This set includes photos from UCSB Lagoon, Goleta Slough and Lake Los Carneros.

Goleta Slough was a very interesting place this month, because of the changes thanks to the King Tide, and also because a number of rarer species were close enough to be photographed. These species include Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, male Red-breasted Merganser, and six female Hooded Mergansers. The latter were photographed late one evening in poor lighting, and return trips to the Slough for better shots were unsuccessful – the birds seemed to have moved on. Also photographed, was the Ward Drive pole-perching Red-tailed Hawk.

The Slough mouth was closed and at a not-abnormal height before the King Tide occurred.  The waves from high tide during the King Tide phase were such that they washed across the beach into the Slough and filled it much higher than normal. During this time, all of the usual avian residents were forced to take refuge against the cliffs of the Slough, which made for some really neat photo backdrops. A picture of the beach facing toward Santa Barbara shows the wet footprint of the waves that crossed over the sand to fill the Slough.

Bulldozers were used to reopen the Slough mouth, and apparently the water went out with some haste. At low tide the level was so low, that birds seen from the viewing platform included Black-necked Stilts wading in between diving and dabbling ducks. It was a scene of great activity – an open-air restaurant filled with busy beaks. Unfortunately, low tide coincided with dusk and the photos were not easy.

On Saturday, the UCSB lagoon was surrounded by Brown Pelicans – there were many on the ocean, several groups floating on the lagoon and a good number resting on the little island below the faculty club. The San Nicholas wetland is an area of the lagoon that is becoming very birdy, and a great and interesting improvement from the previous weedy field ( nicely done).

Of interest at Lake Los Carneros, were a California Thrasher and a Song Sparrow that seems to be without a tail (a baby?)

To see a large version of the slideshow on Flickr, please click here.