northern california, february 2013

8/22/2019 Northern California, February 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/northern-california-february-2013 1/17

1 California February 2013 by Josh Jones

Participants: Richard Bonser, Lee Gregory and Josh Jones

Introduction

It was with great excitement that we booked flights to California back in November 2012 – the tripwas to be my first to the States. The primary aim of the trip was to study the confusing populations

of gulls that winter in the state (notably Thayer’s Gulls and hybrids) although each of us had our own

individual targets and, having not visited previously, I was simply happy to see a multitude of new

bird species as well as a few mammals along the way.

In contrast, both Rich and Lee had visited North America on a number of previous occasions. This

experience was particularly useful to me and allowed me to familiarize myself with new species

much more quickly. Our general plan was to stick relatively near to San Francisco, heading both

north of the city, inland, and south to Monterey during the week. Though a few images from the trip

are displayed below, plenty more can be found on Josh’s Blog or Rotherhithe & Beyond.

Logistics

We flew from London Heathrow to San Francisco with British Airways for a little over £600. Our

outbound flight left Heathrow late morning on 16th arriving mid-afternoon, while the return journey

left SFO on the evening of 23rd, arriving back to LHR mid-afternoon on Sunday 24th. In contrast to

the usual Ryanair carve-up, flying with British Airway proved a delight, and Rich and I even landed a

free upgrade to ‘World Traveller Plus’ on the outbound flight – this essentially meant bigger, comfier

reclining seats with a three-course dinner and ample amounts of alcohol!

Northern California, 16th-24th February 2013

http://joshrjones.blogspot.com/



http://rothandb.blogspot.com/








Knowing well the ludicrous size of most American vehicles, Rich had booked a medium-sized car that

proved to be some sort of Chrysler saloon, providing the three of us with more than enough room

for our bags, optics and photo gear. Petrol was very cheap in by UK standards, and we were able to

fill up our car for really very little. Once one gets used to the freeway system, driving in America is

really simple and, weekends aside, we found that even the coastal routes were reasonably quiet –

no doubt testament to it being ‘low season’.

As our trip incorporated a flexible schedule, we sought accommodation each evening as and when it

was required. We generally opted for cheap and cheerful motels, with prices ranging from $60-110

per night for the three of us – some included breakfast, some did not. The only place we stayed

more than one night was Monterey, where we stayed in America’s Best Value Inn on Munras Avenue

and were made to feel most welcome by the ex-London resident proprietor.

Resources & Acknowledgements

Though it is a little old now, Falcon Guides’ Birds of Northern California by John Kemper was integral

to our visit, providing us with directions and also giving us a general idea of what species to expect at

each site. Prior to our trip, our genning had included regular scrutiny of both CALBIRDS

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS/ ) and the particularly useful North Bay Birders

(http://birding.aba.org/maillist/CA09) mailing lists, while the excellent Birder’s Dashboard

(http://birdingwashington.info/dashboard/) also gave us up-to-date sightings from many of the sites

visited on our trip. Rich brought along his roadmap of California which proved ample for our trip in

conjunction with gen, although we did use GPS to locate some of the less well-known specific sites

we needed (e.g. Mountain Plover fields).

Itinerary

A brief day-by-day account of our week-long trip can be found below.

Saturday 16th February morning flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco, arriving mid-

afternoon local time. Late afternoon birding at Venice Beach before driving north. Overnight in

Cloverdale.

Sunday 17th February pre-dawn drive north to Point Arena, where first few hours of day spent. Mid-

morning onwards spent driving south along Route 1, birding at Gualala, Jenner and Salmon Creek

along the way. Late afternoon and evening spent at Bodega Bay/Head. Overnight in Santa Rosa.

Monday 18th February morning spent birding in the Bodega Bay/Head area and at Salmon Creek

before driving southwest to Petaluma for an afternoon of gulling at Lucchiesi Park before finishing

the day at Shollenberger Park. Evening drive east to Dixon, where the night was spent.

Tuesday 19th February early morning birding along Robinson Road before driving south to Merced.

Birding in the Merced NWR area throughout the afternoon. Evening drive to north to Livermore.

Overnight in Livermore.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS/



http://birding.aba.org/maillist/CA09



http://birdingwashington.info/dashboard/









Wednesday 20th February early start at Lake Del Valle before birding along Mines Road throughout

the morning. Drive over mountains west to San Jose, where the early afternoon was spent gulling at

Hidden Lake Park. Afternoon drive south to Big Sur for California Condors, before returning north to

Monterey for the evening. Overnight in Monterey.

