curlew. (Ernie Cowan \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Not only is this America\u2019s largest shorebird, but this winter visitor also has the longest beak relative to body size, measuring nearly 9 inches in length.<\/p>\n

This bird feeds primarily in coastal mudflats, lagoons and estuaries, and the specialized beak allows it to probe deeply into mud in search of burrowing crabs, ghost shrimp or other food sources that live deeper underground.<\/p>\n

The bill tip also has specialized nerve endings that allow the bird to detect vibrations and movement that helps it find its food deep in wet sand.<\/p>\n

While most common in Mission and San Diego bays, it is also found in the mudflats at the Tijuana River Natural Estuarine Reserve, coastal lagoons, Salton Sea and Lake Henshaw.<\/p>\n

Because of its size and distinct, downwardly curved bill, this is an easy bird to identify in the field.<\/p>\n

A pleasant hike along the north McCoy Trail from the Tijuana River Estuary Visitor Center should give you an opportunity to see this interesting bird.<\/p>\n

During your outings you might also spot a Hudsonian whimbrel and confuse it with the curlew.<\/p>\n

While the whimbrel also has a downward curved beak, it is much shorter than the curlew beak.<\/p>\n

\"AA marbled godwit. (Ernie Cowan \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The marbled godwit is another large shorebird you might encounter during winter hikes at local estuaries and tidal flats.<\/p>\n

They are slightly smaller than the curlew, but the key to identification is a very slightly upturned beak of about 5 inches in length.<\/p>\n

The godwit also feeds by probing into sand and mud but also eats small fish from shallow water or gleans insects from the water or land.<\/p>\n

If you are a fair-weather beachgoer, the migrating shorebirds of winter give you a great excuse to get outdoors and enjoy some of the birds you might not see when beaches are crowded by people in warmer months.<\/p>\n

If you are up for a little travel, this is a good time to plan a trip to Imperial Valley and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n

Sandhill cranes and snow, Canada and Ross\u2019s geese have begun arriving for the winter, filling the agricultural fields in the refuge with as many as 4,000 cranes and 30,000 geese.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an impressive sight and sound when thousands of the birds lift off to move to another feeding location.<\/p>\n

The 38,000-acre refuge\u2019s visitor center is at 906 W. Sinclair Road, Calipatria, and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

In addition to cranes and geese, the refuge is host to a variety of raptors, including falcons, kites, kestrels and hawks, visible from several elevated viewing platforms.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s largest concentration of burrowing owls is also found throughout the refuge.<\/p>\n

Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email\u00a0ernie@packtrain.com<\/a> or visit erniecowan.substack.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was one of those blustery winter days at the seashore, and the residents had the sand and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[18719,195908,195911,1103,1727,10359,74,76,75,195909,195910,195915,195914,195912,195913],"class_list":["post-507510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-ernie-cowan","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-marbled-godwit","tag-mission-bay","tag-outdoors","tag-salton-sea","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sanderling","tag-shorebirds","tag-sonny-bono-salton-sea-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-tijuana-river-natural-estuarine-reserve","tag-western-sandpiper","tag-whimbrel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}