[Xenospiza]

Instead of spending my left-over holidays in the Netherlands I decided to go to California, the state in the US that promised most lifers. I also wanted to visit Texas to try to add a few sparrows to my list: I did not go to the Rio Grande Valley despite the many possible lifers there (I’ve been there in summer though).

Most of my birding in California was governed by “A Birder’s Guide to Southern California” (Holt), with Monterey naturally covered by “Monterey Birds” (Roberson). Additional info for Santa Cruz Island was found on the web, Yellow-billed Magpie and Large-billed Sparrow from various Birder’s World web pages I found googling (and maybe should have studied more rigorously). I used the very helpful “DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer: California” to find my way.
Finding accommodation was very easy: most motels will cost about $ 45 in winter, State Park campsites $ 20. I’m not a car-sleeper...
It was cold in California, which kept me away from the mountains for most of the time.

Dec 17: I cycled to the station which was a mistake with a 22.5 kg suitcase. A good thing it had wheels. I flew from London Heathrow to Houston (BA) and from there to Los Angeles (Continental) to avoid any winter weather. This did not work out completely: the plane to LA had to come from Las Vegas where it was snowing! The queues for immigration were very long, so I was glad I had given myself a three hour connection. The only bird at George Bush Intercontinental Airport was Feral Pigeon – at LAX it was dark. After picking up my rental car I headed to the nearby Motel 6 which I only managed to reach after driving up and down a number of freeways.

Dec 18: I drove to Bolsa Chica which took about an hour in not-too-bad traffic. The (free but small) parking lot for Bolsa Chica can only be entered from the south – which I only found out after I had already missed it, driven back, and discovered that the Bolsa Chica State Beach opposite ($ 10 to park) is not the same thing (which forced me to drive the 2 miles up and down to Huntington Beach again!)
In this saltmarsh with wide creeks, oil wells and a hiking trail Belding's Sparrows were easy to find. There were plenty of waders, among which my one-and-only Red Knot and Semipalmated Plovers of the trip. Much more exciting was a Reddish Egret (apparently one of three present), a bird I had put on my to-find-in-Texas list. A very entertaining bird! Western Gull was my first larid tick, but the lighter gulls were Glaucous-winged × Western hybrids. I guess I should also mention the Peregrine that got attacked by a Northern Harrier. The photographers loitering on the entry bridge were kind enough to point out an American Bittern. A Western Marsh-Wren was singing at the car park.

I then spent some time birding the parks of Huntington, with Tricolored Blackbirds on my mind. These failed to materialise in any of the recommended sites (I only had a short encounter with Red-winged Blackbirds). I found a few Orange-crowned Warblers (the least impressive American warbler?), and many, many Audubon’s. The also very common Anna’s Hummingbirds were singing, displaying and chasing each other noisily – but a male Allen’s Hummingbird just north of Lake Huntington was a real surprise. This was also the only place where I saw a Cassin’s Kingbird flock. California Ground-Squirrel was common.

I finished the day at Crystal Cove State Beach ($ 10), which is a rather narrow strip of chaparral (low scrub) between the Pacific Coast Highway and the sea with a few car parks. It had been recommended to me for my main goal of the day: California Gnatcatcher. Rightly so: I found one at P1 and one pretty much on the beach below P4. They look just like Blue-gray in winter, so check their sound and tail! Other highlights in the scrub were the easier-than-expected Wrentit, a thankfully singing California Thrasher, first views of the unmissable California Towhee and California Raven (for what it’s worth).
I could then direct my attention to the sea, where I found a single Black Brant (only one of the trip), Heermann’s Gull, mostly unidentifiable cormorants and (distant) Black-vented Shearwaters. No Grey Whales, but I could not complain with California Sea-Lion and Indo-Pacific Bottle-nosed Dolphin. An American Osprey (potential split!) with a fluorescent-orange fish in its claws flew by.

Four hours driving mostly very, very slowly through Los Angeles took me to Ventura, where the boat for my next goal, Santa Cruz Island, would leave.

