Environment : Notes about your surroundings.

Migration Update--The fall migration of shore birds has been in full swing for weeks, and now land birds are migrating through the county. According to local birder Doug Willick, the migration has started somewhat early and will peak in early September through early October. Huntington Central Park, a favorite local birding spot, has already had some very good days, Willick says.

Western migrants arriving in the county now, various species of warblers, tanagers and flycatchers, are transients and will continue to move along to wintering grounds farther south. Birds that spend the winter here, most prominently the yellow-rumped warbler and white-crowned sparrow, will begin arriving in large numbers in late September. In October, birders will begin searching for wayward Eastern migrants, called vagrants, which somehow deviate from their migration routes and end up in the county. Finding such unusual species is a favorite pastime for avid bird enthusiasts.

“Definitely, we’re entering the most active time of the year,” Willick said. “There just aren’t enough days in the week for most birders.” Coastal salt marshes, especially Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica ecological reserves, are the best places to see shore birds. Coastal parks, such as Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach, are best for viewing migrating land birds.

After the spring migration tapers off, summer is traditionally a slow time for spotting unusual vagrants. Willick, who compiles rare sightings in the county for American Bird magazine, makes the following reports.

* July 8: a Baird’s sandpiper at Los Alamitos Basin in Seal Beach (another was seen Aug. 9 at the mouth of the Santa Ana River, a more typical time of year).

* July 16: a male indigo bunting at Huntington Central Park. The same bird is apparently still there, and was joined by a female Aug. 20.

* July 29: a laughing gull at Upper Newport Bay (seen again last week; presumed to be same bird).

* Aug. 8: a lesser nighthawk along the Santa Ana River in Anaheim.

* Aug. 16: a magnificent frigate bird, the third of the season, in Seal Beach.

In addition, two peregrine falcons spent the summer at Bolsa Chica and another spent the summer at Upper Newport Bay, “which I guess is becoming a more routine thing these days,” Willick said. The bird, once apparently faced with extinction, is being successfully reintroduced to much of its old range.

Least Terns--According to numbers received by Willick, a colony of endangered California least terns on Huntington State Beach, near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, had a very poor fledgling success rate this breeding season, with only five successful chicks produced by 70 pairs of adult breeding birds. The fenced area has had problems with predators in the past.

Colonies at Bolsa Chica and especially Upper Newport Bay apparently had more success.