page_title: Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: Sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) strewn around the intertidal mudflat of a salt marsh. Taken from a footbridge at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in a March afternoon.
context_page_description: Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve is natural public land in Orange County, governed by the state of California, and immediately adjacent to the City of Huntington Beach, California. The reserve is designated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect a coastal wetland and upland, with both migratory and resident threatened and endangered species of wildlife and wildflowers.
  The western boundary of the ecological reserve abuts two other state agency lands of State Highway #1 managed by Cal Trans and the California State Department of Parks and Recreation.
  The term bolsa chica means "little bag" in Spanish, as the area was part of a historic Mexican land grant named Rancho La Bolsa Chica. The Reserve is also called many other names, including Bolsa Chica Lowlands, Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.
context_section_description: Among the wildlife in the Reserve are the shovelnose guitarfish, grey smooth-hound sharks, California halibut, and white seabass. There are also snakes in the grassy areas of the wetlands, ranging from harmless kingsnakes and gopher snakes in various colors to rattlesnakes, including western diamondbacks and Pacific rattlesnakes. Other wildlife include western fence lizard, cottontail rabbit, Beechey ground squirrel, and coyotes.
  In spring and fall, the Reserve is home to many migratory birds. As many as 321 out of Orange County's 420 bird species have been sighted at the Reserve in the past decade. Bird species at the reserve include the endangered light-footed rail, snowy plover, Savannah sparrow, least tern, Caspian tern, great blue heron, snowy egret, double-crested cormorant, red-tailed hawk, great horned owl, and California gnatcatcher.
caption: Sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) grows in the wetland water predominately during springtime.[12]
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