Birdy weekend with a bird festival

OK, it's the weekend again!  And, it's birdy and the weather is awesome! If you want to help the least tern and visit an island in Mission Bay that you usually can't visit, then contact Christina Hirt of the San Diego Audubon Society at hirt@sandiegoaudubon.org or call 858-273-7800 x106 ASAP.

Basically, what you will be doing is removing trash and invasive plants from FAA island on Mission Bay. It's a known least tern nesting area that has been having some success since it started to be maintained. The event takes place THIS SUNDAY, March 8th, probably in the morning. You have to contact Christina to find out the time and location of where the boat will pick you up. Once you are there, you can't leave until everyone's done, which will be in about three hours. There's no restroom or anything you can use as a restroom, so don't drink any coffee or juice that morning. But, do bring a water bottle and sunscreen.

Unfortunately, I've been sick a lot lately and haven't had the energy to work on the least tern sites this year. But, I may go to the San Diego Bird Festival at Mariner's Point. This year, not only Sunday set aside as a family fun day, THE WHOLE WEEKEND is going to have free family-friendly events. Friday and Saturday's free events go on throughout the day. There will be a couple of free bird walks in the area as well as kid's art classes, a class on attracting birds to your garden, and an expo with optics and live birds. On Sunday, most activities start around noon, but the 'Big Sit' along the bicycle path starts early in the morning. There are some events that might require a fee.

The Big Sit bird numbers around mid-day last year

Mission Trails Regional Park will have an art reception on Saturday, March 7th from 1-4 p.m. in their visitor's center. They are currently exhibiting work for the Pastel Society of San Diego. They are located at 1 Junipero Serra Trail near Mission Gorge Road.

Unfortunately, I posted too late for an upcoming hike on March 7th from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. They required RSVPs on March 5th, so it's too late to reserve a spot. I'm just mentioning it because I want people to be informed about the Reserve and keep their eyes open for the next hike. They usually have a hike at least once a month. They're located in Southeast-Central San Diego County (east of Spring Valley). If you want to ask what hikes they will be having next time, call 619-654-3793.

GBBC, Weekend to-dos in San Diego, and the Chargers

I happened to get extremely ill last weekend, so I had to limit some of the bird counting for the Great Backyard Bird Count. I did see some interesting birds, but the only unusual one I saw was a cackling goose at Chollas Lake:

In the South Bay, I saw a bunch of shorebirds, too!

Shorebirds in the South Bay

This weekend, San Diego Audubon will have what might be the last Salt Works tour of the year. They close it down during the summer so that the birds can breed in peace. There is a long tour of about four hours and five miles long. And, a short tour which could last up to three hours. Once you go in, you can't leave until the tour is over unless it's an emergency. Though kids are welcome, it's not recommended. My experience has been that kids under 10 or 12 tend to get bored and restless as the pace is slow. They also must stay with the group and can't run ahead or stop to play anywhere.

It might be canceled due to the predicted rain this weekend. You can call Peter Thomas at 858-571-5076 for more information. The good thing is that it doesn't start until Noon, so you don't have to get up early for this one. Meet at the gate on Bay Boulevard south of Palomar Street in Chula Vista. Be sure not to be late or you may get locked out.

The Chargers: You may have heard about the Chargers bombshell when they said they've been working out a plan with the Raiders to move to Carson City in the L.A. area. The people in Carson act like it's a done deal and somehow have a plan that involves no public money. Mayor Faulconer here in San Diego is a bit upset because they've been working on negotiating with the Chargers for about nine months now and he says he never knew about these plans.

A lot of people here in San Diego aren't happy with this sudden move. I'm wondering why the same deal can't be worked out here. The only thing I can think of is that it requires the co-operation of another team and San Diego is not a two-team town. So, that means that either the city or the Chargers will have to use their own money.

I love the Chargers, but, I don't think the city should shell out a lot of money for a new stadium considering the team and the NFL make a lot more money.

Now on Examiner.com

I did two articles there recently:

Large Number of Band-tailed pigeons dying

and

Sea Lion Pups Stranding Themselves in Record Numbers