Notes about your surroundings.

They’re Baaaack--The first shore birds are arriving in Orange County’s salt marshes as the fall migration gets under way. The new arrivals are still in their brighter breeding plumage, which distinguishes them from the shore birds that spent the summer here (most of whom, too young to breed, remained in their duller winter plumage).

Later this month, the first juvenile shore birds will begin arriving with the migrating adults, with shore bird numbers peaking in September. Some of the birds will stay in the county through winter, while others are just stopping over to refuel on their journey farther south.

Among the land birds, a few species of hummingbird started arriving in July, and some warblers and flycatchers will begin to appear this month. Most of the land birds, though, will make their appearance in September. Waterfowl, bringing up the rear of the migration parade, will begin arriving in September.

The best places to observe the shore birds are the Bolsa Chica and Upper Newport Bay ecological reserves. Central Park in Huntington Beach remains the premiere local spot to see the land birds.

Tern News--It has been a successful breeding season for the terns at the Bolsa Chica reserve, not only for the endangered California least tern but also for the elegant terns (more than 800 nests), Caspian terns, Forsters terns, black skimmers and even a few pairs of nesting royal terns. Caspian tern chicks, brownish birds with bright-red bills, can be seen from the Bolsa Chica boardwalk as they wade along the margin of the marsh waters.

Black skimmers, which until just a few years ago were not known to nest north of San Diego, have established a nesting colony at Upper Newport Bay, in addition to the one at Bolsa Chica. More than 250 skimmers were counted there last weekend.

The California least tern colony at Huntington State Beach, near the Santa Ana River, had a very poor season, with almost zero breeding success. It is not clear whether the nearby highway construction affected the birds.

Rare Birds--A magnificent frigate bird, a large marine bird that usually makes its home farther south, was spotted at the Bolsa Chica reserve on July 13. A male rose-breasted grosbeak, an eastern bird, was seen in Huntington Beach’s Central Park on July 29. “It’s really an odd time of year to have a rose-breasted,” said Doug Willick, who records rare bird sightings in the county for the National Audubon Society. “We might only have one or two other summer records.”

Meanwhile, a little blue heron that was first seen at Upper Newport Bay in January was seen again on July 28, after an absence of sightings for several weeks. In its pure-white juvenile plumage when first spotted, it has now almost completely molted into its adult plumage.