Bird watching at the Orange County Great Park? You bet!
It may look like soccer fields and tennis courts, but our feathery friends have made their home in the middle of all the action.
Even open spaces designed for cars and sporting events attract interesting birds. For an easy walk around the stormwater collecting ponds and adjacent soccer fields 1-7, enter from Marine Way, turn left on Ridge Valley, right on Phantom, and right again into Parking Lot 1.
Look up at the sky and check light fixtures. Scan for movement in the trees, low shrubs, and grassy edges. Bring binoculars and a field guide if you have them. Here’s a checklist of what you might see on a bright winter day:
- Mallard
- Ring-necked Duck
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Cooper’s Hawk
- American Coot
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Mourning Dove
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Allen’s Hummingbird
- Black Phoebe
- Say’s Phoebe
- Cassin’s Kingbird
- Vermilion Flycatcher *
- Tropical Kingbird *
- American Crow
- Common Raven
- Western Bluebird
- Northern Mockingbird
- American Pipit
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Savannah Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- House Finch
*Rarities sighted by experts in this area.
(Photos below taken at GP near Parking Lot 1:)
Vermilion Flycatcher
Cooper’s Hawk
