Both Marbled Godwits and Willets are common birds of open beaches in southern California for most of the year. Only during mid-summer (mid-June to mid-July) are they rare. That's the peak of breeding season in the Great Basin where the local population breeds. Even then, a few non-breeding birds (probably those only a year old) remain in summer. Of course, by September, most birds have left their breeding areas and migrate south. Some will continue south, but many thousands will remain along the southern California coast for the winter.
These birds are also found in estuaries and lagoons, but have learned to accept people on the beaches, too. So they ignore people for the most part, running away or flying off if they get chased by children, off-leash dogs, or beach walkers getting too close. Of course, I'm not too happy when I'm sitting on the beach photographing these birds and people come up and deliberately chase the birds away. People can be... people (and that's not a compliment).
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| Marbled Godwit. Imperial Beach, California. September 30, 2018. |
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