Thursday 21st February early morning birding around Monterey harbour before taking a whalewatching trip out in to the bay. Afternoon and evening birding at sites around Monterey. Overnight

in Monterey.

Friday 22nd February morning spent birding at Laguna Grande Park and Moss Landing before driving

north to Hidden Park Lake, Milpitas for early afternoon. Late afternoon and evening spent at Venice

Beach and Pillar Point. Overnight just south of San Francisco.

Saturday 23rd February relaxing day spent around San Francisco, with morning birding Golden Gate

Park then at Fort Mason. Returned to the airport late afternoon for evening flight back to London.

DAILY DIARY

16th February

Following a very pleasant 10.5-hour flight on which Rich and I had enjoyed a free upgrade that

included a three-course dinner and what seemed like acres of personal space, we arrived at San

Francisco airport mid-afternoon local time. After battling through customs, our first birds were seen

en-route to the car rental depot: the ubiquitous Brewer’s Blackbirds and a handful of overflying

Western Gulls.

Despite some slow-moving traffic on the approach to Half Moon Bay, we reached Venice Beach

within 45 minutes or so of leaving the airport. Roadside birds had included Brown-headed Cowbirds,

Starlings, House Finches and a couple of Anna’s Hummingbirds while White-crowned Sparrow,

Northern Mockingbird and Oregon Junco were all seen around Venice Beach car park. But, despite

the passerine activity, the three of us had our minds focussed on one thing only – the gulls loafing

near the river mouth along the beach. In an instant, confusion reigned as a bewildering array of

Glaucous-winged, Western, California and American Herring Gulls resided alongside plenty of

hybrids of varying flavour. Among the mess we located a handful of Thayer’s Gulls and, making the

most of the golden evening light, we happily began snapping away until the majority of birds had

cruised off north, presumably to roost.

Most content with our introduction to Californian gulling, the decision was made to head as far

north as we could in order to be relatively near to tomorrow’s target destination of Point Arena.

After scoring the first of many Mcdonald’s near San Jose, we eventually found a reasonable motel in

Cloverdale and crashed out for a well-earned rest.

17th February




A pre-dawn start saw us on the (extremely bendy!) road northwest to Point Arena, with the Grey

Fox seen in the headlights being a new mammal for each of us. Arriving at Point Arena as the day

dawned, we quickly set out to the end of the pier to look for ‘Al’, the semi -resident Laysan Albatross

that can be found here with regularity in winter. Unfortunately, Al has been rather more

unpredictable this winter than those previous and, despite spending a couple of hours in the bay, we

could not locate him. Some consolation was provided by a handful of Surf Scoters, Buffleheads,

Black-necked, Slavonian and Western Grebes, a few fly-by Pacific Divers, a party of Black

Oystercatchers on the rocks and three species of cormorant offshore: Brandt’s, Pelagic and Double-

crested.

We found the valley just inland of the pier to be excellent for passerines, with the highlight

undoubtedly a pair of Varied Thrushes (including a stunning male) – these proved to be our only

individuals of the trip! Yellow-rumped/Audubon’s Warblers were absolutely everywhere, while

other common species included Black Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,

Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Song and White-crowned Sparrows, American Robin, and Turkey

Vulture. Rich picked up a Sooty Fox Sparrow and Lee had a flock of Red Crossbills fly over while a

few delightful Townsend’s Warblers busied themselves in the thickets and an American Kestrel

patrolled the ridge.

After a quick bagel and coffee in the harbour café, we decided to head southwards. A chance stop by

a stream and some likely-looking fields just inland of Point Arena provided us with my only Cedar

Waxwing of the trip, several crazy-looking California Quails charging around, a couple of Pygmy

Nuthatches, my first Northern Flicker, Townsend’s Warblers and dozens more American Robins in

addition to Golden-crowned Sparrows among the White-crowneds.

Continuing south along Route 1, a stop to admire the Pacific coastline to the north of Gualala

provided us with our first Savannah Sparrows of the trip – a species that appeared common on open

ground along the coast north of San Francisco – and several further American Kestrels, which we

soon realised was a common roadside bird. Gualala itself proved disappointingly devoid of gulls,

although the mouth of the Russian River at Jenner was quite the opposite, with several hundred

birds loafing along the beach at point blank range in the warm afternoon sunshine – this is how gull

watching should be! Among the predominately Glaucous-winged, Western and California Gulls, we

located at least 25 Thayer’s Gulls of all ages as well as an apparent second-winter Kumlien’s Gull

and an adult Kittiwake. While photographing various gulls, other birds included a couple of Brown

Pelicans, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Goosanders and an Osprey through. A couple of particularly fat

bull California Sea Lions lumbered around in the surf among the commoner Harbour Seals, while the

passerine highlight was provided by a couple of Wrentits in scrub by the road on the north side.

