A Four-Wren Day in Morro Bay

We recently stopped in Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County) for a day and enjoyed the birds and critters. Let’s set the scene… As we strolled the Embarcadero, barking California sea lions and squawking Western Gulls competed for “Most Enthusiastic Welcoming Committee,” while sea otters lounged lazily in the distance.

Underneath the pier, we discovered the first of many Black-crowned Night-Herons in the area.

Also puttering around under the pier was a Rock Pigeon, probing for and collecting nesting material.

As we walked along the metal-grated walkway overlooking the water, amid the loud coos of a Rock Pigeon we heard an incessant, high-pitched vocalization we guessed was a baby bird.

At first, we turned our attention upwards, investigating a nearby building for signs of a nest, to no avail. Then, by tuning in more carefully to the direction of the sound — we discovered a nest just a foot underneath the metal walkway, with two Rock Pigeon nestlings laying quietly. Imagine that — thousands of footsteps right above your cozy home every day!

Along the opposite side of the bay, a seemingly constant stream of Brown Pelicans soared by gracefully.

As we approached the T-shaped dock designated as an “otter viewing area,” a Red-tailed Hawk appeared overhead.

The sea otter is in Teresa’s “Top 5 Favorite Critters,” so the presence of a grooming otter at the dock delighted us to no end!

For maximum cuteness, watch this 1-minute video of the otter’s whole-body grooming routine!

 
Turns out, we weren’t the only interested party around — this Black-crowned Night-Heron appeared to be watching the otter as well.

After 20 minutes of intense grooming, the sea otter rolled over several times to wrap itself in kelp before closing its eyes for a snooze.

On the pier railing, a Rock Pigeon strutted by doing a little courtship dance and cooing at its beloved.

We headed down the road to explore Morro Rock, and discovered it was home to countless California ground squirrels.

Alongside the parking area, two more sea otters drifted by — one big and one little!

Also abundant on Morro Rock was this year’s crop of White-crowned Sparrow juveniles. Check out that fleshy “gape flange” at the corner of its bill.

Suddenly, the first wren species of the day announced itself by singing from atop this rock — an appropriately named Rock Wren.

Not to be out-competed in the king-of-the-hill game, this ground squirrel posed atop a rock of its own.

Next up, a Bewick’s Wren with its signature bright-white eyebrow sang loudly in a circuit around the coastal scrub.

Listen to a few bars of this Bewick’s Wren’s three-part song below. You can also hear a White-crowned Sparrow singing prominently at 0:04 and 0:16 seconds.

As we watched the Bewick’s Wren performing, an energetic and incessant set of vocalizations caught our ear — baby Bushtits!

We followed our ears and discovered the whole Bushtit gang inside a single coyote brush. Look how fluffy this juvenile’s plumage is, and — similar to the juvenile White-crowned Sparrow from above — notice you can still see the tiny, yellow “gape flange” at the corner of its mouth.

Both Bushtit parents were in constant motion, hard at work feeding their brood. Below, notice how worn and disheveled both parents’ plumage is. If you look extra close, you can see a tiny sliver of a pale eye on the bird on the right — indicating it’s the female.

As we admired the Bushtit family, a unique song we’d hoped to hear drifted across the wind to our ears — a Canyon Wren! Listen below to the set of descending musical whistles.

Though we’ve heard a Canyon Wren in the wild before, we’d never been able to lay eyes on one… until this special wrenny day in Morro Bay.

The rock-colored Canyon Wren bopped this way and that among the rocks. With that camouflage and their propensity to disappear into crevices, you can imagine how difficult they are to detect visually.

Giddy from our Canyon Wren encounter, we headed to our last stop of the day — Montaña de Oro State Park, where we explored the Dune Hazard Trail. Upon exiting the car, a House Wren greeted us immediately with song — the fourth and last wren of the day.

Listen here to this individual’s jaunty, quick-paced song.

After a few minutes of song, the House Wren flew down to a pile of branches on the ground for a sunbathing session.

As we set out walking, we stopped to inspect a hornet’s nest — from a distance, of course.

The sound of two crows making a racket in the eucalyptus grove clued us in to the possiblity that they might be alerting to the presence of a nearby predatory bird — listen below.

As we approached the vocalizing crows, a large, winged figure emerged from the branches and flew 50 feet away. We peered in our binoculars and excitedly discovered a Great Horned Owl, just as the crows landed above the owl and resumed cawing.

We moseyed along, but continued to hear the crows harassing the owl for over 30 minutes straight!

As the grove of eucalyptus trees gave way to a coastal scrub hillside, we heard the distant song of a California Thrasher. The California Thrasher, like its cousin the Northern Mockingbird, is a member of the Mimidae family and thus sings a song that cycles through imitations of other bird sounds — listen below.

We eventually spotted the songster at the top of the scrubby hillside across the ravine.

Emanating from the nearby gully was the beautiful, ethereal song of a Swainson’s Thrush. As is so often the case with this bird, we never got a clear view of the thrush, only detecting some movement in the bushes as it serenaded us.

At the coastline, more graceful Brown Pelicans wafted by in a seemingly constant stream.

On the walk back to the car, several more songbirds graced us with their presence, like this Spotted Towhee rooting around the ground.

Listen to a few renditions of its classic song here.

A yellow bird flitted and darted amid the plant foliage near the ground, and for a while we couldn’t catch a glimpse of its face.

It turned out to be an Orange-crowned Warbler.

Another member of the Parulidae family (the New World warblers) sang in the vicinity — this Wilson’s Warbler.

To bookend our walk at the Hazard Dune Trail, the same House Wren (presumably) was still hopping around next to our car, occasionally singing from the exact same eucalyptus as before.

Thanks, San Luis Obispo County — we hope to visit again soon!