Bodega Bay is well known for the famous 1963 horror-thriller movie “The Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock. Some of the original buildings seen in the movie still exist. I visited Bodega Bay last summer in late August. I was able to see many birds there even though I didn’t walk far along trails. I also saw a lot of volunteers doing great work cleaning up the shore and bird habitat area. There are camping sites close to the beach which must be fun except when strong winds blow. I had a lot of fun on this trip.
Here are birds I saw there:
White-crowned Sparrow Juvenile
Juvenile California Gull
Snowy Egret. They have yellow toes and black legs.
Ring-billed Gull
Black-bellied Plover in flight.
Immature Red-necked Phalarope
Male and Female Surf Scoter. Look at the unique face design!
Brown Pelican. Their wingspan is about 78.7 in (200 cm)!! Yep, they are huge.
Marbled Godwit. They have pink and dark bills. They poke into sand and find food when the waves went.
Western Gull
Nonbreeding Western Gull
Juvenile Western Gull
Herring Gull
Female Brewer’s Blackbird
Male Brewer’s Blackbird
Caspian Tern is one of the largest Terns in the world.
European Starling
Juvenile European Starling
Juvenile European Starling
Least Sandpipers have yellowish legs.
Western Sandpipers have very dark legs.
Brown Pelicans and Brandt’s Cormorants occupied the small island.
Pelagic Cormorants have beautiful emerald green eyes and purple green black bodies.
American White Pelicans. They are also huge birds. They have long, pink or orange bills.
California Scrub-Jay. They are almost everywhere in California. I see them everyday. They love peanuts!
Green Heron. He was walking in a pond very slowly.
I saw American Goldfinch Molting Male first time. I thought this was a new bird for me. After I looked at my picture books, I realized that they are regular members in my yard.
Black Oystercatcher. Check out the pink legs! They almost look human.
Great Egret and Canada Geese
California Towhee
Common Loon Immature
Information for Bodega Bay
・Drive 90 min from San Francisco International Airport
・Drive 40 min from Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport
There is a local restaurant BOAT HOUSE on the Bay hwy on the hill. Their fish and chips were tasty. The floor of the restaurant was kind of slanted in one area. Besides fish and chips, they have BBQ oysters. I’d like to try it next time. If you’re a seafood person, you will enjoy dining there.
