White Wagtail visits the San Lorenzo River

Good Morning dear Nature Cheerers,

White Wagtail(googled)

Have you heard that the WHITE WAGTAIL has been visiting the San Lorenzo River mouth?If you never heard that name and have no clue what that bird looks like then you are in good company. Most local birders didn’t either until it was spotted at Corcoran Lagoon 3 weeks ago. Now every avid, local bird watchers has either seen it and/or studied its picture and background. Why is this 7 inch long tailed bird able to send the Santa Cruz birder community in a twitter, drop whatever they were doing and dash off when the Monterey Bay Birds(MBB) posts its latest location? In case you want to join MBB then use the Santa Cruz Bird Club link to subscribe to the MBBirdsgooglegroup: https://santacruzbirdclub.org/birding-listservers/  Now back to why this migratory WHITE WAGTAIL is receiving so much attention in the Santa Cruz County: this species breeds in Europe, Asia, Africa and has a ‘claw-hold’ in Alaska. The Northern American WAGTAIL population winters in tropical Asia. There have been very few of  reports of them in California since this bird hardly ever strays into the ‘New World’. So this little bird somehow ended up here. It seems to like this area, because it hasn’t continued on its migratory journey. So far I haven’t seen it and I am happy that Michael Levy did, because he has a soft spot for the river wildlife. It’s nice to know that the WHITE WAGTAIL and I share the same point of view: the Santa Lorenzo River is a great place to hangout.

Russell Brutsche: art of a “developed” car-centric downtown

 Mentioning Michael reminds me that a while back I met up with him and Batya as they were enjoying their morning levee ride. We had a wonderful conversation that covered the various river topics that included the fascinating wildlife, the City’s approach to the river’s habitats and our bird observations. Michael brought up that the California Coastal Commission had submitted a letter for the City Council meeting, in which the approval of the 7 story Front St Project was to be addressed. The California Coastal Commission’s objection to that monster Project ruffled the feathers of some City Council members while I confess~ the news of that letter was music in my ears~ because the river deserves better than a massively oversized development. Shelley Hatch and Ron Pomerantz wrote a vivid, descriptive  Sentinel Guest Commentary on what happened in that City Council meeting. It’s worth reading, so click here.

Great Blue Heron hanging out with Snowy Egrets…

I always tell you about our river OSPREY and I thought you might enjoy what somebody else has to say about this beauty. This OSPREY article and its wonderful photos will increase your appreciation for this species. Seraphina Landgrebe’s report ‘Osprey the Fish Hawk’ was published by the Monterey Bay Birding Festival, an organization well worth your investigation. 

River greetings sprinkled with Nature’s sparkles~ jane