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Thriving in an Urban Environment [1]

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Date: 2022-08-05

Great Egret (far lower left) hunts on the tidal flats at the Bolsa Chica Reserve a few yards from the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and the main lifeguard station at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

I love the Bolsa Chica Reserve — it is several hundred acres of wildness in the middle of one of the most urbanized places in the US — the Los Angeles Basin. A popular beach and major highway form the west boundary, 2 major 6-lane arterial streets form the north and south boundaries while the east side is delineated by bluffs topped with multi-million dollar homes. It’s less than a 20 minute drive from Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.

Yet Bolsa Chica is filled with wildlife — birds, reptiles, small mammals as well as native flora flourish in this remnant of the original coastal chaparral environment.

The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.

We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.

Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.

I was lucky enough to get close enough to see how one resident survives. Here is a Great Egret, the same one shown in the title photo, catching lunch. I photographed the sequence from the trail bridge when I realized he was actively fishing.

Strike! — water drops fly into the air as the egret plunges his head into the water to catch his prey.

Yum — the egret has captured something long and skinny

The prey is fighting back by wrapping itself around the bill in an effort to escape.

The egret has taken control again

Only the tail can be seen as lunch is being slurped down.

I watched other birds successfully find food. At low tide, dozens of shorebirds work the mudflats for sustenance. Terns, Gulls, Cormorants and Pelicans can be seen resting on sandbars scattered throughout the reserve.

I’m working on my bird ID’s as I have lots of LBSBs — Lil’ Brown Shore Birds in my photos and I am really fuzzy on these guys so it may take me a while. I am jazzed as I saw my first Eared Grebe and Royal Terns. When I get the birds sorted out, I will post a Bucket.

In Orange County this week with my mom, the temps aren’t too bad — mid 80s but may go up to 90 over the weekend. What’s up in your neck of the woods?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/5/2108924/-Daily-Bucket-Friday-Sequence-Thriving-in-an-Urban-Environment

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