[Jos Stratford]

T'was my latest little wander round the globe, two weeks and a bit sampling the delights of California, both land and offshore. Goals were simple - primary targets Californian Condor, Calliope Hummingbird and Burrowing Owl, preferably Roadrunner and Clark's Nutcracker too, plus Black Bear and Blue Whale. Over and above though, the general desire was just for a 'good' pelagic and some darn fine birding throughout.

Sixteen hours in the air, another five hours split between Brussels and Chicago on the ground, and in I flew to San Francisco, a setting sun lighting the High Sierras behind that would soon be my playground for adventures to come.

Zipped through immigration, got lucky in the car hire (free upgrade by two categories). Ah, the evening was young, only 10 p.m. by the time I cleared the airport (but my body still worked in East Europe time, so that meant 8 a.m.!), so out I swept, hitting the freeways in a nice plush air-conditioned, tinted windows, cruise-controlled automatic everything black number of a car. No point wasting time, so cruised on down towards my first point of call - some hours south, West Pinnacles. Almost there, missed a turning in Hollister, then did a couple of tours of the town before spotting the poxy small sign that was hidden by a tree. Blue flashing lights and I got stopped by the Highway Patrol - for driving too slow! That was a first for me! A lost tourist at 1.00 a.m. was not a usual encounter in that part of the world they explained. 'And why did you stop so long at the four-way stop?' they asked. What a stupid question, I thought, but did not say, how on earth should I know who has got right of way when all directions have a stop sign! I did suss that out soon though, just guess and go faster than the opponents on the other sides, unless thay happen to be bigger! Arrived at West Pinnacles rather jaded, having lost track of how many hours I had now been on the go since my breakfast in another world in another time era, but I was immediately delighted by the middle-of-the-night atmosphere - wonderfully warm, insects churring away and the first bird voice of the trip - a Western Screech Owl calling somewhere near.

Found a nice parking place under a tree, slept by the car. Dawn would bring the start of my trip.

[Jos Stratford]

Day One - 22 August

Woke pre-dawn, which suited me just fine - cackling Scrub Jays scoulding at this new arrival, Coyotes howling a most delightful dawn chorus. Birds were flitting back and fro, but I need a little more light, so quickly jumped in the car and drove a mile further up the road. Pulled in under a big tree to a deep hoo-hoo of a Great Horned Owl, now that would be a fine bird to start the trip off I thought, so I carefully circled the tree and gazed up in all directions, couldn't see a thing! Ten minutes later, the honours of first bird seen fell to Hairy Woodpecker, quite acceptable as a start. Soon added Bewick's Wren, Scrub Jays flying off in every direction, the first Dark-eyed Juncos (the species to become one of the most common everywhere!) and Californian Towhees, a most exotic sounding name, but rather quiet unassuming bird!

Birding had started, the sun was rising and I decided upon a hike - pure brilliance, everything new or nearly so, the first Black Phoebes were as welcome as the abundant Steller's Jays, and then I found a bird of right character, or rather a dozen or so of them ...Acorn Woodpeckers, what little stars, more like babblers than woodpeckers, these things were fabulous, noisy gangs of them roving the hillsides and not in the least bit timid, did enjoy them. As the sun climbed, already it was about 30 C by 8 a.m., out came the swifts to play - hurtling past, rather stunning White-throated Swifts, a dozen of them, did enjoy them too. Then a pair of Californian Thrashers, then a zoom-by hummingbird that could have been any species in the world for all I saw. Hike over, I retired to my car and settled down to take my first few photographs, snapping both the Steller's and Scrub Jays, plus my buddies the Acorn Woodpeckers.

Read one information board, that gave name to the high peaks that towered above me - Condor Crags they were called, named in the Old Days when Californian Condors used to roost there. Ah, I dreamed how nice it would be to see them above such majestic andscapes, but the reality was, I believed, the birds were long gone. With the population dwindling to a mere couple of dozen birds, or thereabouts, in the 1980s, conservationists saw the imminent extinction of this mighty giant, so took the drastic, but necessary step of capturing all the remaining birds and taking them into captivity, thereby deeming the bird extinct in the wild. Captive breeding followed, highly successful, and (my knowledge of dates is all highly hazy) a decade or so back the first birds were re-realeased back into the wild. My dream was to see some of these birds, now breeding and doing well, but not at Pinnacles, but either on the Pacific coast or way further south, both places I thought would need some luck.

So there I was dreaming about Condors, when two almighty birds swung out over the ridge, massive birds that could only have been one thing, and they were ..two Californian Condors! I was astonished! Over the valley they cruised, two midget (by comparison) Turkey Vultures in their wake. Blimey I thought, what luck and I sat down to have a peanut butter sandwich. Then I jumped up again, three more Californian Condors appeared over the crags!!! There they circled, two mobbing each other, and giving views I could only have prayed for ...and then one landed on a boulder way up on the side of the mountain, a good kilometre off and much higher than me. There it sat and did nothing, there I sat and watched, and longer there it sat and did nothing, then a bright idea bounced into my small skull - leg it up the opposite side of the mountain, creep round the ridge and hopefully I would be at the same height and maybe get a few distant shots. All very good, but the temperature was now 35 C, the mountainside was pure scree and scrub and that fantastic idea almost killed me! Got up there in record time, water pouring from my brow and my legs wondering what they had just been subjected to. Crept round, peeping over boulders here and there, then saw a feast for the eyes, the Condor was still sitting there and just a mere few boulders away. I sat a while till my breathing returned till near normal, then clicked away to get the shots I wanted. Wonderful. Flight pictures would be nice too, presuming he was actually going to take to the air again that day, but my position was useless for that, I needed to be lower, so when he launched, over my head he would go. Twenty minutes later, I was I was sat peering up, waiting ...and wait I did, the bugger made me sit there half the morning in a scorching sun as American Kestrels and Turkey Vultures wheeled about.

A shuffle of position from the bird, then (okay I exaggerate) the skies darkened as wings opened and the Condor stepped off the boulder, soaring directly over, awe-inspiring. Four or five times round he swooped, then over the ridge and gone, the first magical moment of the trip over ...and it was not even mid-morning on the first day!

[Jos Stratford]

And because I like the jays and Acorn Woodpeckers so much, you get their mug shots too...

[joannec]

Fantastic start to your trip.....and what good karma you must have to see 3 California Condors in your first few hours there!! I knew they were doing well but I didn't know THAT well.

I'm looking forward to Part III....those acorn woodies; sweeties, aren't they?

[Jos Stratford]

With success at Pinnacles, I neede to begin my return to the coast - next day would be my first pelagic - so tootled back down the valley, then began an amble broadly towards Monterey, but with plenty of diversions here and there, the best being a small reservoir with White Pelicans, Pied-billed Grebes and assorted wildfowl and, even better, a 20 mile excursion up a windy road through hot arid hillsides sporting a good cover of oaks. Lots of good stops aong this road - the first amongst many moments of potential confuson with the umpteen sparrow species, though this afternoon's pair were fairly straightforward - just Lark and Song Sparrows. Red-tailed Hawks circled, no hoped-for Golden Eagles, but far better, a stunning fly-by Prarie Falcon. A Ladder-backed Woodpecker was further north than I expected, Oak Titmice were just plain pleasant and, best of the afternoon, relatives of waxwings, three super male Phainopepeas fed on berries at one raodside stop. Glad I only saw them and had to write their name, pronouncing it might be more problematic!

Then onward to the coast - Savannah Sparrow added, a quick jaunt on Highway One also producing Black Oystercatcher, oodles of Brown Pelicans pretending to be fighter-bomber squads and the first of two billion Western Gulls, fortunately punctuated with fair regularity by the most attractive of its cousins, Heerman's Gulls.

Evening approached, I had a 5 a.m start next day, so decided upon the luxury of a motel that night, day one finished, California was beginning to impress me.

