Famosa Slough

Famosa Slough ©

December 24, 2014, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

About the Slough

Famosa Slough is a 30-acre wetland in the Loma Portal area of San Diego.   It is split by West Pt. Loma Blvd and bordered by Famosa Blvd on the West.  The Slough is owned by the City of San Diego and is dedicated as a natural park.

The slough is a functioning wetland with abundant wetland and upland vegetation, small fish, crabs and mollusks.  The bird life is impressive with a year round population of egrets, herons, avocets, stilts, terns, hawks and falcons.  During the fall and winter, the slough hosts a large number and variety of migratory ducks, shorebirds, and land birds.

Current plans for the slough focus on enhancing its natural resources, educational and passive recreation value.  (Credit to Friends of Famosa Slough)

Chris (Warrior) and I decided to finally take the short stroll from our home through the Slough and see what birds we could identify.  Naturally, there were many more birds than the ones we knew the names for, so that resulted in a few hours of research.  Fun for the both of us trying to “fit” a picture of a bird with the appropriate name.  We’re not experts by any means, so if someone reading this comes up with a more appropriate name for one of the birds, please let us know.

The hike is only about 1.25 miles round trip and is very level so the entire family would enjoy it.  The trails are very well traveled, so no chance of getting lost.  Free parking is available albeit only a few spaces, but this is the intersection where one could park if they desired.  Chris is looking at the parking lot.

With my trusty and beautiful side-kick leading the way, off we go.

This is not a challenging hike by any means, but one can discover so much about the wildlife that grows and lives in our backyard if they take the time.

This female Belted Kingfisher stayed in sight throughout most of the morning.  If I can make a recommendation, come early in the morning to see many more birds out and about looking for breakfast.  Still, at 9:00ish, there was plenty to see.

Wasn’t too long before we saw our first Snowy Egret.  This is easy to identify with the feathers popping out softly over the birds body.

I thought this picture was so pretty with all the colors in the water.  I just wanted to share it with you.

There are so many ducks floating around the Slough that’s its an adventure all by itself trying to identify which one is which.  These are called an American Wigeon and a male Black Scoter.

Well, we’ve been on this hike for about 20 minutes.  One thing we noticed is, there are a lot of benches so one could sit and observe the Slough as needed.

A very common bird in our community is the Black Phoebe.  This one leans toward a slate colored Junco, but I think it’s clearly a Black Phoebe.  Open for discussion though.

A picture of the Slough looking East.

This looks like a flock of Avocet. 

The Great Blue Heron is predominant here.

Although the markings are different, I’m going to guess this is an adolescent Blue Heron on the hunt.  This is a very patient bird taking it’s time to lure its prey into striking range.

Another Snowy Egret watching the running water for something tasty.

The Slough continues under West Pt. Loma toward I-8. 

This is a Monarch Butterfly which is quite common in the area.

This is brackish water where the salt water mixes with fresh water that runs off the neighboring areas.

A very gorgeous Great Blue Heron.

From what I can tell, this is a Cattle Egret.  Love the reflections in the water and the crossing of the legs.

We did not see this beautiful bird in the air, but we think it is a Red-Tailed Hawk.  I should know given my last name, but this is all an educational journey for us.

Just some pretty pictures to see.

Another Cattle Egret.

A male and female American Wigeon.

We continued our stroll through the neighborhood visiting the Pt. Loma Native Plant Garden.  Interesting and takes about 15 minutes to walk the full thing.  Park along the street somewhere close to the main entrance.

Creative use of the retaining wall next to these condos.

Bring a lunch and enjoy a bite at this little park.

Our neighborhoods are full of information and interesting things to discover.  I’m glad we finally took the time to find out about these two precious attractions.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel

Directions and the numbers:

Total round trip is appx 2 miles and basically flat.   Overall this took us about 1.5 hours including the stop and viewing time.

Copyright: All Rights Reserved