Pictures in Wonderland: The Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Ben and I walked The Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach today. It's one of Orange County's unsung treasures. The Reserve is about 300 acres of preserved coastal wetlands, including bluffs, marshes, and mesas.  It's a major migration spot for thousands of birds each year –kind of like a hotel along Route 66, but for sandpiper and pintails.  When you get there you cross a wooden bridge, over a coastal inlet*, that leads to a looped trail which takes about an hour to walk (if you're not with a five-year-old who has to jump off every rock).

As a high school student, some of my friends and I trained as docents through Amigos de Bolsa Chica to lead tours on Saturdays (which they still do).  Sadly, all I can remember is the term "Pacific Flyway" and talking bitterly about urban runoff.  It's entirely the only reason I know what a coastal inlet* is.  I only "led" one tour and promptly quit because it was WAY too cold out there. Pathetic? Yes. Shallow? Yes. True? Unfortunately, yes.  

It's still a beautiful place to take a stroll and get your fill of nature, wildlife, the great outdoors and all that kind of thing…

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We listen to some Van Morrison on the way home: 

Tupelo Honey