I hiked the St. Sal trail at the end of Brown Road in Santa Maria Yesterday, figuring that the dense fog layer was shallow enough to burn off pretty quickly. I found that area was getting sunny when I arrived and hiking conditions were great. But both birding a flowers were not as great as they can be. No Horned Larks: several Lark Sparrows singing but not as many as in some years; and I had only two distant possible Grasshopper Sparrows in the grasses. Flowers also were not as abundant as in previous years, with the possible exception of Blue-eyed Grass. The grasses have really taken over, especially the wild oats.
At the trailhead creek, there was some modest activity with singing Black-headed Grosbeak and a pair of Warbling Vireos. Just after I started up the trial, I had a Yellow Warbler in a willow and I heard one Lazuli Bunting singing from a canyon below the road.
Today several of us ended up at Area K trying to find a Bank Swallow in the swirling mass. Steve Cowell and I had a possible candidate but it got away from us before Steve could get a photo. Others present may or may not have been successful. Meanwhile, I turned my attention to what else might be hanging around. Lingering winter ducks included a pair of Shovelers, at least one female Bufflehead, 2 male cinnamon Teal, and a nice male Blue-winged Teal back in Area L. On the distant bank of Area L, we turned up the continuing Cattle Egret along with a nice assortment of shorebirds: Breeding Red-necked Phalaropes, Kildeer and Semi-palmated Plovers, Least and Western Sandpipers, Dowitchers in Breeding Plumage, and of special interest, 2 breeding-plumaged American Avocets, one of which gave the appearance of a female sitting on a nest. It will be important to keep an eye on these Avocets to see if indeed they do nest.
Florence Sanchez