Between Seal Beach and Newport Beach, Orange County's coast consists of a sandy strand broken only by the inlet to Anaheim Bay and by the mouth of the channelized Santa Ana River. Tens of thousands of people flock to these beaches on warm, sunny days, while tens of thousands more live immediately back of the coastline on low-lying land that once sup ported extensive salt-water and fresh-water marshes. The underlying rocks are rich in petroleum; you're constantly reminded of that by the sight of rocker pumps, refineries, and storage tanks.
Only two areas along this north stretch of coast have been set aside to protect the last vestiges of the interior wetlands. Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent to the U.S. Naval Weapons Station along Anaheim Bay, is closed to public entry. Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, 530 acres of restored and unrestored wetlands owned by the California Departrnent of Fish and Game, is partly open to the public. Both areas, though relatively small in size, are important as landing sites for birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway.
The noisy coast highway and creaking oil pumps may put you off a bit, but don't let that deter you from trying this pathway around Bolsa Chica Slough. Binoculars, spotting scopes, and/or cameras are de rigueur, of course.
Park in the small lot opposite the main entrance to Bolsa Chica State Beach, 1.5 miles south of Warner Avenue, or 2.5 miles north of Golden West Street. (A second parking area at Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway is reserved for fishermen).
From the parking lot a long, wooden bridge leads over some shallow stretches of tide water invaded by typical salt-water marsh plants: cordgrass, alkalai heath, sea lavender, and pickleweed. Interpretive panels tell of two endangered species of birds that frequent this area: the least tern, which nests on two small, sandy islands nearby; and the Belding's savannah sparrow, a bird that can drink sea water, processing it with hyper-efficient kidneys.
On the far side of the bridge a path goes left atop a levee, eventually encircling a segment of the slough. On the surface and the shoreline you may spot gulls, terns, egrets, cormorants, pelicans, stilts, plovers, avocets, grebes, marsh hawks, herons, and kites. The number and diversity of birds, of course, vary with the season.
At the west end of the path, you swing around a tidegate admitting salt water to the marsh from Anaheim Bay to the north. From this juncture you can walk up to a scenic viewpoint on the lip of a nearby mesa like terrace. Gabrieleno Indians contemplated a far different scene here prior to about 200 years ago: they beheld a broad, shallow bay extending well inland, rimmed by salt- and fresh-water marshes as far as the eye could see.