Leaving Jenner, we continued south towards Bodega Bay, stopping at Salmon Creek en route. Being

a glorious sunny Sunday, Californians were out in force on the beach and thus gull numbers were

relatively low at the creek outflow. Nevertheless, a further ten Thayer’s Gulls were to be found

while a male Northern Harrier floated about just inland of the road.

We reached Bodega Bay late afternoon, and were soon confronted by excellent numbers of birds:

hundreds of waders included Marbled Godwits, Willets and Long-billed Dowitchers in addition to

plenty of Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads, scaup of both flavours, Surf Scoters, American Coots and Black

Brants. Though the birding is great here, I must admit I was just as impressed with surroundings –




Bodega Bay is beautiful part of the world, particularly when headed by cloudless skies and sunshine

– something that seems to have deserted the British Isles this winter. That said, we didn’t linger for

long for Rich was on a mission to locate one of his few target birds of the trip – a wintering Rock

Sandpiper at the nearby headland. Arriving there with the sun sinking towards the Pacific, light

conditions were not ideal and, with huge quantities of people swarming all over the clifftop, it was

perhaps not too surprising that we couldn’t locate the sandpiper. Nevertheless, three distant

Surfbirds were a first for me as was a hunting White-tailed Kite, while Savannah Sparrows were

common.

The Bodega Bay area may be beautiful, but there is a real dearth of cheap and nasty accommodation

that we were after, and thus we headed inland to San Jose to bed down in a motel ready for another

early start. Our quest for an evening meal saw us visit a Sizzler, where all of us were confronted by

disgracefully large portions of distinctively average (poor) food – never again!

18th February

Stomachs still full from our meal the previous evening, early morning saw us back at Bodega Head

via a brief stop to appreciate a ravenous bunch of Turkey Vultures eating the backside of a Black-

tailed Deer that had evidently suffered an unfortunate collision with a car along the bay road

overnight. Conditions up at the headland were much more suitable for birding than the previous

evening and it didn’t take long for Rich to pick up the Rock Sandpiper with a group of Black

Turnstones and Surfbirds. After scrambling down the cliff face, we were able to obtain views of the

bird to just a few metres as it fed on rocks at the cliff base. A Hudsonian Whimbrel was also noted

on the rocks while an impressive raft of at least 450+ Black-necked Grebes was seen offshore.

Rock Sandpiper, Bodega Head




Back down at the back, we had a bit of a paparazzi session with targets including showy Buffleheads

and Western Scrub-Jays as well as seconds of the half-eaten deer and its rancid attendees. Heading

round to Diekmann’s Store, it didn’t take long for us to pick up the wintering Nashville Warbler and

male Wilson’s Warbler among a handful of Orange-crowned and Townsend’s Warblers below the

terrace as we tucked in to a late breakfast.

While enjoying the warblers at Diekmann’s, I spoke to a friendly local couple who kindly shared a

Swamp Sparrow site with us at Salmon Creek. As we had planned to revisit the outflow for further

gull action, we stopped by the bridge and viewed the marsh immediately inland – it didn’t take long

to locate two vocal Swamp Sparrows, while a couple of Marsh Wrens also showed well. Over at the

beach, gull numbers were again fairly low although around five Thayer’s Gulls provided us with

further photographic opportunities.

You can never have too many gulls in your life, and our next destination provided us with plenty to

search through. After a brief stop by a farm pond on the way to Petaluma (which yielded 30 or so

American Wigeon and a White-tailed Kite), we arrived at Lucchiesi Park mid-afternoon. Although

not California’s most scenic destination, the park lake – essentially a small concrete bowl – is

fantastic for loafing gulls. At least 30 Thayer’s Gulls were present and giving incredible views as they

came to bread, with most being first and second-winter birds. A similar number of Ring-billed Gulls

were the first seen on the trip, while there were plenty of showy hybrids including a first-winter

Glaucous x Glaucous-winged Gull and several presumed Glaucous-winged x American Herring Gulls

that looked terrifyingly similar to Thayer’s! It was here that I ‘enjoyed’ my first California Towhee

while a friendly Ross’s Goose was as almost as distasteful as the park’s famous hybrid Mallard x

Wood Duck that Rich very much savoured pointing out to me. Other birds included an adult Night

Heron, and small numbers of Ruddy Ducks and American Coots.

