Visiting Huntington Beach after Hurricane Matthew

A short trip to Huntington Beach State Park on Oct. 30 yielded nice observations of some of our area bird life. The park was closed after the passage of Hurricane Matthew to allow staff to clean up damages, and reopened Oct. 28. With a forecast for clear skies and summer-like temperatures, I made my way down there on Sunday morning. Upon my arrival, I noted a nice group of white wading birds assembled on the backside of Mullet Pond (the lagoon alongside the causeway.) As the tide was high at the time, I decided to go take a stroll on the marsh boardwalk. There I saw a few great egrets, including an individual surveying the marsh from its perch on the boardwalk railing. A few double-crested cormorants were preening and sunning near the end of the boardwalk, while a laughing gull was perched on a nearby sign in the marsh, calling whenever another gull would fly past. As I stood there, an adult laughing gull in non-breeding plumage and a juvenile alighted on the railing at the boardwalk's end. A greater yellowlegs called as it flew past, and a clapper rail was heard calling distantly from the marsh.

In the parking area, a pair of Northern mockingbirds engaged in a territory dispute, and a warbler, perhaps wishing to distance itself from the impending fracas, darted from the canopy of a live oak on a southerly heading, too quickly to allow for an identification. Brown thrasher, Northern cardinal and Eastern towhee were heard calling from the forest understory.

Continuing to the North Beach parking lot, I made my way to the overlook into Sandpiper Pond, where a group of 30 or so great egrets were assembled. A few American robins were gleaning berries from the tops of nearby shrubs when a ruby-crowned kinglet popped up briefly, then darted away into denser vegetation, from which a Carolina wren called heartily.

A quick walk down the path to the shore yielded sightings of a few monarch butterflies engaged in their southerly migration, along with a cloudless sulphur. A song sparrow called from vegetation alongside the path. There were quite a few folks enjoying the beach and fishing, and a few brown pelicans were noted gliding just above the ocean surface.

Returning to the causeway area, I made my way out onto one of the overlooks. A belted kingfisher called as it flew across the pond. The group of birds observed earlier had left the water's edge and were perched in the trees nearby. A quick scope view yielded views of great and snowy egrets, white ibis, and a few wood storks there.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Visiting Huntington Beach after Hurricane Matthew."