Notes about your surroundings.

Bolsa birds--The spring migration has resulted in a changing of the guard at the Bolsa Chica wetlands, with terns supplanting ducks as the most common visitors this time of year.

Birds spotted over the last several weeks at the wetlands include a few hundred elegant terns, as well as some Caspian and Forster’s terns. Several least terns have also been observed.

Snowy plovers and American avocets are nesting on the wetlands’ South Tern Island. The plovers are a state species of special concern, but the small birds are attracted to the man-made island’s undisturbed, sandy beach area.

Belding’s savannah sparrows, on the state’s endangered species list, are a common sight this time of year at Bolsa Chica, attracted by its coastal salt marshes and pickleweed.

Rarities to the wetlands spotted recently include three white pelicans, a group of red knots, eared grebes and several whimbrels.