After a few hours, we’d had enough of lying down in gull faeces and being stared at by the numerous

tramps that frequent Lucchiesi and decided to head out of town to Shollenberger Park for the last

hour of daylight. Around the car park, a crescendo of displaying Red-winged Blackbirds sounded out

of place in the cold breeze and there were Golden-crowned Sparrows almost walking through our

legs. On the lagoons, new birds for me were Canvasback (c.40), American Avocet (200+) and a

handful of Cinnamon Teal, with a juvenile Thayer’s Gull, a couple of Killdeers and various wildfowl

species including Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup and many Shoveler also present. As darkness

began to fall, we headed east inland towards Sacremento and found a roadside motel at Dixon

where, after another unhealthy meal at a nearby Denny’s, we settled down for some sleep.

19th February

We were back on the road again as the day dawned, with grey skies and a significant breeze

ensuring that it felt considerably cooler than it had done over the previous days. Indeed, a storm had

been forecast and thus we had been expecting a less pleasant day weather-wise. Nevertheless, the

birds soon started to flow as it became light and we arrived at Robinson Road, some 20 miles south

of Dixon. Western Meadowlarks and Savannah Sparrows seemed to be everywhere, while our first

real stop produced a smashing Ferruginous Hawk and the odd Loggerhead Shrike was to be foundalong the side of the track. A particular set of fields bordered on one side by a mature hedgerow




approximately midway along the track produced a particularly large flock of blackbirds – most were

Red-winged and Brewer’s although we did find our first Tricoloured Blackbirds of the trip here. A

real bonus was an impressive flock of at least 50 Lark Sparrows in the hedgerow, their behaviour

reminding me of Corn Bunting flocks back home on the Lincolnshire fens. A little further along we

encountered our only Burrowing Owl of the trip, first perching on fence posts before assuming an

unobtrusive position in an adjacent cow field. Continuing south back towards Route 12, a drive along

Flannery Road didn’t produce any hoped-for Mountain Plovers although a fly-by Prairie Falcon was a

real bonus and a couple more Ferruginous Hawks showed well. American Kestrels and Northern

Harriers were seen regularly.

Re-joining Route 12, we head east through Rio Vista and, a few miles out of town, spotted a large

flock of geese descending in to fields in the distance. Driving closer, it soon became apparent that

the majority (3,000+) were Snow Geese, although 400+ White-fronted Geese and 200+ Ross’s

Geese added some variety. A couple of Aleutian Cackling Geese were found among the White-fronts

(as was a presumed hybrid Cackling x White-front), at least 35 Sandhill Cranes were scattered

around and a small flock of Tree Swallows flew through.

The late morning saw us driving south towards Merced, with roadside birds including a few Red-

shouldered Hawks and Sandhill Cranes as well as American Kestrels seemingly everywhere. Our first

stop was along the delightfully-named Sandy Mush Road, where our primary target – Mountain

Plover – was soon found in fields viewed from the road at N37.18578°, W120.5275°. We located 16

birds here in total, though more have been seen at this regular site throughout the winter. A smart-

looking wader, we enjoyed reasonably distant views while other birds in the vicinity included a

couple of Greater Yellowlegs, several Killdeers, plenty of blackbirds (including Tricoloured) and the

ubiquitous Western Meadowlarks.

Moving west to the famous Merced National Wildlife Refuge, the weather deteriorated further and,

along with a stiff breeze, it began to rain. These, as well as a significant fall in temperature, made

proceedings feel much wintrier than it had on the coast the morning previous. A huge white mass in

fields opposite the refuge entrance transpired to be many thousands of Ross’s Geese although, with

the birds distant, we decided to head on to the reserve and complete the loop trail – all done by car

of course; this is the states after all!

Burrowing Owl, Robinson Road




We were really quite impressed with both the numbers of birds across the reserve’s wetlands as well

as the photographic opportunities these provided. Though the weather did its best to dampen our

spirits, the birding proved excellent: passerines included our first flock of Bushtits of the trip, several

showy American Buff-bellied Pipits and a few Cliff Swallows among the hundreds of Tree Swallows

over the lagoons. On the lagoons, Black-necked Stilts were everywhere with other waders including

Long-billed Dowitcher, American Avocet, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Wilson’s Snipe and both

yellowlegs. White-faced Ibis was also seen well, while four Tundra Swans, several Canvasbacks and

Ring-necked Ducks and tens of Cinnamon Teal were seen among the commoner wildfowl species.

Adding regular flocks of overflying geese, Sandhill Cranes and a couple of American White Pelicans

to the mix, it created a real spectacle – only spoilt by hunters putting goose decoys out in the fields

adjacent to the reserve!