[Xenospiza]

Some pictures of December 18: Reddish Egret, Belding’s Sparrow.
And elsewhere on the web: California Thrasher, Ring-billed Gull.

[Xenospiza]

Dec 19: I had reservations for a trip to Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers (http://www.islandpackers.com/contact.html). I saw my first Eurasian Collared-Doves of the trip, which turned out to be widespread in both California and Texas.
Before taking the boat, I spent a few hours on the beach, checking the jetties for waders (Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone and my only Wandering Tattler) and cormorants (Brandt’s and Pelagic). I also saw my first American Pipits. The first new gull was an adult Short-billed (or Mew) Gull, rapidly followed by first-winter Glaucous-winged Gulls.
At 10 am, the boat left for Santa Cruz Island, and after a fun-filled introduction to the safety procedures we rapidly encountered the swell, which was fun too. There was one other jay-bound birder on the boat. After having left behind the shallow Western Grebe-filled waters (with 1 Clark’s and 2 Horned Grebes in the harbour), numerous Black-vented Shearwaters started passing the boat. From the top of the boat, careful attention to the bow resulted in sightings of the regular Cassin’s Auklet, Common Murre (maybe one day Pacific?) and Rhinoceros Auklet (all low numbers though), and a less-expected Ancient Murrelet. A single Harbor Porpoise was the first cetacean. The only time the boat stopped was (of course) for a group of three Gray Whales: interesting to see how you can see their trail through the water from their "slicks". The absence of dolphins was curious.
After a stop at Scorpion Anchorage, which is not the best place to go on land as a birder, but which has some nice kelp to watch, we headed to Prisoners Harbor. The wind now blew straight into the boat, the sea became quite choppy, and I got very wet when a large wave broke in a rather unexpected fashion. Luckily it was sunny.
We landed at Prisoners Harbor at 11.30, and then I was presented with a new dilemma: go birding on my own, which would mean I had to stay on National Park land, or go along with the hike towards Pelican Bay, which meant access to Nature Conservancy land? The guide claimed to know where to find the jay, and the possibility of leaving the hike at any time you wanted meant I chose for the latter. Of course this meant I had to put up with way too much talking, but on the other hand I also learnt something about the endemic plants of Santa Cruz Island, which I wouldn't have appreciated otherwise.
The guide obviously wanted to reach Pelican Bay, because she walked at high speed. No jays showed (and very few other birds). When we reached a very nice canyon about half way a (reintroduced) Bald Eagle flew across. These have been released to prevent Golden Eagle from resettling the island: these have all been relocated to protect the Santa Cruz Island Fox (no sign of these yet either). Luckily, a bit further along the path I managed a two-second sighting of an Island Scrub-Jay (which prompted the guide to acknowledge there was a pair there – something I had rather heard in advance).
Before reaching Pelican Bay we had to return to the boat. While most people took advantage of this to enjoy a picknick and a rest, I headed straight back, taking advantage of the now quiet path. This paid off when I found another jay in some low scrub, showing really well (but utterly unphotographable). I caught up with the other jayseeker who had only had a bad view, and managed to show her a (distant) jay flying off into a canyon. The guide took us to a place on National Park land (follow a willow-lined creek up from the harbor towards a house) that often held jays, but not today. I guess this could be the best place to find the fox, because I found a lot of excrement on the path (but of course not the animal itself). I could not find Allen’s Hummingbird in the Eucalyptus trees – I was very relieved that I had seen one yesterday!
On the way back, the light on the (invariably Black-vented) shearwaters was better than in the morning, but neither dolphins nor (more unfortunately) Xantus’s Murrelets (which I had not really counted on, but had been sighted recently) could be found.

[skink1978]

Great report. I'm already looking forward to the next part.

[Edward]

Great start to the trip, X. You remember what happened last time I read one of your American trip reports, don't you? I'd best start thumbing through Sibley's Western Field Guide...

