Sunsets at the wetlands offer a magical play of color and light. The sun dances on the water as birds dive bomb for fish, bugs and the last morsels before it becomes dark.

I never knew much about the terns, till my neighbor, Dan, announced that the baby terns were hatching at the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Needing fresh air and a change of scenery, I turned off the computer monitor and packed up the car for a short, two-minute drive to the wetlands.

Arriving in a nearly full parking lot, it seemed that a lot of people are hooked on watching the rare, lovely birds that roost at the Southern California ecological reserve. The walk bridge is often filled with photographers sporting tripods and huge telephoto lenses on their Canons and Nikon cameras.

What's hardest to capture is not the beauty of these graceful acrobats and their daring feats, swooping from the sky above down into the water to snatch a minnow or other fish. It's the dimensional effects such as surround sound and motion as they fly past you. Standing on the walk bridge or wandering the loop trail that encompasses an inlet filled with salt water from the nearby Pacific Ocean, one remembers that there's more to life than computers and work.

Life holds so many special experiences that a movie simply can't capture. And the cost of this bird-watching venture is absolutely free. But be forewarned! The high you get from watching the endangered sea birds teach their chicks to fly, the circling pattern and loud noise they make to confuse predators and keep them away from Tern Island, and the sun going down over the Pacific all make for an addiction, albeit a good one.

Many who have visited have learned more about nature, wildlife and preservation. The wetlands sits at the base of the Bolsa Chica mesa in Huntington Beach, California. It is open during daylight hours. Parking is free, and so is admission. You can't bring pets, nor can you ride a bicycle on the premises. Located on Pacific Coast Highway 1 on the northbound side of the road between cross streets Seapoint and Warner, the wetlands is near the gated entrance to the parking lots of Bolsa Chica State Beach.

When visiting HB, affordable hotels include Hotel Huntington Beach and Howard Johnson Express...two great reasons to spend an overnighter at a California beach.

More Huntington Beach Videos are posted below: