Date: 8/22/25 2:32 pm From: Florence Sanchez via groups.io <sanchezucsb11...> Subject: [sbcobirding] East Beach and bird Refuge, Aug. 21
Steve Colwell and I spent a little time birding yesterday morning before it got too hot. We started at East Beach in the hope of being able to pick up some interesting terns. However, we found the flock of 300 or more terns was up in the air, constantly flying from West to east, never alighting for more than a few minutes. After this went on for quite a while with no sign of ceasing, we moved on to the Bird Refuge.
The areas of exposed mud are gradually increasing, but are not extensive yet. Best bird in the Refuge was probably the White-faced Ibis, feeding in the shallow water near the east end. There were a lot of Black-necked Stilts, a Yellowlegs, and several small shorebirds, including Semi-palmated Plover, Least Sandpipers, and Western Sandpipers. We had 5 species of Heron, including a large flock of Snowy Egrets that included several very young birds. Among the Ducks, we found a couple of Shovelers and a female Blue-winged Teal.
We returned East Beach for another look and found a group of about 100 Terns had settled in by the blue lifeguard tower. We scanned through them, but they were all Elegant Terns with the exception of 1 Royal.
We decided to follow up on a report of Wood Duck in the Mission Creek Outfall to see if it was in the pond at Chase Palm Park. We found it on the grounds with the Mallards and it turned out to be a splendid male. This bird is worth a visit--I don't recall seeing one this colorful in Santa Barbara before.
Florence Sanchez
