Day 261: June 16, 2025 – San Diego, California
One of the joys of travel is reconnecting with friends scattered around the world. At our stop in San Diego, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Ron and his wife Liz. Ron and I have known each for over half a century, since our high school days in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They indulged me in two of my favorite things: Dunkin’ Donuts, and birds.
Bridgeport is where my Dunkin’ Donuts obsession began (I started working there in high school), so it seemed only right that we start the day with an early-morning Dunkin’ run.
We then headed over to the Tijuana River Estuary, a nature reserve in Imperial Beach, where the Tijuana River meets the Pacific Ocean.
Even though Ron is not a birder, he managed to spot a lifer for me, the Ridgway’s Rail. It spends its life mostly in dense vegetation; we were able to watch it feeding its chicks in the mudflats.
The estuary turned out to be a fine spot for birding, with about 20 other bird species spotted.
These little snails on feathery plants caught my eye; they looked like an artistic still life. Mr. Google identified the plant as wild fennel, though I’m not sure about that.
13 responses to “Where the River Meets the Ocean”
Really enjoyed spending time with you, and thanks for motivating us to see something new in our own backyard!
Loved catching up with you both, hope to see you again somewhere on this journey!
What a good looking, happy trio of friends!
Great find with the Ridgeway’s Rail! Love the “birds only” sign!
Did you have any adventures in Kauai or Maui? Ports were on opposite sides of the islands for the best birding. 🙁
I did enjoy both islands, and spotted a few good birds, including Nene, the official bird of Hawaii.
I also love capturing bird pix, and I always enjoy seeing your wonderful photography of the ones you spot. Like you, I love to look for unusual plants, creatures, and fungi when I travel to new places. Your last photo, with the little banded snails on the woody branch, shows some interesting seeds that I’ve never seen before. I’ll have fun seeing if I can identify it. Always looking forward to your next adventure! 🙂
back on the mainland ! And traveling North. Look forward to seeing some pics of the western coast area. Its been a while since we have heard from you. I guess that was crossing the Pacific.
I just haven’t been able to keep up with the posting. Too many pictures, too little time for blogging!
What a handsome collection of birds! The snail photos are lovely, too.
They are good-looking, aren’t they!
Lovely!!
What a wonderful reconnection with your old friend. And those snails on the plant are so unusual. It doesn’t look possible that the plant could hold them all.
That was the thought I had when I first saw them, the plant looks too fragile to hold them. But it did…
What a wonderful reconnection with your old friend. And those snails on the plant you’re so unusual. It doesn’t look possible that the plant could hold them all.