Notes about your surroundingsSan Joaquin Marsh Trip--The...

Notes about your surroundings

San Joaquin Marsh Trip--The Sea & Sage chapter of the National Audubon Society will host a field trip to the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh on Saturday.

The 200-acre reserve is a research area and not usually open to the public. The marsh is home to a variety of upland, marsh and open-water bird species.

Participants will walk about three miles; they are asked to wear sturdy, water-resistant shoes.

Those who would like to participate are asked to meet at 7:30 a.m. at the entrance to the UC Irvine Arboretum at Jamboree Road and Campus Drive.

For more information, call the chapter office at (714) 261-7963.

Young Audubons Meeting--A veterinarian will show children how to care for pets at a program Wednesday sponsored by South Coast Audubon, a chapter of the National Audubon Society.

The program is open to children ages 5 to 12 and is free.

It will be at the Boys & Girls Club, 1304 Calle Valle, San Clemente.

Bird Rarities--The Sea & Sage chapter of the National Audubon Society reports that there have been a fair number of rare bird sightings so far this winter.

A painted redstart was seen in a Costa Mesa greenbelt area and appears to be set in for the winter. It was the fourth recorded sighting of such a bird in the county.

Irvine Regional Park in Orange was the site of several sightings of note. They include a zone-tailed hawk, a clay-colored sparrow, a red-naped sapsucker, a Scott’s oriole, a Harris’ sparrow, a vesper sparrow and a summer tanager.

About four Scott’s orioles and a northern, also known as a Bullock’s, oriole were seen at Santiago Oaks Regional Park in Orange.

Two Eurasian wigeons and two hooded mergansers appear to be wintering at Upper Newport Bay.

Also in the coastal area, a great-tailed grackle was seen near Shellmaker Island in Newport Beach and a thick-billed kingbird was spotted at the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach. Also, a reddish egret first spotted a couple of months ago continues to be seen at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

And at Huntington Central Park, sightings included two ash-throated flycatchers, at least two black-throated warblers, a white-throated sparrow and an Eastern phoebe.