[Xenospiza]

With all the fast walking on Santa Cruz Island, I only got to take one picture there.
The rest is from Ventura Beach: Short-billed (Mew) Gull, Black Oystercatcher and Marbled Godwit.

[Xenospiza]

Dec 20: I left Ventura at 6:30, and at 7:00 (when I was just at the "no services for 30 miles" sign beyond Santa Barbara) a warning light showed up on my dashboard. It took me about an hour to find out what this meant, not helped by the fact that I couldn’t think of the word "spanner" (let alone "wrench"): oil change within 1000 miles, so nothing too alarming... Why don't they leave the manual in the car? At least the phone call provided a good look at Brewer’s Blackbirds.
At 8:20 I reached my first destination: Nojoqui Falls Country Park. There were only two other people present, which unfortunately were carrying leaf blowers. They did not stop for the next one-and-a-half hours. I still managed quite a few birds around the ranger’s office and Alisal Road (which runs along the park). These included my first Californian oak specialists: obviously Acorn Woodpecker and Oak Titmouse, but also Nuttall’s Woodpecker and Hutton’s Vireo (which is easily overlooked or stringed because of all the lookalike Ruby-crowned Kinglets). I birded away the blues with Western Scrub-Jay, Steller’s Jay and Western Bluebird (common here, but not seen again). The best bird was a Red-breasted Sapsucker in a pine in the large field west of the ranger's office. I had been worried about seeing this bird (and rightfully: this was the only one) – but the fact that this was the best bird meant I missed my target species... The short walk to the fall was shadowy, cold and birdless, but it was interesting to see how it ran along a stalagmite. After I put my telescope back in the car, I heard some distress calls behind me. At first I thought these were related to the Cooper’s Hawk that flew off, but then I looked a (small) Bobcat in the face! It had just caught a scrub jay and quickly decided it would rather eat it in peace.
I decided to leave the leaf blowers in peace and try Los Alamos Country Park, which was recommended on the Birder’s World website. When I passed Buellton, the home of split-pea soup (apparently the Danes like this as well as the Dutch), great relief when two Yellow-billed Magpies landed in a tree. A bit further north another one flew across the road.
I still went to Los Alamos Country Park to try and get some better looks (I hadn’t seen the bill yet!), and three magpies on the parking delivered these. They flew around quite a bit through the valley. During a short walk I found my first Golden-crowned Sparrow.
I drove through seemingly birdless agricultural land to the impressive Rancho Guadalupe Dunes County Park (suggested donation). Just north of the beach car park, many Snowy Plovers took shelter from the wind. Most birds on the lake at the end of the Santa Maria River (it did not reach the ocean) were distant, just as the birds on the sea, and I struggled to convince myself there were Pacific Loons among the Red-throated and Common (I'd use different names in the UK).
A stop at the willow thickets close to the entry was good for Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Bewick’s Wren.
I continued north via Shell Beach, which has more high cliffs and rocks than beach. Most of the birds were as expected (more Black Oystercatchers), but I also found some Sea Otters. A large group of people on the cliff edge turned out to be a wedding party (I thought they might be whale watchers at first).
Turkey Vultures became more common as I drove north, with a huge flock coming to roost in Guardia. I spent the night camping at San Simeon State Park, where a Great Horned Owl called throughout the cold night.

[Jos Stratford]

Nice reads, locations so fresh in my mind, interesting to see the differences with the change of season. Cheers.

[Xenospiza]

Just one picture for the day (the other I want to upload to that other site): a Snowy Plover.

