The Bolsa Chica Wetlands Interpretive Center is a good place to stop for hiking maps and information about birds that have been seen at the wetlands. Located in the Interpretive Center is a small aquarium and numerous mounted birds are on display to help visitors identify common birds that they may encounter while hiking the Wetlands Trails. Bolsa Chica is one of the premier bird watching areas in the United States; therefore, there are always a lot of people on the hiking trails.
The Interpretive Center docent gave me a Bird Checklist, so that I could keep track of the different birds I saw while hiking; but I didn't tell him that the print on the Checklist was so small there was no way I could even read the names of the "186 regularly occurring species and the 116 less frequently seen species." I also didn't tell him that I didn't know the difference between a Double-Crested Cormorant and a Black-Belied Plover, which were both on his list Bird Checklist.
It is possible to hike all three wetlands loop trails in one day; so I arrived early in the morning on a week day, only to find the parking lot half-full of vehicles. People were standing all over the place wearing floppy sun hats and they had high-powered binoculars hanging around their necks. Without running over anyone, I located a parking space and pulled out my hiking boots. After putting on the right boot, I pulled out another right boot. Wait a minute! I only brought along one right foot. Since the extra right-foot boot did not fit on my left foot, I had to make a decision - cancel the hike or wear my dress shoes. Actually, it wasn't a hard decision to make because I didn't like the dress shoes that I was wearing anyway. However, since I did not have appropriate footwear for hiking, I decided to limit my hike to just the Pocket Loop Trail. (Fortunately, I started early because just as I returned to the Interpretive Center three bus loads of high school kids arrived.)
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I also saw a Vampire Bird that was not on the Bird Checklist. The bird kept looking at me out of the corner of its eye, so I backed away slowly. I could just envision the crazy Vampire Bird landing on my shoulder and digging those hypodermic needle-like fangs into my neck and draining out all of my blood! Where were all of those people with the floppy hats and high-powered binoculars when I needed them?
When I returned to the Interpretive Center I told the docent about the Vampire Bird, but he would not believe me; so I sent him a picture. I'm certain that right now he is out trying to confirm my find because he has never responded to my email. Since the bird was not on his Bird Checklist, I decided a good name for the bird would be "Ronnie Western Pacific Two-Fang Gray Vampire Bird (Roni vampir mane avis accipit vermis)."
Once the sun came out and it warmed up, I also encountered numerous lizards and bugs.
Since I did not have a telephoto lens for my camera, and most of the birds were too far away to photograph, I decided to take some pictures of things that I found on the hike. The pictures are not arranged in any particular order, but generally just in sequence as I walked along the trail
During WW II the military was worried that the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles may be attacked by the Japanese Navy, so Bolsa Chica was used for military coastal defense operations. A bunker with a series of underground tunnels was constructed and the facility was fortified with large artillery placed on Panama Gun Mounts. Although most of the military improvements have been removed or destroyed, at Mesa Point the Gun Mounts are still in place.
I'm still trying to decide if I should notify the Audubon Society about the "Ronnie Western Pacific Two-Fang Gray Vampire Bird!"
BONUS PICTURE
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