Local Birders Keep Tabs On Lake Elsinore Wildlife

Courtship and mating games on Lake Elsinore may give some cause to blush, but Wildomar resident Julie Szabo uses binoculars and a high-powered scope to peep in closer.

Szabo is a birder who calls herself an “amateur ornithologist.” She’s been studying feathered wildlife at Lake Elsinore for nearly 20 years, and says the local habitat offers a dizzying array of species.

On April 9 Szabo led a bird walk that started off as a two-vehicle motorcade on the Lake Elsinore levee. Although the morning’s unseasonably cold weather iced the windshields, the three-hour walk provided a "bird-eye" view of spring's nesting season.

“It’s a birders paradise out here,” said Szabo as she parked her lead vehicle to look upon a pair of Western Grebes performing a mating ritual called the “rushing ceremony” in which the birds rise up and run across the water together.

The five bird-walk participants watched in fascination as Szabo provided background on the Grebes.

“There were more than 10,000 of them spotted out here last year, “ she explained, noting that both Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes inhabit the area. “This year we’re not seeing as many and we’re not sure why yet.”

The “we” includes officials from UC Davis and the city.

“They (UC Davis) were out here last week monitoring the Grebes,” Szabo said. “They’re checking on them.”

Grebes are prone to several diseases and their numbers are carefully watched. In March 2003, more than 300 Grebes were found dead and emaciated from unknown causes at Lake Elsinore, according to findings compiled by UC Davis.

“We have known of numerous Grebe colonies at various reservoirs in Southern California,” said Kristofer M. Robison, UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. “Lake Elsinore is one water body that we have visited, and continue to visit.”

Working with UC Davis, the county, and the city, Szabo helps count bird populations at Lake Elsinore. During the April 9 trek, Bill Moramarco, a seasoned birder from Fallbrook, was on hand to count with Szabo; he documented 55 total species.

The number was lower than the Jan. 2 annual Christmas counts that saw 127 species and over 17,000 individual birds in a 12-hour period, but that's to be expected.

"That's when we see the most," Szabo said, explaining that many migratory birds winter in the area.

Pat Kilroy, who is the director of  the Lake, Parks and Recreation Department for the city of Lake Elsinore, said the lake offers nearly 360 acres of wetlands habitat in the back basin, which was part of mitigation for the levee’s construction.

“Just because it’s set aside as wetlands doesn’t mean it functions as wetlands,” Kilroy admitted, explaining that the area gets too dry and more vegetation and shoring up are needed.

To construct a more viable wetlands habitat, however, Kilroy said it's a matter of money and it’s not easy to come by.

During the April 9 walk, Szabo peers through her scope to get a closer look at herons nesting in nearby trees.

There is a quiet calm looking out on the water. Different species dive and dip and call. The horizon is a brilliant palette of large gray clouds set against a bright blue sky, with dark green mountains towering in the foreground.

Carlsbad resident John Ross and his girlfriend Nadine Hunter of Murrieta are on Szabo’s tour.

Ross explained that he and Hunter are inexperienced birders, but they enjoy the outdoors.

“We like to hike and camp, and we really appreciate the wildlife,” he said. “I had no idea this lake was so beautiful.”