[Xenospiza]

Dec 21: With two t-shirts and a sweater it wasn’t cold, but I slept bad enough to awake only when it was really light. I walked through San Simeon State Park for about three hours. There are quite a few Monterey Pines there, and the expected Pygmy Nuthatch was easily found. They were so noisy that I wondered how I could have missed them in Texas. One of their calls sounds exactly like a rubber duck. Chestnut-backed Chickadee was common here, as was the case anywhere further north. I also encountered Western Grey Squirrels and Brush Rabbit, but only when I came across some old Eucalyptus trees I found the bird I really wanted to see: Townsend’s Warbler. I had never really warmed to its pictures, and it was nice to be proven wrong. I don’t really like all those exotic Eucalyptus trees, but they are a good place to find birds when they are in flower.
I left the park and headed to nearby Piedras Blancas. On the way I just had to look to the right to see the distant but apparently very much worth-a-visit Hearst Castle. At Piedras Blancas, all cars on this rather empty road appeared to have had the same destination as me: the Northern Elephant-Seal colony. They are present year-round, but not all ages or sexes are there at any given time. Bulls are present and aggressive in late autumn–early winter. Indeed, their dozing intermittantly gave way to posturing, but there was no drawing blood while I was there. The first pups are born late December, and apparently there was one hidden somewhere.
When I had had enough of the crowd and the well-meaning volunteers I headed further north along the Cabrillo Highway to Monterey. The weather got worse – and I got a headache which also got worse. Probably the effects of not having drunk coffee. A short stop along the way near some nice-looking chapparal at Willow Creek was not very productive. I missed a few opportunities to head up the mountains at more attractive looking sites, but the immediate area near the road looked pretty treeless for most of the time. Lime Kiln State Park was closed because the whole area had been burnt down; at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park the interesting-looking path through some redwoods was closed. It then really started to rain, which reduced the chance of seeing a (non-countable, but who cares) Californian Condor pretty much to zero, and I only found a White-tailed Kite (the only one of the trip though).
The weather (and headache) also stopped me from exploring either Pfeiffer-Big Sur or Andrew Molera State Park, where Pacific Winter Wren should be present. I went to bed very, very early in Monterey.

Pictures: Northern Elephant-Seal from a distance (and through my scope); chaparral in Big Sur (near Willow Creek).

[Xenospiza]

Dec 22: After a rainy night the weather looked much better than predicted. I headed to Moss Landing, where I parked on the large parking area on the east side of the inlet. There were many Sea Otters present, some of them even running onland! An unexpected Pigeon Guillemot swam in the channel. Then I was approached by a birder who asked if I had come for the (adult female) Barrow’s Goldeneye (an occasional visitor this far south) he had found the day before. That was an even more unexpected lifer! I asked about Thayer’s Gull (should be present in the gull roost that I had glanced at already) and Harlequin Duck (Monterey Harbor). Eventually I managed to find two Thayer’s Gulls (an adult and a third winter) in the roost – I never found a first winter bird (although these should be more common!) From the other side of Moss Landing (Jetty Road) I checked the sea: the only two Red-necked Grebes of the trip floated close to shore.
After a visit to Elkhorn Slough appeared impossible because it was apparently closed on Monday and Tuesday, Locke-Padden Park in Marina was the next place where a target bird might be present. Unfortunately, the flock of Bicolored Blackbirds did not contain any obvious Tricolored Blackbirds. A good view of a Sooty Fox-Sparrow confirmed that I had seen one yesterday at Big Sur. I also saw a very dark, smallish Song Sparrow which gave me some identification troubles.
During a short walk on the large Fort Ord Public Lands I found some chapparal birds and a Common Buckeye, a pretty butterfly.
After a stop at Laguna Seca again failed to deliver any Tricolored Blackbirds, I bought some lunch and drove up to Jack’s Peak Country Park ($ 3) to look for some species among the Monterey Pines. Townsend’s Warblers were very common here, and a too-short-glimpse of a warbler with a mostly yellow head was tantalising (Hermit Warblers winter here in low numbers), although from what I saw it could also have been a hybrid. I finally found Hermit Thrush which I had expected to be more common. I would never have been able to find a match for a bird that appeared to show pale tail tips that flew into a bush. A closer look revealed a Varied Thrush!
For obvious reasons I decided to spend the last two hours of daylight in Monterey Harbor. Wharf 2 had some very intimidating Brown Pelicans and great views of Rhinoceros Auklets and Pacific Loons; Fisherman’s Wharf was less productive. The third (northernmost) pier was inaccessible, so I turned back and noticed some strong currents close to the shore. And of course this was where the pair of Harlequin Ducks was swimming! I somehow paid more attention to the male than to the female (which then hid behind a rock to sulk). The weather at night was again not perfect, and Monterey Birds was not optimistic about owling anyway...

