So, I’ve heard so much about Whelan Lake and how awesome the birding there is… so I couldn’t wait to check it out. You park at the end of a random residential street and follow the Whelan Lake Bird Sanctuary directional signs… which are posted right next to “no trespassing” signs. Whenever there is a bird sign, there are three no trespassing signs.
We knew that people birded here and that the BVAS is in the process of purchasing the land and that we were told it was ok to go birding here so we kept going. We walked down a long and dusty path that just kept getting creepier with rotting barns and houses littered on either side of the road. Fence posts were full of old guard dog signs and we started to wonder if we went the wrong way because there were no shoeprints in the dirt yet there were no forks in the road where we could have taken the wrong direction.
Eventually we decided to turn back. On our way back down the path, we saw a group of birders in the distance in a field but couldn’t figure out how they had gotten there. They were too far away to hear us, so we decided it just go ahead and give up.
This kestrel and a mockingbird were the only birds we saw. Not the list I thought we would get, but I guess we need to do research before trying again.
Have you birded at Whelan Lake? Where did we go wrong?
Birding Ninja 
Sadly some days birding are like this, and you don’t bring much home with you, which makes you appreciate the good days. I have come to appreciate that every bird I see is a gift.
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I know. You can tell when it’s a ‘bad’ birding day when all you could see more birds in your backyard than out in the ‘wild’. Most of the summer has been like that for me. 🙂
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…where is Whelan Lake?
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Whelan Lake is located at the top most part of “San Diego” in Oceanside and butts up to Camp Pendleton. It’s also right next to the Oceanside’s San Luis Rey Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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