With no imminent signs of improvement in the weather, we decided to head round to the main San

Luis NWR reserve. Although we scored a group of Cat C Tule Elk looking relatively authentic at

distance and in the rain (despite the fences round them!), we found the reserve a slight

disappointment when compared to Merced – bird numbers were generally much lower. A Say’s

Phoebe was flitting around the edge of the elk enclosure, while at least 25 Horned Larks and several

American White Pelicans were seen by the reserve approach road. A similar selection of wildfowl

(though with rather more Ring-necked Ducks) was present on the pools, as were a few White-faced

Ibis and a female Belted Kingfisher. Best of the bunch, though, were a pair of Great Horned Owls

that showed very well on the loop. Northern Harriers were also particularly common, with double-

figure numbers noted on the drive around.

As we left San Luis, the weather had begun to clear and thus we hoped the sun might even come out

for the Ross’s Goose roost back at Merced. Alas it didn’t in time for the big flight of birds, though it

was nevertheless spectacular with at least 30,000 (probably more) filling the skies over the reserve.

A second loop of the reserve as the light began to fade revealed a similar range of species as earlier

in the day but with the welcome additions of three Great Horned Owls and excellent view of at least

two American Bitterns in flight.

Leaving Merced at dusk, we headed back north to the town of Livermore, where we soon found a

very reasonably-priced motel for the evening. In contrast, the food situation had considerably




worsened as we consumed a pretty miserable Taco Bell before resorting to McDonald’s for a bag of

chicken nuggets to fill ourselves up.

20th February

Awaking to a hard frost in Livermore, it was soon clear that it was to be a morning on which to wrap

up warm. Scoring an early coffee and muffin for breakfast, we headed south to Lake Del Valle. Not

the most inspiring of species, our first Yellow-billed Magpies of the trip were nevertheless welcome

although a somewhat ill-looking Barn Owl sat by the side of the road (presumably the casualty of a

vehicle collision overnight) was a sobering find.

On arrival at Del Valle, we made the initial mistake of taking a walk along the shaded eastern side of

the lake – relatively few birds here included Oak Titmouse,

Hermit Thrush, Spotted Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, a bunch of

California Quail and a male Anna’s Hummingbird performing

it’s ridiculous display flight routine. Realising the error of our

ways, Rich suggested we head for the more densely-vegetated

western side of the lake and, shortly after parking up, the

variety of birds here soon qualified that decision. At least three

Red-breasted Sapsuckers showed well, as did a couple of

Acorn Woodpeckers and a female Nuttall’s Woodpecker.

Several magnificent Steller’s Jays hopped about under the

trees and a White-breasted Nuthatch showed well while an

utterly horrendous gobbling sound coming from thicket in thevalley below betrayed the presence of a group of Wild

Turkeys. Our only Bald Eagle of the trip – an adult – flew over

while on the lake itself there were half-a-dozen American

White Pelicans, a Clark’s Grebe among the more numerous

Western and Black-necked Grebes, a Great Blue Heron and

several Double-crested Cormorants.

Continuing south along Mines Road, a chance stop 3.9 miles south of the Del Valle turning produced

a fine Phainopepla as well as a few Western Bluebirds, a couple more White-breasted Nuthatches

and magnificent views of a Golden Eagle flying past. A further stop 9.1 miles south of the Del Valleturning revealed a similar range of species with the addition of group of Acorn Woodpeckers. In the

middle of the day, further passerine was action was relatively limited and as the road gained altitude

it became clear that there had been a dusting of snow on the peaks overnight. This was at its worst

around Mount Hamilton on the road back to San Jose, where the icy road led to precarious driving

conditions and a snail-paced descent westwards. Nevertheless, our only Purple Finches of the trip

were seen here alongside Pine Siskins and further Acorn and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Golden Eagles

and Western Bluebirds.

Reaching San Jose in the early afternoon, a quick stop for lunch preceded a visit to Hidden Valley

Park in Milpitas. An altogether more pleasant location than Petaluma’s Lucchiesi Park, our quarryhere was nevertheless the same – gulls. At least seven Thayer’s Gulls were seen among the

Yellow-billed Magpie




predominately California and Ring-billed Gulls, although there were a few pesky hybrids that did

catch us unaware. Also on the lake was a familiar assortment of American Coots, Ruddy Ducks, Pied-

billed Grebes and Double-crested Cormorants.

