2013-05-15 Tijuana River Valley

My plan for this Wednesday morning was to explore the Tijuana River downstream from the Bird and Butterfly Garden and discover how far it would take me into the estuary. My traversable path ended before I reached the reserve where a ‘political’ boundary would have prevented further advance. Instead, it just petered out in a marshy delta and a muddy mess, where good sense halted my progress. I found the location at the trail’s end suited my need for quiet sanctuary, so I sat and enjoyed the solace and the company of those birds who shared it with me. Not surprisingly, I was the only human at this remote spot while I visited it.

The path I travelled led through the winding course this meandering riverbed has carved, with tree-lined ponds and its riparian ecosystem which I appreciated as I carried myself westward. I passed several long and wide waterways finding observation points atop tall cutbanks from which I could ambush waterfowl with my camera.

The birds I met on this expedition were Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Red-Winged Blackbird, Sora, Osprey, Forster’s Tern, Least Tern, Snowy Egret, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Mallard.