[Jos Stratford]

Originally Posted by joannechattaway

and what good karma you must have to see 3 California Condors in your first few hours there

Five First pair sailed off to towards the lowlands, next three came from the peaks.

There are few trips that leave me gasping almost every day, but California really did - as you will see, I got some exceptional luck, worked hard for a few others, but either way, just had highlights day after day.

[joannec]

Originally Posted by Jos Stratford

Five First pair sailed off to towards the lowlands, next three came from the peaks.

.

Even more amazing!! I assumed the first two were joined by a third.

[birdboybowley]

Nice read Jos and great pics too. As for American cops......

[DavidinParis]

Amazing report. Not about the condors but the bit about "Zipped through immigration". That's a mega-tick for visitors to the US!

[Jos Stratford]

Day Two -23 August

Day of the Pelagic, my hopes were high. In front of me were 12 hours out to sea, from Monterey Bay to the offshore submarine canyons, hopefully chockablock full of seabirds and, with extreme luck, maybe even the ultra hoped-for Blue Whale (but I had to be realistic, only two trips had seen Blue Whales so far in 2008!).


So there I was, 5 a.m. on the pier waiting our launch, huddled over a coffee listening to the weird wails and barks of the Californian Sealions given an unearthly rendition of a morning chorus, what a din! At 5.30, under the cover of darkness we slipped from the harbour and out to sea, the waiting game began, what would daylight bring?

By the time the first hints of daylight lit the waters, we were already well offshore and birds were in our wake - phantom arcs of Sooty Shearwaters were our first sightings, thousands of them, streaming past, soon joined by exquisite Buller's Shearwaters, first the odd one, then a steady stream. Still in the gloom of dawn, a Humpback Whale appeared to our portside, a breakfast whale it was annouced.

Aboard, a few were still sightly sleepy -that was about to change! At 7.30 a.m., the tannoy crackled "Ahead we have a Blue Whale". A ripple of excitement stirs the boat, all on board are wide awake and engaged! The tannoy crackles further "A correction, up ahead we have two Blue Whales". And so there were, the biggest creatures the world has ever seen, and now it was my turn to see them!

Magical and the day had barely begun. Still Sooty Shearwaters swept past, Buller's Shearwaters becoming ever more common, but now another - the first of many Pink-footed Shearwaters! Stuff was coming thick and fast, birds everywhere. Next, a small pod of Risso's Dolphins puts in a brief appearance, then the first Rhinocerous Auklet, what a super monster!

Elegant Terns scream overhead, thereafter to be heard throughout the day no matter how far offshore we went. Then the first Sabine's Gulls, a flock of perhaps 15 or so. Birds are just getting more and more numerous, all the shearwaters are ever-present, Sabine's Gulls every ten or fifteen minutes, then the skuas - Pomarine Skua being the first of the day

The shout went out - "Albatross coming in, Black-footed Albatross to our right'. Ah, what a splendid bird, as it effortlessly swung past giving views you could only dream about. Then another and another! Albatross heaven, from that moment on, we had small numbers with us all day.

Outward we went, the odd Common Guillemot also putting in an appearance, along with the dumpy Cassin's Auklets, dozens of the latter, another high on my 'hoped-for' list. Red-necked Phalaropes, till then just the occasional individual, began streaming by, flocks of ten or fifteen at a time, sometimes more, another Pomarine Skua buzzed the boat.

Next came an unexpected new bird for me - a little dot appeared in our wake, landbird coming in! Though at least 20 km offshore, a passerine was approaching the boat, some kind of warbler. In it flitted, dancing over the waves, dodging the gulls, onto the boat it landed and there it was, a Black-throated Grey Warbler, not a bird I had expected to see out to sea! However, this little fellow then decided to take off again, out to sea once more - what a bad decision, dodging the gulls and waves seemed an endless game, one it looked certain to lose. A gull grabbed it, all seemed doomed, my first ever Black-throated Grey Warbler was hanging by its tail in the mouth of a gull, it was about to die! A groan went up by those aboard, then a small cheer, the gull dropped it! This little plucky thing then dodged a few more gulls and decided the boat was indeed a good place to be - it landed on one man's head and sat there, I presume thanking its lucky stars! Next guy grabs it, the bird is put in a bird bag, that little fellow got a free lift back to land for a safe release!