Realising we had a good chunk of the afternoon left to play with, we decided to head south to the

Big Sur region to try and scrub California Condor off the targets list that day. The drive was largelyuneventful save the odd Red-shouldered Hawk and White-tailed Kite, and we had soon passed

Monterey. Here the road became a little more meandering and, coupled with a fair number of

mindless tourists driving at ludicrously slow speeds, it took a fair while to reach our target area of

the coast at Julia Pfeiffer State Park. Fortunately, locating California Condors proved a less tedious

task – first up was an immature that drifted high over the valley just inland of Route 1 at N36°10'38",

W121°41'38" before a stop in the roadside car park at N36°10'10.47", W121°41'5.10" to admire the

marvellous Pacific scenery produced at least ten birds (a mix of adults and immatures) soaring high

over the ridges to the south. I must admit I was reasonably impressed with them, despite not really

being enthused at the prospect of a bunch of Cat C raptors prior to the trip. Here we had a Band-

tailed Pigeon fly over and also made the most of a flock of showy Golden-crowned Sparrows,

obtaining plenty of photographs in the warm evening light and later we watched the sun set from a

nearby vantage point to round off what had been a very productive day. Retiring back north to

Monterey, we soon found a Best Value Inn with friendly and welcoming staff and headed to

Fisherman’s Wharf for an excellent fish supper in one of the restaurants there – a fine relief from

three consecutive nights of miserable fast food.

21st February

The day started with breakfast at the motel and a subsequent wander round the adjacent land,

producing two new birds for me: Brown Creeper and Downy Woodpecker. Also seen were a few

Pygmy Nuthatches and Acorn Woodpeckers and a

Townsend’s Warbler among the commoner species. With a

couple of hours to kill before our pelagic in to Monterey Bay,

we spent some time ambling around the harbour where

there were a few immature Heermann’s Gulls, a female-type

Hooded Merganser, several showy Surf Scoters and plenty of

Brown Pelicans, while a few Sea Otters floated around and

the jetties were stuffed with California Sea Lions.

We boarded our boat a short while before 10am and were

soon steaming out of the harbour. It did not take long for the

first Rhinoceros Auklets and Guillemots to appear around

the boat – these species seemed abundant right across the

bay. A smattering of Fulmars included one or two particularly

dark individuals attracted to the man-made chum being

produced at the rear of the boat; the considerable swell (and

its victims) testament to the storm two days previous. There

were also numerous Pacific and Great Northern Divers

closer to shore but our attention was quickly drawn to a spout directly in front of the boat – our first

Gray Whale




sighting of Gray Whale! Over the next couple of hours we enjoyed great views of up to three whales,

while Lee managed to grip Rich and I off early on with a brief sighting of a triumvirate of Ancient

Murrelets. Thankfully we connected with what were presumably the same murrelets as the boat

returned to the harbour early afternoon, with other pelagic sightings including at least ten

Kittiwakes.

Back on land, we tucked in to a delicious cup of clam chowder and spent another half-hour

photographing Heermann’s Gulls before deciding to make the short journey around the bay to

Lagune Grande Park for the afternoon. Though our primary target here was something else, a

friendly local divulged the location of a wintering Palm Warbler by the lake. Soon enough we had

connected with the bird and were struck by its distinctively waterthrush-like behaviour. An Allen’s

Hummingbird zipping around was our only individual of the trip while we also connected with our

first American Goldfinches here. The park seemed very ‘birdy’ and, as always, Yellow-rumped

Warblers seemed to be in every bush with a few Townsend’s Warblers thrown in for good measure.

On the lake, a juvenile Thayer’s Gull was seen among the California Gulls while there was also a

Western and several Pied-billed Grebes. Lee had wandered off up the small feeder stream inland of

the lake and had located our quarry showing particularly well – though the light was low, we were

thrilled with views to within a few metres of the wintering American Dipper.

As the evening drew closer we headed to Point Pinos, to the west of Monterey. Here our target was

another wintering vagrant – a first-winter Vermilion Flycatcher – on the golf driving range. Sure

enough, the bird was easily located flycatching from

posts adjacent to the pond, although was about as

awful-looking as they come – a really grotty individual

with a bunch of feathers missing from its underside. A

few Heermann’s Gulls flew by offshore, five Black

Turnstones were on the rocks and a drake Cinnamon

Teal performed very well on the pond. Back at

Monterey Harbour as dusk approached, there was

time to locate one final vagrant – the long-staying

Black-throated Diver off the east wall. The night was

spent in Monterey and, once again, we visited

Fisherman’s Wharf to indulge in another excellent fish

supper.