[Xenospiza]

Brown Pelican, Western Scrub-Jay, an unimpressed Harlequin Duck
Common Buckeye; Golden-crowned Sparrow.

[Xenospiza]

Dec 23: I had about half a day of birdwatching before heading southeast. A storm had been forecast to enter California on Christmas Eve, and I wanted to be in the desert by then.
I first drove from Monterey to Point Pinos, stopping at possibly interesting sites along the way. In Seaside I saw two Great-tailed Grackles on a lamp post, a rather silly trip tick when you head for the southeast! A Snowy Egret way out on some kelp was a curious sight. Two Black-crowned Night-Herons were at Crespi Pond – I had been surprised at not having seen any before.
My main goal was the last regular rock-dwelling wader I had yet to see (so not Rock Sandpiper which had been reported earlier in autumn – the RBA did not mention a recent sighting). At the north end of Asilomar State Beach (mentioned in Monterey Birds as one of the best sites), I found it: a group of about 15 Surfbirds.
Now I had had enough of the birds linked to rocky shores, I drove to Zmudowski State Beach which should give a chance to find some declining seabirds linked to sandy coasts. I failed to find Canvasback on a favoured pond just inland from the beach (but was awarded with my only Greater Scaup), and then spent some time seawatching. I couldn’t discover White-winged Scoter, but a Marbled Murrelet was even more welcome!
I spent the afternoon driving to Ventura, which was uneventful except for a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at King City. A stop at the Santa Barbara Airport rental car facility revealed that that warning light in my car was erroneous...

[Mysticete]

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose (Tursiops aduncus)? I think what you really mean is Common Bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), since T. aduncus is not known from North America.

Although in all honesty the genus Tursiops is a taxonomic mess, and probably should be split into at least 8 species.

The area around Hearst castle is also the only place you can see countable Zebras in North America, which sometimes graze along the highway.

[Xenospiza]

Ah thanks, I thought Pacific... oh well. I can’t edit that anymore! I’ll just wait for the inevitable split, hahaha. The mammal guide I have for North America does not contain whales, which is a bit annoying... but I can’t say I’m too bothered by missing those zebras!

Some pics from Point Pinos: Surfbird, Black Turnstones & Surfbirds, a monster Glaucous-winged Gull.

[Xenospiza]

