Prairie Warbler, Point Loma

   
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San Diego & Laguna Mts.
Sep 28-29, 2002, 45 - 85 degrees
- narrated by Henry Detwiler

Two days of wonderful birding with Chuck & Diane Gooding in San Diego and the Laguna Mountains.  
125 species
Click on thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.

We started at 6:30AM on a warm, overcast morning, and drove directly to the sod farm on Dairy Mart Road.  A Long-billed Curlew and several Killdeer were the only birds in the nw corner, and our hopes for rare shorebirds were dwindling.  Chuck spotted a flock of White-fronted Geese, a pair of White-tailed Kites worked the far channel, and both Ravens and Crows circled overhead.  A brief glimpse of a distant Baird's got our hopes up, and we headed over to the ne side.  Horned Lark, more Killdeer, a few W. Meadowlarks, an American Pipit, and then BINGO, we had our Ruff!


Chuck & Diane Gooding
north of Tijuana River mouth

At Smuggler's Gulch we looked at Phainopepla, California Towhee, California Thrasher, and Lesser Goldfinch.  Wrentits called from the hillside but wouldn't cooperate.  Border Field State Park was still closed due to flooding, so we set off to the Tijuana River. 
   

Walking down the seacoast to the n. side of the Tijuana River, we added many fine birds: terns, swallows, gulls, Black & Ruddy Turnstone, large flocks of Snowy & Black-bellied Plovers, a single Pacific Golden-Plover, plus many more!  


Willet, San Diego Bay
    


Marbled Godwit, San Diego Bay

After a tasty lunch in Imperial Beach we moved north to the south side of the San Diego Bay.  Black Skimmers, American White Pelicans, a Little Blue Heron, several Red Knots, and huge resting flocks of Willets, Marbled Godwits, and dowitchers made for great bird viewing.  
     

       

Our next stop was Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  We struck out on the eastern & Grace's Warblers, but did see an obliging Hammond's Flycatcher.  Then we moved on to the Drip, where we saw Scrub Jays, doves, and a Black-headed Grosbeak.


Black-headed Grosbeak, the "Drip"


Black Turnstones, Cabrillo NM

A short drive took us down to the cliffs below Pt. Loma, where we spotted a pair of Wandering Tattlers, a couple of Pelagic Cormorants, a Bewick's Wren, and a flock of 40+ Black Turnstones.  
Chuck thought we ought to give the "Drip" one more chance, so we returned to the top of the cliffs.  We sat on the ground, I set up my scope, and then we watched the birds stream in.  It was fantastic! 
     


Song Sparrow, the "Drip"
   

Orange-crowned Warbler, the "Drip"
     		 A covey of California Quail moved in close enough for us to count the feather barbs. Mourning Doves, White-crowned & Song Sparrows, and two Orange-crowned Warblers hopped about and took baths.   
   

And finally the star of the show, the Prairie Warbler, descended from the tree tops to bathe and drink.  Our last stops for the day were the San Diego River channel and Quivira Basin, where we added Cinnamon Teal and a pair of Herring Gulls.

ON TO SUNDAY >>>


Western Scrub Jay, the "Drip" 

   
 San Diego area & Laguna Mountains
28-29 Sep 2002
 
# Species Qty
1 Pied-billed Grebe 8
2 Eared Grebe 6
3 Western Grebe 300+
4 American White Pelican 24+
5 Brown Pelican 60+
6 Brandt's Cormorant 50+
7 Double-crested Cormorant 8
8 Pelagic Cormorant 3
9 Great Blue Heron 12
10 Great Egret 14
11 Snowy Egret 22
12 Little Blue Heron 1
13 Cattle Egret 0
14 Black-crowned Night Heron 1
15 Greater White-fronted Goose 13
16 Canada Goose 6
17 Wood Duck 6
18 American Wigeon 14
19 Blue-winged Teal 4
20 Mallard 60
21 Cinnamon Teal 1
22 Northern Shoveler 4
23 Northern Pintail 6
24 Lesser Scaup 3
25 Ruddy Duck 26
26 Osprey 8
27 White-tailed Kite 4
28 Northern Harrier 6
29 Cooper's Hawk 8
30 Red-shouldered Hawk 2
31 Red-tailed Hawk 4
32 American Kestrel 8
33 California Quail 14
34 American Coot 34
35 Black-bellied Plover 200+
36 Pacific Golden Plover 1
37 Snowy Plover 80
38 Semipalmated Plover 60
39 Killdeer 22
40 Black-necked Stilt 16
41 American Avocet 28
42 Greater Yellowlegs 12
43 Lesser Yellowlegs 1
44 Willet 36
45 Wandering Tattler 2
46 Spotted Sandpiper 10
47 Whimbrel 8
48 Long-billed Curlew 1
49 Marbled Godwit 80+
50 Ruddy Turnstone 1
51 Black Turnstone 41
52 Red Knot 6
53 Sanderling 22
54 Western Sandpiper 20+
55 Least Sandpiper 26+
56 Baird's Sandpiper 1
57 Dunlin 8
58 Ruff 1
59 Short-billed Dowitcher 2+
60 Long-billed Dowitcher 112+
61 Turkey Vulture 2
62 Heerman's Gull 21
63 Ring-billed Gull 22

   

 
# Species Qty
64 Herring Gull 2
65 Western Gull 26
66 Caspian Tern 1
67 Elegant Tern 46
68 Forster's Tern 54
69 Black Skimmer 28
70 Rock Dove 8
71 Mourning Dove 24
72 Greater Roadrunner (glimpsed) 1
73 Vaux's Swift 12
74 Anna's Hummingbird 22
75 Belted Kingfisher 2
76 Acorn Woodpecker 32
77 Nuttall's Woodpecker 2
78 Hairy Woodpecker (heard only) 2
79 Western Wood Pewee 1
80 Hammond's Flycatcher 1
81 Black Phoebe 18
82 Say's Phoebe 3
83 Stellar's Jay 9
84 Western Scrub Jay 18
85 American Crow 28
86 Common Raven 11
87 Wrentit (heard only) 4
88 Horned Lark 4
89 Tree Swallow 28
90 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
91 Cliff Swallow 1
92 Barn Swallow 18
93 Mountain Chickadee 12
94 Oak Titmouse 12
95 Bushtit 23
96 White-breasted Nuthatch 9
97 Pygmy Nuthatch 24
98 Bewick's Wren 1
99 House Wren 4
100 Marsh Wren 2
101 California Gnatcatcher 6
102 Western Bluebird 11
103 American Robin 1
104 Northern Mockingbird 4
105 California Thrasher 4
106 European Starling 14
107 American Pipit 1
108 Phainopepla 2
109 Orange-crowned Warbler 10
110 Prairie Warbler 1
111 Common Yellowthroat (heard) 1
112 Green-tailed Towhee 1
113 Spotted Towhee 14
114 California Towhee 18
115 Song Sparrow 8
116 White-crowned Sparrow 16
117 Dark-eyed Junco 22
118 Black-headed Grosbeak 1
119 Red-winged Blackbird 21
120 Western Meadowlark 3
121 Brewer's Blackbird 28
122 Cassin's Finch 1
123 House Finch 19
124 Lesser Goldfinch 6
125 Lawrence's Goldfinch 2
126 House Sparrow 18

Photos © Henry D. Detwiler