22nd February

After a relaxed breakfast, our first stop of the day was back at Laguna Grande Park after being

impressed by the birding here yesterday. The park didn’t let us down as we scored two further new

birds for the trip list: a Hutton’s Vireo (admittedly causing us a real identification headache with

Ruby-crowned Kinglets everywhere!) and at least ten Lesser Goldfinches among the more numerous

American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins and House Finches. The Palm Warbler was also still showing

well and, although we couldn’t locate the dipper, four Orange-crowned Warblers were seen in the

adjacent scrub as was a Hermit Thrush, with several Townsend’s Warblers also seen among the

commoner species.

Vermilion Flycatcher




By mid-morning we were heading north to Moss Landing, where a stop on the south side of the

harbour channel revealed a flock of fabulously showy Surf Scoters alongside the usual array of

coastal species. A female Belted Kingfisher was fishing along the channel and we were also able to

obtain close views of Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, a couple of Heermann’s

Gulls and amusingly large congregation (30+) of rather relaxed-looking Sea Otters floating around in

the bay on the north side. Our only Western Sandpipers of the trip were also seen here among a

small group of Semipalmated Plovers, with Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, American

Avocets and Willet also noted among the waders as a Northern Harrier flapped over. In general

however, we found numbers of birds disappointingly low at the site and thus it was not long before

we were back on the road north towards San Jose.

It would have been rude to pass up the opportunity of a second visit to Hidden Valley Park as we

passed Milpitas, and the couple of hours spent here during the early afternoon revealed around six

Thayer’s Gulls, a female Goosander and a handful of Lesser Goldfinches while Lee scored a flock of

overflying Cedar Waxwings. Feeling quite content in the warm afternoon sunshine, it was hard to

motivate ourselves in to moving. But move on we did, with the aim of reaching Venice Beach – the

site of our introduction to California gulling the previous Saturday – for the final few hours of the

day.

Arriving at Venice Beach mid-afternoon, it soon became clear that there were more gulls than on our

first visit. We located at least nine Thayer’s Gulls among the several hundred (predominately

Glaucous-winged, Western and hybrid) gulls present near the outflow, and the warm light provided

us with yet more excellent photographic opportunities. As the light started to fade, the gulls began

to head north towards Pillar Point to roost, and so we headed round there for the final hour or so

before dark. The harbour contained plenty of diving duck including Scaup and Bufflehead plus at

least 50 Surf Scoters. A female Belted Kingfisher was on the pier and a few Willet were the highlight

among the waders – sadly there was no hoped-for Wandering Tattler. Many hundreds of gulls were

roosting far out on the breakwaters but, with time against us, we decided not to venture out to

search through them and instead we headed off north to Pacifica, where we found accommodation.

An adjacent bar provided us with a couple of pints of excellent local beer and an absolutely massive

homemade burger that each of us struggled to consume.

23rd February

After an obligatory Starbucks stop in San Francisco for breakfast, we headed in to Golden Gate Park

early morning. Pleasantly, we found reasonably few people around and as a result many of the

passerines – common species such as Song Sparrows, American Robins and Townsend’s Warblers in

addition to more unexpected birds such as Steller’s Jays – were showing well. This soon changed as

the park became busier, and our attention switched to the gulls and wildfowl around the park. We

found that Lloyd Lake (N37°46'13.62", W122°28'55.27") was by far and away the best lake for

wildfowl, with American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Scaup affording superb photo

opportunities – three Hooded Mergansers were a little more wary yet still showed well. Other bits

here included a Sooty Fox Sparrow, a Raccoon (seen by Lee only) and plenty of photogenic Mew

Gulls.




Moving back round to the main Stow Lake, we

found at least four Thayer’s Gulls showing to

touching distance among the gull flock (mainly

Westerns), while the tamest Pied-billed Grebes

observed on the trip offered further photo

opportunities. Managing to spend a very chilled

out morning in the park, afternoon was soon

upon us and it was time to twitch Golden Gate

Bridge, which duly showed well in the early

spring sunshine. With a few hours left to kill

before we were due back at the airport, we

headed east to Fort Mason to give Wandering

Tattler another go. Alas no tattlers, but a couple

of Heermann’s and an adult Thayer’s Gull, Black

Turnstones, Surfbirds, Western Grebes,Buffleheads, Brown Pelicans and an adult

Double-crested Cormorant scrapping with a

large fish gave us a fine send-off to Pacific-coast

birding. And, after directing Rich back through

San Francisco based primarily on my knowledge of the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas maps, we

enjoyed a farewell KFC prior to another smooth British Airways flight back to London overnight.

