VENTURE TO

California

September 21-30, 2006

From rocky coastlines to arid deserts and from traffic-clogged highways to bleak open roads in the middle of nowhere, California is a land of contrasts. Our hotel in San Francisco was perfectly situated to give us great views of arriving airliners (if you like that sort of thing!) and shorebirds roosting just off the nearby walking trail. How often can one get within a few feet of roosting Marbled Godwit, Willet and Black-bellied Plover? Coyote Point was a new destination for us and definitely one to keep for future trips. It was here that we had our best views of some recently arrived Golden-crowned Sparrows, our only Hermit Thrush and a very obliging Nuttall's Woodpecker. The drive down to Monterey was spectacular, although we did get into our hotel after dark and quite tired- it must have been the effect of the garlic and the winding drive through the farmlands, although we never actually found the town of Gilroy! Thankfully the Monterey pelagic with Debi went very well. Waters were smooth and the birding not too bad. We had good numbers of shearwaters and jaegers, but it was low on overall diversity with no great rarities. Moonglow Dairy and the associated wetlands of Elkhorn Slough are always great places to visit and this time was no exception. We had views of plenty of Tricolored and "Bicolored" Blackbirds in the reedbeds, as well as an excellent selection of shorebirds in the saltmarshes. Our stay in San Luis Obispo was very pleasant with our hotel serving a great selection of local breads, pots of home-made jams in a very relaxing and home-style ambience. Thankfully the Yellow-billed Magpies were cooperative (eventually!) and a new stop at the Oceano Campground was excellent with a mixed-species flock in the campsite- complete with both Hermit Warbler and Pacific-Slope Flycatcher. We missed the American Redstart, but that was no great loss really! Situated on the coast and with a wide range of habitats, Montana de Oro State Park is a spectacular place to bird. Here our target species was California Thrasher which was seen and heard well. As we traveled southeast towards the Mojave Desert the weather began to heat up, and the vegetation decrease. In the mid-day heat, he Carrizo Plain was initially fairly birdless, but patience and good luck brought us an obliging Barn Owl and a large flock of sparrows feeding on the only green lawn in the valley. Included in this flock were 3 very easy to see Sage Sparrows, which meant we did not have to slog through any vegetation to find them; very nice. Unfortunately we then had to drive towards the "Day Fire" on the flanks of Mt Pinos and a closed road meant that we dipped on White-headed Woodpecker. However, with a bit of research and luck we did claw back on this species the next day on a special trip up into the San Jacintos -phew. Despite the reputation, bleakness and smell of the Salton Sea, I really like the place and was looking forward to plenty of shorebirds, ducks, grebes and much, much more. Plus there were reports of some Blue-footed Boobies on Mullet Island. Unfortunately we arrived late in the day, so all this had to wait until the next day.

Morning came warm and early, so we were up with the birds in search of our quarry and soon we were watching a small flock of Inca and Common Ground-Doves feeding in a farmyard. Along with these expected birds were 2 Ruddy Ground-Doves- our target bird this morning, along with a couple of Abert's Towhees. Small numbers of Ruddy Ground-Doves have been in the area for at least the past year and may even be breeding locally, so this was indeed a good find. Then it was off to the Sea for another target bird, the localized Yellow-footed Gull. This was easy and we soon had great views of at least half a dozen individuals at various spots around the lake. But the boobies continued to elude us and the heat haze was making it very hard to see any distant birds. Armed with better directions we set off through the bushes and across the hard-packed mud to scope Mullet Island. Even with help we still couldn't find them, so we decided to give up and head home. Fate had another idea and as we turned the van around, 2 wheels sank into the mud and no amount of digging could get us out. A call was made to a local towing company while we sat there waiting for help to arrive, which it eventually did. What does one do while waiting, but scope Mullet Island again? And there they were, 2 Blue-footed Boobies perched near the northwest corner of the island. Help arrived in the guise of an old pick-up which ably pulled us from the glue-like mud- what a relief. Heading back towards Los Angeles the next day we scooped up several target birds along the way including California Gnatcatcher and Allen's Hummingbird. It was all in all a great trip to California

Simon Thompson

Shorebirds in SFO Bay

Sunset over Anza-Borrego

Yellow-footed Gull

Monterey Cypress along 17 Mile Drive

Joshua Trees

Pod of Northern Right-whale Dolphins and Pacific White-sided Dolphins

Mormon Metalmark

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