Bird-Watchers Go Along for the Ride

The best way to get a bird’s-eye view of Upper Newport Bay is not by plane, but by boat.

Birds that use the wetlands spend most of their time at water level, either bobbing on the surface of the estuary, combing the mud flats for food or darting among the marsh grasses.

Bird-watchers tend to train their binoculars from the edge of the marsh, especially from vantage points along Back Bay Drive, but there’s an alternative way to see the bay. Three times a month, naturalists lead leisurely canoe tours that allow visitors an intimate, water-level view of the reserve.

Participants paddle themselves, lending the event an aura of adventure that doesn’t necessarily attend the more usual nature walks.

Since the canoe tours were started about 1 1/2 years ago, they have become one of the most popular programs at the reserve, says ranger John Scholl. The canoes are on loan from the Boy Scouts, and the naturalists who lead the tours are volunteers, so the price is right: free to members of the California Wildlife Campaign (an $11 annual fee) or $2.25 for non-members.

Saturday, a light drizzle fell as the tour was set to begin but subsided soon after. Six canoes set out from the small wooden dock at Shellmaker Island and set off on a meandering tour of the bay.

Although many wintering birds have already departed for breeding grounds to the north, the reserve is still rich with avian life. Brown pelicans, in their distinctive breeding plumage, sailed just above the water, while cormorants stood on the shore, drying their wings.

Volunteer naturalist Lane Koluvek helped point out and identify some of the birds spotted along the way. Forster’s terns darted above the water, black skimmers went on feeding runs just above the surface. Farther back in the bay, along the mud flats, sandpipers, marbled godwits, dowitchers and American avocets were seen, along with several species of ducks (including buffleheads) and several solitary great blue herons.

In addition to helping with identification, Koluvek gave background on some of the birds that use the reserve. The black skimmer, he pointed out, is the only bird whose lower mandible is bigger than its upper, allowing it to “skim” its bill in the water as it flies, trolling for small fish.

He pointed out a stand of cordgrass, a crucial habitat for the endangered light-footed clapper rail. The bird ties its floating nest to the cordgrass, allowing the nest to rise and fall with the tide without floating away. More than 70% of the light-footed clapper rails remaining in the United States nest in Upper Newport Bay.

More than 100 bird species use the back bay, the largest remaining wetlands in Southern California. Monthly surveys by volunteer teams have counted as many as 86 species in a single day. In addition to providing a crucial breeding ground for such endangered birds as the light-footed clapper rail, the wetlands is critical feeding stop and wintering grounds for birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway.

The upper bay also serves as a nursery for dozens of fish species. From the canoes, however, most are invisible, and only a few mullet break the surface with a splash and make their presence known.

Experience in a canoe is not required for the tour, which moves leisurely with frequent stops to observe wildlife and to learn about the natural history of the bay. Two people are placed in each canoe, and everybody paddles.

Visitors with their own craft need not join a tour to paddle the bay. Much of Upper Newport Bay is open to small craft moving less than 5 m.p.h., and kayaks and canoes are a familiar sight. The back portion of the bay, beyond a dike, is closed to all craft because it contains most of the delicate nesting sites.

Upper Newport Bay was one of nine reserves statewide that became part of the California Wildlands Program at its inception in 1989. The program allowed the state Department of Fish and Game, in partnership with the county Harbors, Beaches and Parks department, to fund a full-time ranger and launch a series of nature programs.

Among the regular offerings are campfire programs, kayak tours, nature walks, evening “owl prowls” and monthly twilight cruises on an electric boat. Many of the programs are free or discounted with membership in the California Wildlife Campaign; programs such as the canoe tour are $2.25 for non-members.

A number of Earth Day activities are now being planned for April 26 on Shellmaker Island, where the reserve now maintains an office, and where program organizers hope to someday build a science education center and marine lab, largely for the use of the many school groups that visit the back bay.

Ranger John Scholl also organizes a number of volunteer projects at the bay, including an annual cleanup that last year retrieved 30,000 pounds of trash, and regular efforts to remove pampas grass from the habitat. The fast-growing plant has no value to local wildlife and is displacing some native species.

Canoe tours of Upper Newport Bay are offered three times a month, with the next tours scheduled for April 11, 18 and 25. Participants should reserve a spot in advance and meet at Shellmaker Island (off Back Bay Drive, just north of Newport Dunes) at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. tour. For information on any events at the reserve, call (714) 670-6746.