Southern
California ABA Tour
Jan
12-17, 2005,
Outstanding weather!
Guide- Bob
Miller
174
species total
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
Day 2 - Thursday
(continued)
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Spotted Towhee
By the time we left the lagoon we had four
Californians (Gull, Thrasher, Towhee & Quail) seen and one heard but one proved elusive. The
rest of the trip I was teased, in good nature of course, for the
California Gnatcatcher that we missed. |
It was a nice day for singers as the Spotted
Towhees, California Thrashers and California Quail demonstrated for
us.
California Thrasher
|
Surf Scoter |
After some fine sandwiches at Togo's we made our way to the San
Diego River and Quivira Basin picking up many new birds along the
way. Surf Scoter have been scarce in San Diego this year so
this female by the jetty was a pleasant surprise. Our last
stop was on Cabrillo where we sighted a Black Oystercatcher and a
fine sunset. |
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Tide pools
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The crew minus one
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Day 3 - Friday
American Coot |
At Santee Lakes we were
greeted by this overly enthusiastic stampede of American
Coots. Very comical! |
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Double-crested
Cormorants
|
These Double-crested
Cormorants were all facing away from each other. We wondered
who was ignoring who.
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We hit the raptor jackpot at the Ramona Grasslands with
numerous Ferruginous Hawks including this nice comparison of dark
and light morphs. A pair of White-tailed Kites and a far off
Golden Eagle were treats as well as Western Bluebird and
others. |
White-tailed Kite
Ramona Grasslands
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Ferruginous Hawk
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Ferruginous Hawks
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Day 4 -
Saturday
Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area
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Sunrise on day
four found us walking several miles into the Algodones Dunes
Wilderness Area in search of LeConte's Thrasher, desert wildlife
and flowers. Our desert southwest is having a wet winter
after many years of drought and it is greener than I have seen in
twenty ears.
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Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area
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Algodones Dunes Wilderness
Area
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