Monterey, Big Sur,
and Southern California
26 Sep
- 4 Oct 2006
Tour Guide:
Henry Detwiler
A awesome week of desert, pelagic, and coastal birding with Julie and
Dennis in beautiful California.
215
species--bird list is at the bottom of the page
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
SATURDAY
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Pfeiffer Burns State Park
At Big Sur State Park we got our first looks at
towering Redwoods and added the reclusive (for us, anyway) American Dipper
feeding in the middle of the river.
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Today we headed down Highway 1, marveling at the
beautiful coastline and enjoying forest birds like
Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Steller's Jay.
Redwoods at Big Sur
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Pfeiffer Burns State Park
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South of Big Sur Park I spotted some suspects cruising the ridgeline,
and pulled over in a rush. They turned out to be a flock of
California Condors! Later, we saw two condors even more closely,
sporting colorful heads and gleaming white wing linings.
Elephant Seals |
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Just north of Morro Bay we saw a "herd" of Elephant Seals hauled out
on the beach. We reached the town just as the sun was
setting--a truly glorious sight! |
SUNDAY & MONDAY
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White-headed Woodpecker
San Gabriel Mts.
Monday morning we headed north into the San Gabriels, where the birds
once again outnumbered the cars on the road. Our first stop
yielded Band-tailed Pigeons and Western Bluebirds. Higher up
we came upon more White-headed Woodpeckers than I'd ever seen in one
place
before, and at the top of the mountain we got a few Clark's
Nutcrackers. |
Sunday brought rain and chilly temps, but with
perseverance we found a few Yellow-billed Magpies. A trip up to
Mt. Pinos was thwarted mid-way by the "Day" fire, and then
we got snarled in the infamous LA County traffic on our way to Santa
Clarita--but our steak dinner was good!
Band-tailed Pigeon
San Gabriel Mts. |
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TUESDAY
|
Willet, San Elijo Lagoon
The "Drip" at Cabrillo National Monument was good for this jay and an
early Fox Sparrow.
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San Elijo Lagoon proved reliable for California
Gnatcatcher and numerous shorebirds.
Western Scrub-Jay, Point
Loma |
Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Caspian Way |
At Caspian Way we searched for a reported
Yellow-crowned Night Heron. We looked for it at the wrong
address at first, and found his neighbor, the Black-crowned Night
Heron dozing high in the middle of a Eucalytus Tree. When we went next
door--there was Mr. Yellow-crowned--preening in the same location, in the same
kind of tree, just one building over! |
WEDNESDAY
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Pacific Golden-Plovers, Tijuana River mouth
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A long, sandy, walk the night before had yielded no Pacific
Golden-Plovers. However, with a little luck and sharp-eyed
spotting, we eventually hooked up with these two beauties early on
Wednesday morning.
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After a bee-line drive to the Salton Sea, we were once again surrounded
by a myriad of fantastic birds.
Brown Pelicans
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Osprey, Salton Sea
Brown Pelicans littered the snags, and a variety of raptors shared
the dead branches with them.
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At one time we had eight pelicans, an osprey, and this Peregrine
Falcon in the same tree.
Peregrine Falcon, Salton Sea |
Brown Pelican
We struck out on the Spotted Dove in Niland, but did see all the
other expected species there: Inca, White-winged, Mourning,
Eurasian Collared-Dove, and Common Ground-Dove. We made it back to
Yuma by 6:00 pm, several hundred birds richer for our week-long
adventure! |
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