It was barely mid-morning, but already I had seen far more than I, or anyone on board, had expected, what a super day. And still all the shearwaters, albatrosses and phalaropes continued to pass in impressive numbers.

Our initial course had been westward but as the day progresses we took a more northerly heading that took us, I believe, above the deep underwater canyons, the latest new birds of the day being Northern Fulmers, several seen, all dark phase birds. Another mammal to add to the list -Northern Fur Seal, three seen, all adopting a 'teapot' position!

Thanks to the steady chum being chucked off the back, we keep a flock of Western Gulls at our stern all day, those in turn attracting the Black-footed Albatrosses in particular. We then began seeing Ashy Storm Petrels here and there, so the guys decided to lay down a fish oil slick to see what we could attract ...within minutes the first of three Wilson's Storm Petrels flew in to investigate.

We sat on the slick for a spell, then just as we got underway, crossing over Año Nuevo Canyon, a mega of a boat appeared - LAYSAN ALBATROSS right up our wake. To say there was a lot of commotion on the boat is an understatement, cameras rolled and hoots went out. Truly brilliant, this is a rarity in Californian waters during the summer.

Eventually, as the Laysan Albatross wandered off, the excitement began to ebb ...not for long! When the leader on the boat starts jumping up and down with excitement, you just know something special is happening! He had scurried back to the stern, trying not to attract too much attention, but dribbling more cod liver oil over the side, tossing in a handful of anchovies too. A minute or two pass. Folks were watching him wondering what was going on and then…

"There it is!" "WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER"

The light morph bird crossed our wake and swept parallel to the boat in its distinctive flight style, similar to a Buller's Shearwater with nary a wingbeat. Round and round, the bird performed fantastically, everyone getting chance to grab a few pictures of this extreme rarity to the USA. Fourth ever for California I believe, maybe fourth for the United States barring Hawaii! The word "awesome" gets repeated over and over, the leaders have smiles as broad as the Cheshire cat!

Phew, could it get any better?! Southward we find some small storm petrel flocks on the water, mostly Ashy Storm Petrels again, but at least a half dozen Black Storm Petrels too. Eventually we found the 'big petrel flock' - a few hundred petrels in all, virtually all Ashy Storm Petrels, but a shout went up for Least Storm Petrel ...the bird was brief and most on board, including me, never got to see this one.

Onward we went, somewhere along the line achieving the "Skua Slam" with all four possible species seen - three South Polar Skuas, two Long-tailed Skuas, several Pomarines and a few Arctic, all just added spice to an excellent day.

Eventually it was time to start heading back - Cassin's Auklet's and Rhinoceros Auklets appeared in added abundance, Buller's Shearwaters in renewed numbers, but the stars on the way back were the mammals - playing with our boat, dolphins by the dozen - Dall's Porpoises, Pacific White-sided Dolphins and Northern Right Whale Dolphins, the latter a perculiar species with no dorsal fin! Brilliant they were too, you could lie on the front of the boat and see them a metre below your nose! Then more whales, a mother and calf Humpback Whale, the day was complete, an amazing event from start to finish.

But not quite finished - chugging into harbour, with Calfornian Sealions everywhere and three Sea Otters in the kelp beds, we wrapped up the day withone Pacific Diver, several Pigeon Guillemots and Pelagic Cormorants (as well as the numerous Brant's and Double-crested Cormorants) off Cannery Row and a summering Harlequin Duck in the harbour!!!

Brown Pelicans and Heermann's Gulls waved me off.

[Farnboro John]

That is some pelagic, Jos, envy doesn't begin to describe it!

John

[Jos Stratford]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

That is some pelagic, Jos, envy doesn't begin to describe it!

