June through August 2007 — Devereux Slough, Goleta Slough, Coal Oil Point, and Sands Beach.
Coal Oil Point Reserve — August 24 through September 2, 2007. Record numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes, with Wilson's Phalarope, Black-bellied Plovers, Forster's Tern, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, and other birds. Devereux Slough is a designated Audubon Important Bird Area.American Avocets at Devereux Slough — August 24, 2007. LDevereux Slough — August 2007. Birders enjoyed the diversity of migrating birds and the prospect of a rare peep appearing among them. Phalaropes arrived in record numbers.The handoff: Least Terns brought their fledglings to COPR, where they fed them and taught them to fish in the slough and ocean. Only two chicks hatched at COPR because of skunk predation, so fledglings arriving from other locations were a consolation. View the August 2007 slideshow.Between 20 and 30 Least Terns stopped at Coal Oil Point Reserve with their young fledglings. I counted at least 13 fledglings — August 11, 2007.Coal Oil Point Reserve — July 21 and 26, 2007.Red-winged Blackbird at Devereux Slough — July 14, 2007. View the June 24 through July 14 slideshow, including White-tailed Kite, beach hoppers, Long-billed Curlew, Mallard chicks, herons, egrets, Snowy Plover chicks, and Black-necked Stilts.Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens at Goleta Slough — July 11, 2007. View the Goleta Slough slideshow, featuring nesting Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, Caspian Terns, gulls, and low-tide snails.Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology — June 23, 2007.