TRIP LIST

1. Red-throated Diver

2. Pacific Diver

3. Black-throated Diver

4. Great Northern Diver

5. Slavonian Grebe

6. Black-necked Grebe

7. Pied-billed Grebe

8. Western Grebe

9. Clark’s Grebe

10. Fulmar11. American White Pelican

12. Brown Pelican

13. Double-crested Cormorant

14. Pelagic Cormorant

15. Brandt’s Cormorant

16. American Bittern

17. Great Blue Heron

18. Great White Egret

19. Snowy Egret

20. Black-crowned Night Heron

21. White-faced Ibis22. Mute Swan

Double-crested Cormorant




23. Tundra Swan

24. Canada Goose

25. Cackling Goose

26. Black Brant

27. White-fronted Goose

28. Ross’s Goose 29. Snow Goose

30. Mallard

31. Gadwall

32. Pintail

33. American Wigeon

34. Shoveler

35. Cinnamon Teal

36. Green-winged Teal

37. Canvasback

38. Ring-necked Duck

39. Scaup40. Lesser Scaup

41. Surf Scoter

42. Goldeneye

43. Bufflehead

44. Hooded Merganser

45. Goosander

46. Red-breasted Merganser

47. Ruddy Duck

48. California Condor

49. Turkey Vulture

50. Northern Harrier51. White-tailed Kite

52. Cooper’s Hawk

53. Red-shouldered Hawk

54. Red-tailed Hawk

55. Ferruginous Hawk

56. Golden Eagle

57. Bald Eagle

58. American Kestrel

59. Prairie Falcon

60. Peregrine

61. California Quail62. Wild Turkey

63. Moorhen

64. American Coot

65. Sandhill Crane

66. Grey Plover

67. Semipalmated Plover

68. Mountain Plover

69. Killdeer

70. Black Oystercatcher

71. American Avocet

72. Black-necked Stilt

73. Greater Yellowlegs




74. Lesser Yellowlegs

75. Willet

76. Hudsonian Whimbrel

77. Long-billed Curlew

78. Marbled Godwit

79. Black Turnstone80. Surfbird

81. Rock Sandpiper

82. Knot

83. Sanderling

84. Dunlin

85. Western Sandpiper

86. Least Sandpiper

87. Long-billed Dowitcher

88. Wilson’s Snipe

89. Grey Phalarope

90. Mew Gull91. Ring-billed Gull

92. California Gull

93. American Herring Gull

94. Thayer’s Gull

95. Iceland Gull

96. Glaucous-winged Gull

97. Western Gull

98. Heermann’s Gull

99. Kittiwake

100. Guillemot

101.

Ancient Murrelet102. Rhinoceros Auklet

103. Mourning Dove

104. Collared Dove

105. Feral Pigeon

106. Band-tailed Pigeon

107. Barn Owl

108. Great Horned Owl

109. Burrowing Owl

110. Anna’s Hummingbird

111. Allen’s Hummingbird

112.

Belted Kingfisher113. Acorn Woodpecker

114. Red-breasted Sapsucker

115. Downy Woodpecker

116. Nuttall’s Woodpecker

117. Northern Flicker

118. Black Phoebe

119. Say’s Phoebe

120. Vermilion Flycatcher

121. Loggerhead Shrike

122. Hutton’s Vireo

123. Steller’s Jay

124. Western Scrub-Jay




125. Black-billed Magpie

126. Yellow-billed Magpie

127. Raven

128. American Crow

129. Horned Lark

130. Tree Swallow131. Cliff Swallow

132. Oak Titmouse

133. Chestnut-backed Chickadee

134. Bushtit

135. White-breasted Nuthatch

136. Pygmy Nuthatch

137. Brown Creeper

138. Bewick’s Wren

139. Marsh Wren

140. Pacific Wren

141.

American Dipper142. Wrentit

143. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

144. Western Bluebird

145. Varied Thrush

146. American Robin

147. Hermit Thrush

148. Northern Mockingbird

149. European Starling

150. American Buff-bellied Pipit

151. Phainopepla

152.

Cedar Waxwing153. Orange-crowned Warbler

154. Nashville Warbler

155. Yellow-rumped Warbler

156. Townsend’s Warbler

157. Palm Warbler

158. Wilson’s Warbler

159. Spotted Towhee

160. California Towhee

161. Savannah Sparrow

162. Lark Sparrow

163.

Golden-crowned Sparrow164. White-crowned Sparrow

165. Fox Sparrow

166. Song Sparrow

167. Swamp Sparrow

168. Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco

169. Western Meadowlark

170. Brown-headed Cowbird

171. Tricoloured Blackbird

172. Red-winged Blackbird

173. Brewer’s Blackbird

174. Purple Finch

175. House Finch




176. Red Crossbill

177. Pine Siskin

178. Lesser Goldfinch

179. American Goldfinch

180. House Sparrow

northern california, february 2013

Documents