John

I was gobsmacked, got back to shore in a state of shock

[joannec]

Fantastic Jos!!! I could hardly keep up, it was so exciting. Last year I went on a half day pelagic out of Monterey; thought that was great at the time but next time I'll go for the whole day one.

[Dryocopus]

Wow! What a brilliant experience.Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

Must admit that California birding has suddenly gone up in my list of must bird places!

You must have had to go and have a lie down after all that excitement or a beer or two?

[StuartReeves]

Jaw-dropping stuff Jos, and pleased to see you're not trying to claim California as part of Eastern Europe.

[Jos Stratford]

Originally Posted by Dryocopus

You must have had to go and have a lie down after all that excitement

Nope, pelagic returned to dock early evening, then jumped straight in the car, drove across California up to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, arriving late to camp out just near Yosemite National Park, cue early start next morning.



Couple more pictures - albatross and friend; then the Wedge-tailed Shearwater

[Jos Stratford]

Day Three - 24 August

If we go by landscapes, day three just took the biscuit - Yosemite sure is pretty beautiful! Anyhow, much as I should have liked to join the gawping tourists and crawled along through the main Yosemite Valley in a RV, I thought better of it and decided a touch of birding was in order. All started well enough - being dark, I hadn't realised where I had camped out, but with dawn it turned out to be by the Merced River and right there, bobbing across the rocks, were two American Dippers! Hmm, nice. Into the car and into Yosemite proper - planned a couple of days here, hoping for a bear naturally, but decided day one should be up towards Glacier Point. Not a bad road up - vistas to die for (quite literaly if you took a step too far) and birds not bad too. Early success with a covey of Mountain Quail scurrying across the road, pausing just long enough for me to get a picture or two in the shoddy pre-sunrise light. Then a whole bunch of more leasurely stops as I climbed ever higher. A strange absence of warbers, just a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers, but plenty else of attraction - yummy Green-tailed Towhee, what a corker, plus the first White-headed Woodpeckers, ever-present and vocal Northern Flickers. Mountain Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches falling out of the trees, Golden-crowned Kinglets being right gits to get good views of! Upward and upward, the scenery just got better, but as the heat also went up, birding slowed a tad ...but not before the star of the day, a little buzz of something went zooming past. Then it buzzed back again and alighted upon a twig, a little midget was sitting there. Oo, these hummingbirds could be a problem to identify I had thought, but not this one - it was the number one hummingbird that I had at the top of my hit list - Calliope Hummingbird, the United States's smallest bird. Not a bad little thing too, then buzz and it was gone!

Up at Glacier Point, the heat and tourists had beaten me - so I sat and gawped too, perched atop a 900 metre overhang, the domes and pinnacles across the valley standing sentinal. Lots of Lodgepole Chipmunks and California Ground Squirrels, a few Western Grey Squirrels too, plus, on route down both Chickaree Squirrel and Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel ....five new squirrel species in just the morning, two more to come before Yosemite was over!

Then it was coffee time...

[skink1978]

Excellent report so far Jos. Hopefully going to California myself early next year and I’m especially looking forward to the Whale Watching trip.

[Hotspur]

Sounds incred-amazing. Tres jealous

[Chris D]

Always nice to have an outside perspective on our fine state. Perhaps I should quit counting my guns, doing drugs, and get my butt outside. But there's still rufous hummers out there - and that's scary...........

The best part is your writing. Please write on !

[Jos Stratford]

Afternoon was a pretty tame affair, a trundle around one or two places, ending up at the 'Chevron Meadows', a place strangely nobody had ever heard of, including at the park information place. Then it clicked, think 'Chevron', hmm petrol. Check the map, ah yes there is a Chevron petrol station! The place I needed was the meadow behind the gas station, hat numbskull named it that?! Names aside, it was a very nice meadow and moreover the occasional haunt of Great Grey Owls. Though Belarus has proudly done its honours with this species, I would never cry at the chance of more, so off I trotted. Lincoln's Sparrow was nice, following on the heels of Chipping Sparrow and Rufous-crowned Sparrow earlier in the day, the sparrow fog beginning to lift, but nicer still were the woodpeckers piling out of the woodwork - naturally, as everywhere, a Northern Flicker popped out, plus a White-headed Woodpecker, but the best of the evening were a Red-breasted Sapsucker and, a right headbanger, half demolishing a trunk, one smart Piliated Woodpecker. No iidea where the owl sat, but Western Wood-Pewees and a pair of Hammond's Flycatchers did try to compensate (failing miserably - no flycatcher, least of all one of the American look-alike models, could ever match a Great Grey!).

Then it got dark. Off I went up to Tamarack Flat, an exquisite campsite in ancient stands of pine, almost deserted of persons, but sporting the latest in bear bins - lock your food away for the night or have your car ripped to pieces by big furry bundles, they promised. I was half tempted to see, but decided responsibility was the better option! Also liked the second sign "Mountain Lions live here ....blah blah ...if attacked, fight back".

[Jos Stratford]

Day Four - 25 August

I began to think I was on hallucinatory drugs, by 9 a.m. I was again on cloud nine! It had all started so peacefully, a short stroll from the campsite, admiring the Mountain Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches, then I began to get waylaid, first by a whole bunch of woodpeckers - another Piliated Woodpecker, a half dozen White-headed, one Hairy and, surprise surprise, four more Northern Flickers. Then the bushes exploded into action - warblers, warblers, warblers, dozens of the buggers, a fast moving flock ranging from canopy down to forest floor, flashes of brilliant yellow, bold black and hints of many a shade more. This was rapid fire action, i.d. each one before the next jumped into view, Hermit, Hermit, Black-throated Grey, darn what was that, hmm, ah Townsend's, a little corker, Hermit again, another, oo, low in the bush, Nashville, two Nashvilles, plus Orange-crowned, eeks, loads of Orange-crowned, and...darn, missed, Hermit, blimey, what's that, darn need the book, oo brilliant MacGillivray's! And so it went on, flashes of this and that, Golden-crowned Kinglets coming through, a Brown Creeper too. Twenty minutes into this, the tally was something like 10 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 15 Orange-crowned Warblers, 2 Nashville, 2 Yellow-rumped, 15 Black-throated Greys, at least 20 Hermit, 6 Townsend's, a couple of MacGillivray's and 4 Wilson's Warblers ...plus several million that evaded my binoculars, pretending to be something else or simply moving far too fast for me to see.

OO er, I was in a good mood. I quietly strolled on ...then 'Fwooorrr', a sudden loud blow, something had made a funny snorting blowing noise! Naturally this was of rather interest to me, so I took a quick look to my left. Blimey, I said to myself for the second time of the morning, there happily clawing open a rotten tree trunk, blowing into cavities and sat not 15 metres was a Black Bear!!! Getting into American lingo, I could utter nothing but 'awesome', wondering whether this big hunk of a beast might be terribly amused to have an interloper disturbing him from his trunk. Best moment of the trip so far, eye to eye with the animal I had most wanted to see - after what seemed forever, he took a mild interest in his admirer, glancing up and appearing totally unfussed, off he ambled, rooting up the odd grub here and there, giving me the beady eye on occasion.

Half hour of this perfect moment, then the warblers came back, total distraction, back to the i.d. medlam. Gee, it's hard being on holiday!

Back to camp for breakfast, the bear box had worked there, no demolished car.

[Dryocopus]

Awesome!

Looks a bit too close!

[joannec]

Re bears and camping: Years ago, Jos, I was camping in Yosemite and we had to buy a clothesline to hang our food from suspended high over a metal cable which was strung between trees. This was considered the 'bearproof' way of securing ones food supply. Either that or lock it in a car which we didn't have as we were on foot and hiking. It worked and we did see the sleeping in a tree bear not too far from our camp site.....he looked very benign asleep up a tree.

[halftwo]

Awesome. Awesome. Awsome. Jos.
Some more please!
And can I borrow that bird magnet before I do my next trip?