{"id":313801,"date":"2022-08-03T09:04:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T16:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/?p=313801"},"modified":"2022-08-01T19:21:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T02:21:26","slug":"monthly-guided-tours-of-rose-creek-for-bird-watchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/monthly-guided-tours-of-rose-creek-for-bird-watchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly guided tours of Rose Creek for bird watchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small group of bird watchers on a guided tour of Rose Creek on July 31 didn\u2019t know they were in for a real treat: an osprey feasting on a fish on a Mission Bay High School light pole, a mullet it had just caught before the tour even began.<\/p>\n

Tour leader Kyle Fischer, who brought along a field telescope and his smartphone armed with Merlin, a sound-sensitive app that can pick out birds by their song, identified both the bird and its prey for birdwatchers in the free monthly walk of Rose Creek, which begins in the parking lot of MBHS.<\/p>\n

Near the end of the tour, Fischer was able to identify a bird song using the Merlin app as that coming from a Golden Warbler.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been birding since I was a young kid and during the pandemic I started birding a lot more,\u201d said Fischer about his involvement. \u201cI came up here to Rose Creek and noticed trash building up, so I reached out to Friends of Rose Creek. I found out they were leading bird walks. They asked me to help lead them, and I\u2019ve been doing it for two years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteer Fischer pointed out there are regulars and one-timers on his monthly creek bird walks. \u201cYou get a wide range of people, some beginners, and some who have been birding for a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked about the appeal of birding, Fischer replied: \u201cSome people love to bird watch because they\u2019re looking for rarities. Some are making lists, or they\u2019re traveling in birding. Some people just enjoy getting out into nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it fun to be a guide? \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful, I\u2019m very happy to do it,\u201d replied Fischer. \u201cIt\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bird walk tour guide Kyle Fischer pointed out aquatic fowl during a stop along a bridge over Rose Creek. PHOTO BY DAVE SCHWAB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The guide was also quick to point out San Diego is an incomparable place for birding. \u201cMore birds have been seen in the County of San Diego than any other county in the United States,\u201d noted Fischer, who explained why. \u201cIt is because of the incredible diversity of ecosystems,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have far offshore waters. We have desert and mountain habitats. We have chaparral and foothills. We have everything. It\u2019s really phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The birdwatching tour threaded its way up and down Rose Creek along the bike path from the ocean to the north of Garnet Avenue and back. It was a pleasant, early-evening jaunt taking in glimpses of mostly common birds, as participants ducked out of the way of cyclists on the popular PB bike path. Viewed along the way were seagulls, sparrows, ducks, numerous crows, and hummingbirds, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the winter there can be hundreds of coots (migratory water birds) here,\u201d pointed out Fischer.<\/p>\n

Joining in on the tour mid-way through was Karin Zirk, executive director of Friends of Rose Creek, who talked about how things got started. \u201cI used to do tours for years since I first got involved with Rose Creek in 2004,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first one probably happened in 2005. San Diego Audubon helped me do the first few. In the wintertime, I always do two or three, because that\u2019s when all the out-of-town birds are here, the ones that summer up in Canada and Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Zirk: \u201cThe monthly tours have been great because it\u2019s allowed a buildup of people to happen. And now Kyle, an expert birder, really brings the people out. Whenever he comes, we always have a much bigger turnout.\u201d<\/p>\n

BIRD WATCHING TIPS<\/p>\n

Be quiet:<\/strong> Birds are easily startled by loud noises and will flee. It is almost impossible to sneak up on a bird because they hear much better than humans.<\/p>\n

Avoid sudden movements:<\/strong>\u00a0Just as loud noises startle birds, so does sudden movement. Getting close to a bird means stalking it, moving slowly and deliberately. The closer you are to a bird, the more slowly and quietly you should move.<\/p>\n

Follow the crowd:<\/strong>\u00a0In the nonbreeding season (winter months) many small songbirds join flocks of mixed species both for protection and to make finding food easier. Following a single calling bird will often lead you to a larger feeding flock.<\/p>\n

Study habitat:<\/strong>\u00a0Each bird is specially adapted to a particular habitat. What you see will depend in large part on where you look.<\/p>\n

Work the flocks:<\/strong>\u00a0Your chance of finding an unusual bird is far greater in a flock, just because you have more birds to look at.<\/p>\n

Be patient:<\/strong>\u00a0A bird hopping around in a bush will eventually move into a spot where you can get a good look. Bird watching is often about being patient and waiting for the birds to show themselves.<\/p>\n

Get the sun at your back:<\/strong> It is not always possible but moving around so that the sun is behind you will make it much easier to see and identify birds.<\/p>\n

Try\u00a0<\/strong>pishing<\/b>:<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0Sometimes, no matter how patient you are, you just cannot get a good look at the bird. Try pishing, which involves making small, squeaky noises by kissing the back of your hand or making a low whistled\u00a0pish by blowing air through your closed teeth. Here\u2019s how to pish: Clench your teeth, open your lips, and whisper the word\u00a0pish.<\/em><\/p>\n

Avoid brightly colored clothes:<\/strong>\u00a0Many birds have poor color vision, but bright clothes, like whites, will contrast with the surrounding environment and enhance the appearance of movement. Wear darker colors or earth tones to blend into the background.<\/p>\n

Look around:<\/strong>\u00a0Many bird watchers, focused on the flock in the thicket, forget to look at the other habitats around them. In particular, they forget to look up and thus miss the flock of geese or the soaring hawk.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A small group of bird watchers on a guided tour of Rose Creek on July 31 didn\u2019t know they were in for a real treat: an osprey feasting on a fish on a Mission Bay High School light pole, a mullet it had just caught before the tour even began. Tour leader Kyle Fischer, who […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":840,"featured_media":313802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"A small group of bird watchers on a guided tour of Rose Creek on July 31 didn\u2019t know they were in for a real treat: an osprey feasting on a fish on a Mission Bay High School light pole, a mullet it had just caught before the tour even began.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11547,11550],"tags":[13755,13754,12677,12543],"class_list":["post-313801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-bird-watching","tag-friends-of-rose-creek","tag-mission-bay-high-school","tag-pacific-beach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}