The Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Estuary State Park
Always on the lookout for a new spot to go find birds, especially shorebirds, led me to find this great spot. The Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is a part of the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. This area is a large protected area featuring wetlands and located just south of San Diego.
The beach of the Wildlife Refuge is easy to access, just south of Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach. The beach goes south to the Tijuana River. Tijuana, Mexico is easily seen from the beach, as this beach lays at the very south end of the US. On a clear day, the Coronados Islands of Baja can even be seen!
The beach has great ocean views, and often a lot of birds in the area. There is a nice boardwalk/sidewalk from Seacoast Drive that provides views to the east, looking out over the refuge. This is a great spot for a lot of wildlife, so be sure to take some good looks out to see what might be there! From the walkway, a rocky trail is built up from the beach, which makes it easy to head south on foot and still be able to see the beach and the refuge on the opposite side. This beach tends to be fairly calm and quiet since swimming is not recommended. We mostly passed people walking or running, or out looking for birds like we were. (Signs are posted indicating that the ocean has sewage contamination, so really, stay out of that water.)
We stayed out on the beach, walking as south as we could to the Tijuana River mouth. That river was too high to walk through, so we stayed on the small stretch of beach. The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center is on the other side of the refuge and offers a nice visitor center. They have maps, info, gifts to buy and restrooms with running water. From that visitor center and parking area, there are some great trails through the refuge and lots of options for walking around. We were there on a rather hot day in September, so we stayed on the beach for the cooler air.
One of my favorite scenes from our day at this beach was a Snowy Egret playing in the waves. It was warm out and this bird seemed to be having so much fun frolicking in the waves. I’m sure he was looking for something to eat in those waves, and in fact, caught a couple of little bites, but there were moment of him running in and out with the waves that seemed like he was just goofing off and cooling down in the water. It was fun to watch.
One of the highlights of this wetland is the Light-footed Ridgway's Rail. This bird only lives on the wetlands of the southern California coast and into Baja, Mexico. Being a very secretive bird that likes to live in thick marsh environments, they are very difficult to spot. This bird has been considered Federally Endangered since 1970 due to the loss of this type of habitat. We didn’t get to see this very elusive bird, but it was nice to see where it lives and to know that it has this protected space to safely live.
The California Least Tern and the Western Snowy Plover are two other species that can be found here. The Least Tern is also listed as Federally Endangered and the Plover is threatened. These two birds nest on beaches and are often caught in the human activity on those beaches. It’s always important to watch your feet on a protected beach (or any beach), since these tiny birds can blend in so well that they are almost invisible (especially the nests and babies).
An adorable Snowy Plover - a threatened species on our SoCal beaches.
The Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge offers a great space to get away from the hustle of the city, and to enjoy some very peaceful and quiet space. If you enjoy watching birds, this is a great spot to visit!
