Tijuana Slough NWR
Approximate Birding Time: 2-3 hours
Facilities: There are restrooms at the visitor center or at next-door Imperial Beach Sports Park, off 4th Street.
Directions: Visitor Center: Take I-5 to Coronado Avenue in Imperial Beach (NOT the exit to Coronado Island!!!! Imperial Beach is almost to the border...). Go right at the stop, and follow Coronado Avenue (which turns into Imperial Beach Ave.) for about three miles; turn left on 3rd Street, where you'll see a sign for the refuge, and the road will curve around to the center's parking area on your right.
McCoy Trail
There are three major access points that I like to bird;
McCoy Trail starts from the Visitor Center and heads down into the slough
area, about a five minute walk or so to the canal (unless you're distracted by
lots of birds!). The vegetation around the center can host common
songbirds such as Anna's and Costa's Hummingbirds, Black Phoebe, Western Scrub
Jay, Hermit Thrush (winter), House Wren, Bushtit, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (winter), Yellow-rumped Warbler (winter), Common
Yellowthroat, and any number of sparrows including Song, Lincoln's
(winter), and
White-crowned (also winter). Suburban species such as Mourning Dove,
Cassin's Kingbirds, Hooded Oriole (summer), and Northern Mockingbirds (in addition to what has been
affectionately referred to as "Euro-trash"...) like the telephone wires.
Watch the skies for various swallows, especially in spring.
Depending on the tides, the ponds can be full, dry, or anywhere in between;
watch for waterfowl in the canals (including grebes and coots), and
shorebirds in the tidal ponds. This is probably the best place in the county to see
the endangered Light-footed Clapper Rail, as they are often poking around in the
open, regardless of the tide. Even if you don't see them, you're bound to
hear their raucous duetting around the marsh! The endangered Belding's
Savannah Sparrow also resides here and often sits up on the fence or bridge,
along with the similar but larger Song Sparrow. Marsh Wrens are sometimes
curious enough to come out in the open, and on rare occasion you may have
American Goldfinches feeding in the weeds next to the trail or
Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the ground in winter. Watch also for
Northern
Harriers or White-tailed Kites cruising the open area, as well as Loggerhead Shrike
and Say's Phoebe (more likely in winter). At the end of the trail, a rest on the bench
watching the marsh might even yield an American Bittern in winter! You
really never know what can show up here; for several years a pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons
hung out and actually bred in the trees in the apartment complex next door,
and a Hepatic Tanager
showed up there and in the sports park for two winters in a row!
Canal at the footbridge
5th Street Trailhead (with kiosk that is no longer there...)
From said bench, you used to be able to see the kiosk across the way (looking
east) that marked the trailhead from the end of 5th Street (officially
called the River Mouth Trail), but it had
disappeared as of this writing! To get to this
trail, retrace your route to Imperial Beach Ave. and turn right. At 5th
Street turn right again and go as far as you can; there's a small parking area
on the right. Personally, I prefer to do this trail first, before the
helicopters at the air field next door start their touch-n-go's (forget hearing
anything once they start...)! Besides the normal suburban birds, watch for
Western Meadowlarks along the fenceline, as well as
American
Pipits in winter (look and listen carefully for stray longspurs as
well), Blue Grosbeaks and Western Kingbirds in summer, and Loggerhead Shrikes
and Horned Larks year round. Killdeer and
sometimes Black-bellied Plovers are usually seen on the grass behind the fence; look
carefully for a stray Pacific Golden Plover. Burrowing Owls
have also begun nesting on base; look for the tell-tale signs marking the nests! The ponds (distant, but in
good light from this angle) can have any number of ducks in winter and
shorebirds year round, but they can be low and hard to see. Follow the
trail south as far as you can; on the way check the large patch of bulrushes on
the right for Marsh Wrens, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, and even
Soras;
the little intermittent pond on the left will often have at least a pair of relatively
cooperative Mallards hanging around in it. This is also a good stretch to
look for Savannah Sparrows: year round the Belding's is common, but in winter
they are joined by paler, nominate races. Keep a lookout as well for the
plainer-backed Large-billed Savannah Sparrow, which shows up along here
occasionally. American Kestrels seem to like this area as well.
Freshwater marsh
Trail to the mouth in spring
On a clear day you can see the Los Coronados Islands, officially in Mexican waters!
Tijuana River
Mob of Elegant Terns and Brown Pelicans
As the trail turns right, you'll see the Tijuana River just south of you, and the trail will lead you to a bench that overlooks the river mouth. Sit here for a few and enjoy a variety of gulls, terns, shorebirds (some relatively close), pelicans, cormorants, and herons (including the vagrant Reddish Egret). In summer, Elegant and Forster's Terns dominate, with lesser numbers of Gull-billed and Royal. Black Skimmers can occasionally be found here as well. Often a wintering Pacific Golden Plover can be seen along the dunes, although these are generally easier to see by walking down the shoreline from the end of Seacoast Drive to the mouth. This is also where the famous Belcher's Gull was found, which hung around for several months in 1997! After enjoying the mob, if you go directly north from there, you eventually come to the canal across from the McCoy Trail (several of us have wished they would build a bridge at that spot!). There's a fresh water pond just before the trail's end on your left with another bench, and this can be a great place to observe ducks up close, and perhaps bitterns. Shorebirds such as Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet are more likely here than in other areas of the refuge. On the way back, there's a connector trail on your left that makes the return trip just a hair shorter.
The slough in bloom
View from the dune at the end of Seacoast
(if you hike the dunes to the mouth) The last place I frequent is at the end of Seacoast Drive;
return to Imperial Beach Blvd. and turn left. Go all the way to Seacoast
Drive (the last street before you hit the ocean) and turn left. Park as
close to the end as you can; from here you can scan the marsh from the
observation deck and sometimes see Clapper Rails along the edge, although during
a very hide tide they are easier to see if you take a stroll up the sidewalk,
where they are often very close! Ducks (look especially for
Red-breasted Merganser in winter), grebes, and herons (including
Little Blue and on very rare occasion Tricolored) frequent the open
water, and this is a good place to spot harriers and (on very rare
occasions) Short-eared Owls. Shorebirds can be seen
closer to the mouth. Scanning the ocean from the beach can be very
productive in winter, with large numbers of Surf Scoters, Western Grebes
(with the occasional Clark's),
and various gulls in winter; look also for loons, cormorants, Brown Pelicans, and
distant shearwaters. Shorebirds frequent the beach, and this can be
a good place for Semipalmated and Snowy Plovers (although your chances
for the latter are better if you
hike down the beach to the mouth). Keep an eye out for a passing
Peregrine Falcon as well. As of this writing (January 2008) the top of
the dunes appears to be open to hikers, but it has been closed in the past, so
be aware of possible changes in accessibility!
Personal Checklist ●=small numbers █ = large numbers (10+)
Please keep in mind that these lists are NOT comprehensive, and that some months may have had poor overall coverage. Species in red are out-of-place, irruptive, or vagrant species and should not be expected.