Dec 24: In two hours, I drove to Palmdale, which is basically a grid of mostly unpaved streets in a broad desert valley, with some cheap and decrepit houses thrown in at random locations. Despite it being a desert, it was grey, freezing, with the odd patches of snow amongst the Joshua Trees. I walked a few miles of sandy washes without finding the hoped-for LeConte’s Thrasher. Luckily, Cactus Wren, Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Sage Sparrow (canescens, so best called Bell’s?) were around to ease the pain.
I drove through the completely white San Bernardino Mountains (not a place to venture off the highway without chains...) to the somewhat warmer desert further south. The I-10 was the first place where I saw rows of large billboards along the road, mostly trying to persuade me to come and gamble in one of the various (very obvious) casinos around Palm Springs, in which they failed, as I was heading to Mecca.
Around 11:30 I arrived at a shiny new road stop (“am–pm”) with dirty toilets near this town at the north end of the Salton Sea. This was one of the few places where my atlas failed me, because the road lay-out has recently been changed. I figured out that the saltbush/mesquite habitat just east of the road stop (at the crossroads of highways 86S/195) was the one mentioned in my Birder’s Guide (I was right). I wasn’t deterred by the salt-crusted mud I had to struggle through and was rewarded with expected Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Abert’s Towhee and Verdin, less expected but quite numerous Phainopeplas (one of my aims in the desert) and an only-hoped-for singing Crissal Thrasher.
I couldn’t find the coastal access south of Mecca and drove on to Salton Sea Beach. This is a poor but quite closely-knit town with a fenced-off shore where someone is obviously failing to build a harbour. The sea was filled with American White Pelicans and Black-necked Grebes, with some space left for gulls, although I could “only” find a Glaucous-winged Gull here.
My next stop was in grandiosely-named Salton City (a collection of wide-spread and sometimes hilariously tacky houses on a wide curvy network of streets – a complete waste of space). I found access to the shore at the West Shores Boat Ramp (and RV park), where I got a chance to smell the curious aroma of this lake: something between fertiliser and broth (probably strong enough to wipe out any hint of dead fish). This boat ramp was an excellent spot: many waders (e.g. American Avocet) and gulls – with thankfully one adult Yellow-footed Gull flying by! I was then distracted by a lesser golden-plover, of which I took some embarrasingly bad pics to convince myself it really was a Pacific Golden-Plover (lack of tertials did not help!)
With more “seawatching” tomorrow, I returned to the desert. I passed the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area where you can reduce the sparse vegetation even further with “Off-Highway Vehicles” and drove into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where the Ocotillos are left in peace. I found a camp site at Borrego Palms, and decided to walk into Palm Canyon to finally see a few wild palms. This was a race against sunset, but well worth it as I finally, finally found five California Quail which I disturbed from their roost site in a mistletoe.
When it was truly dark, I walked along the access road to Borrego Springs hoping to find some mammals. I managed to lose my way on the way back and went cross-country back to the campsite (luckily that’s easy enough in the desert!), but even this did not yield any.

[Xenospiza]

Good birds, but mostly bad photos...
“Mojave” Sage Sparrow, Cactus Wren, a camera-shy Phainopepla, Pacific Golden-Plover

[Xenospiza]

Dec 25: Somewhat to my surprise I was not awoken by children shouting: "Look what I got!" In constant drizzle I walked up Palm Canyon again, up to the palm grove. Still on the campsite I found at dozens of California Quail (no Gambel’s or hybrids). Not all hummingbirds appeared to be the ubiquitous Anna’s Hummingbird, but it took a while until I saw a Costa’s Hummingbird clearly enough to be sure. In the end I saw at least ten: they’re supposed to be plentiful in February. A flock of ten White-winged Doves was present on the campsite when I returned.
In Coyote Canyon I (again) failed to find LeConte’s Thrasher in the continuing drizzle. A nice find here was a Merlin, along with more Sage Sparrows.
I drove to the southern side of the Salton Sea, where I first visited the Vendel Road unit of the mostly submerged Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. A few hunters had positioned themselves on its edge for some Christmas Geese. The path on the refuge first went mostly through windy reedbeds with little views, but then turned south along a few open ponds, where I found Cinnamon Teal. Thousands of Ross’s and Snow Geese flew towards the reserve, and kept me from walking the full circular route (I did not want to scare them off towards those hunters). Sandhill Cranes were visible in the distance, and some butterflies (Westy Coast Ladies) and dragonflies (Sympetrum?) were about despite the wind. I couldn’t identify a distant falcon, but luckily a Prairie Falcon then flew by at very close range.
On towards the Rock Hill Unit of the NWR, where a flock of Gambel’s Quail ran around the car park and below the feeders at the entrance. I wish its western relative had been this easy! There were many birds along the shores (the amounts of gulls, although mostly Ring-billed are baffling), but most importantly on the ponds inland there were some (very distant) Canvasbacks.
After a bit of searching for the most promising location made me skip Red Hill (to the north) for Obsidian Butte (just a bit to the south). The beach here was made of rows of barnacles and dead tilapia. In now very strong southeasterly winds, I trampled through the halophilic scrub until I flushed a Large-billed Sparrow and got an honestly rubbish view. It did not get another chance, and had a look at the much easier to find and less mobile obsidian instead.
I drove to Brawley through my first real dust storm, and had a tantalising view of some plovers. This town looks much better than the desperate settlements on the western shore, so I decided to spend the night here (my tent would probably been a bad idea with such winds). Domino’s Pizza was having a busy night: many failed Christmas dinners?

