Number of participants: 38 + 3 leaders 

Start time 8:15am 

Finish time 10:50am  

At the beginning of the walk, the first thing we noticed was how high the water level was in the lagoon.  During the king tide and large swells last week, the sand berm between the lagoon and the ocean was breached and sea water entered the lagoon.  Although the high water level covered mudflats and some roosting areas, we got to experience the natural rhythm of the lagoon's ecosystem.  Many birds were fishing in the lagoon's waters and mullet seemed to be jumping everywhere, an encouraging sign that the restoration project is working and the lagoon is coming back to life.  

Some of the birds we encountered are arctic tundra breeders, traveling a great distance to winter here in Southern California - see a few of their range maps below: