I walked around west Devereux late Sunday afternoon to see the recently reported bird arrivals - and to continue on to Sands Beach to see the visiting Least Terns, that Callie reported.

(Devereux - August 12, 2007)

At the northwest corner of Devereux, a community of birds was very busy feeding, but the path was too far away for any good shots. Identified amongst the many birds were a great number of Egrets, many Black-bellied Plovers, probably Western and Least Sandpipers, Black-necked Stilts, the usual Black Phoebes and an Ash-throated Flycatcher (lots of Mallards). Further along the path toward the beach, many Phalarope were seen in the deeper water of the slough - Red-necked and reportedly Wilson’s. The seemingly ever-present Belted Kingfisher flew away from a hidden perch.

(Sand’s Beach - long line of peeps - August 12, 2007)

Sand’s Beach is really quite fabulous - where a large number of birds, big and tiny, share the beach with humans. The birds know that the area behind the rope lines is safe - and often perch at the edge where they can observe what is going on, retreat to safety (from humans) or make a dash to the sea. When I arrived at the beach, there was a long single-line of shorebirds extending from the roped-off safety haven to the sea. As people approached, the birds would retreat and then move forward again after people passed by. Eventually some walkers disturbed them into the air, and they landed further down the beach - see the sequence in the slideshow at the end of the post.

(Young Least Tern - August 12, 2007)

A number of Least Terns have brought their offspring to the beach to feed and school the youngsters in fishing. Callie Bowdish said on her website that there are 20-30 birds at Sand’s Beach. I used my new portable stool and sat and watched them for about 10 minutes, and took a few pictures - photos in slideshow.

(Adult Least Tern - August 12, 2007)

As usual, there were numbers of Snowy Plovers (it is a very successful breeding site despite daily use of the beach by humans), and a few new arrivals of Semipalmated Plovers, Whimbrels and Sanderlings, many with breeding plumage.

(Snowy Plover - August 12, 2007)

On the walk back along the western side of Devereux again, plumes of Pyrocumulonimbus clouds from the Zaca fire were seen above Camino Cielo. Marc Kummel, who lives on East Camino Cielo, did some research on these clouds and wrote up about them on this page.

(Pyrocumulonimbus clouds from Zaca fire - August 12, 2007)

Close to 6:30pm in the evening, many swallows and a handful of Great-tailed Grackle were perched along the overhead wires along the north end of Devereux slough. One of them appeared to be a very young Tree Swallow with fluffy feathers.

(Young Tree Swallow - August 12, 2007)

SLIDESHOWS

The photos in the text are just some of the photos taken. To see all of the photos, please click on the link below.

• Slideshow of photos taken in Devereux, August12 2007

LINKS OF INTEREST

• Callie Bowdish - Bird Pictures Mostly from Devereux Slough, Goleta Slough, Coal Oil Point, and Sands Beach in Santa Barbara County
• Marc Kummel - Pyrocumulonimbus clouds
• Coal Oil Point Reserve - University of California