[Xenospiza]

Dec 26: My last day in California started in Cattle Call Park on the southside of Brawley. Just a few palms and some mesquite along the New River (which is more polluted than an open sewer), but a good place to find Gila Woodpeckers which were eating the palm fruits. Checking a palm grove on the north side of Brawley led to the conclusion that this was probably no longer there: no American Barn-Owl...
I drove back towards the Salton Sea looking for open ploughed fields. Large numbers of Long-billed Curlews and one flock of elusive Greater Canada Geese (moffitti?) flew by. On the corner of Bannister and Pellett Road just northwest of Westmorland I found a good field: it contained 56 (distant) Mountain Plovers, with another 75 dropping in later! A large flock of pale-headed Horned Larks was present on ploughed fields along Pellett Road. I drove on to the Rock Hill Unit of the Salton Sea NWR, where I found that the wind had changed to the northwest: all Black-necked Grebes had disappeared to be replaced by Ruddy Ducks. An adult Thayer’s Gull was on the shore, while one blue phase Ross’s Goose was on the fields. Blue phase Snow Geese are (also) rare at Salton Sea, so checking them is relatively easy.
I then drove west into the mountains via Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, with very little birding on the way. I managed to reach Julian when I was getting slightly worried about petrol: it was sold at a premium. I decided to try to do some birding in the Laguna Mountains, and chose to go to Cuyamaca State Park. Unfortunately it was extremely busy with people enjoying the snow and even more unfortunately much of the pine habitat which should have held White-headed Woodpecker had been destroyed by fire. I walked around for a few hours anyway (vaguely hoping for Mountain Quail), but did not find much of interest apart from White-breasted Nuthatch.
I drove back in a loop via Mt. Laguna (the east side of the Laguna Mountains) because the road through Julian was completely blocked with people having seen enough snow. In a very snowy landscape (with some rather scary icy patches) habitat looked a lot better, but parking was apparently only allowed if you had a National Forest Pass... and it was getting late anyway. The car made some nasty sounds (probably snow on the brakes?) but luckily did not stop completely...
I returned to LA via San Diego, and had some reasonable Chinese fastfood.

[Jos Stratford]

Excellent report ... not sure about the weather though, think my trip beat you there

[Mysticete]

while at Cuyamaca State Park, did you by chance check the campgrounds? There is (or was...haven't been there in the last 2 years), a pretty good grove of trees in that vicinity that didn't get burned down by the forest fires, and it was pretty reliable in winter for White-headed Woodpecker.

[Xenospiza]

There were still trees there, but it was completely full... with rangers chasing everyone away I guess. It would be the only place left, but don't go on a holiday!

Some pictures from my last days:
Anna’s Hummingbird
Ross's Geese, Say’s Phoebe, Mountain Plover

[Mysticete]

Good to hear that the campground hasn't burnt down in a more recent batch of fire. Every time I have visited in winter it's been dead silent, but most likely because it wasn't during a holiday :)

Last time I was there I picked up 5 species of woodpecker, including White-headed and Williamson's Sapsucker (a stray for San Diego). So it is a great spot under quieter conditions

Also congrats on the Plovers...those have not been easy at all in recent years.

[Xenospiza]

I think the snow enticed half the population of San Diego County into the mountains!
Williamson’s Sapsucker, White-headed and Lewis’s Woodpecker are serious considerations for planning a future trip... they are glaring omissions now in my American woodpecker list (otherwise, only Arizona to go for Gilded Flicker and AZWO).
I was very happy with those plovers! (missed them in... yes Wyoming, couldn’t find them in Texas (trip report to follow).

Some final Californian pics:
Gila Woodpecker

[Xenospiza]

And here is a list of species (birds, mammals, butterflies) and locations: