Look for California gulls, American avocets, brown pelicans, snowy egrets

Birdwatchers need not despair now that the winter migrants are gone. Plenty of shore birds can be found on summer evenings in the natural coastal wetland areas of San Diego County. From south to north the publicly accessible coastal wetlands include the Tijuana River Estuary, south San Diego Bay (just north of Imperial Beach and along the bay shore at Chula Vista), the San Diego River channel (inland from SeaWorld), Los Peñasquitos Lagoon (adjacent to Torrey Pines State Reserve), the San Dieguito River estuary, San Elijo Lagoon, Batiquitos Lagoon, Agua Hedionda Lagoon, and Buena Vista Lagoon. In and around these areas look for California gulls, American avocets, brown pelicans, snowy egrets, killdeer, and redwing blackbirds.

Grunion Runs are predicted to occur during the late evening hours (generally 9:15-10:20 pm and before 1 am), following the nocturnal high tide, July 28 through July 31. The small, silvery grunion tend to spawn on wide, gently sloping beaches such as Silver Strand, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla Shores, and Del Mar. Open season for grunion starts in June, and from then until the end of summer, the fish can be collected in reasonable numbers using the hands only (fishing license needed for persons 16 years of age and older). For more information, visit wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Grunion.

The Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower, typically one of the year’s ten best showers. The predicted peak for this shower is the wee hours of July 29, when you might see a handful of brighter meteors streak through the sky each hour.

The above comes from the Outdoors listings in the Reader compiled by Jerry Schad, author of Afoot & Afield in San Diego County. Schad died in 2011. Planet information from SkyandTelescope.org.