Southern California Dec '13 - Jan '14 (1 Viewer)

ulfg said:

Thank you all for your advice! Tomorrow is departure day
Mike "cassowary" - a look at Google maps suggests to me that your CalGnat spot is at the parking area that's most close to San Diego. Is that correct?

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Ulfg I'm not sure what you mean - Crystal Cove State Park has 3 carparks. On the main carpark on the seaward side of hwy 1 go to the furthest NW Parking spot and there is a territory there.
I just had a quick look at current sightings of 'CalGnat' in CA and Dana Point Headlands Preserve looks good. I have seen them there as well. BTW I recently saw Condor at pinnacles NP.

cassowary said:

Ulfg I'm not sure what you mean - Crystal Cove State Park has 3 carparks. On the main carpark on the seaward side of hwy 1 go to the furthest NW Parking spot and there is a territory there.
I just had a quick look at current sightings of 'CalGnat' in CA and Dana Point Headlands Preserve looks good. I have seen them there as well. BTW I recently saw Condor at pinnacles NP.

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Thanks Mike - your info here is much appreciated. I'd found that Dana Point Headlands Preserve looked good for California Gnatcatcher on Ebird too (with several recent sightings of multiple individuals). I'll be flying tomorrow afternoon, and spending a couple of nights in LA before heading south to San Diego for New Year. I'll let you know how I get on.

Many thanks
Rich
http://rothandb.blogspot.co.uk/

Well, first day in California has ended. I followed Mike's advice at Crystal Cove State Park. The California Gnatcatcher was easy indeed. I parked and took a walk around the carpark... and heard - and later saw - two birds just at the entrance. Thank you

Nice! Glad you managed to see the Gnatcatcher. Crystal Cove is such a nice place.

BTW maybe of interest:
there is a big flock of mountain plover hanging around the junction of Little Panoche Road and Panoche Rd, Firebaugh, CA
http://ebird.org/ebird/map/mouplo?b....531&env.maxX=-114.129&env.maxY=42.01&gp=true

Other 'good' birds around include:
Leconte's thrasher (resident but localised):
http://ebird.org/ebird/map/lecthr?b....531&env.maxX=-114.129&env.maxY=42.01&gp=true

&

Lawrence's Goldfinch (resident but nomadic) - my bogey bird
http://ebird.org/ebird/map/lawgol?b....531&env.maxX=-114.129&env.maxY=42.01&gp=true

BTW these are some YB Magpie spots:
http://ebird.org/ebird/map/yebmag?n...&mr=on&bmo=12&emo=12&yr=cur&byr=2013&eyr=2013

Just a quick update as having now got the non-birding bit of the holiday out of the way, I headed to Wilson Canyon Park (just north of LA at Sylmar) this morning. Being aware that Lewis' Woodpeckers were being seen there easily (per LA RBA), a species I'd missed on previous trips, I visited there early this morning 29th Dec. Pleasantly surprised how easily I found one - in the scattered oaks immediately north of the car park. Access is from jctn 2 of the 210 and head NE on Olive View Drive, past the 2 hospitals and then left into the state park. Go uphill, turn left at the t-jctn to the car park at the end by the dam.
Cheers
Rich

Great to hear you're all doing so well finding your target species.

Best of luck to you both!

If you're in LA area after the second and have other target species, I can definitely help with ideas... for speedy results send an email. Looks like ebird is really making it's mark.

Just a quick update from a busy few days since my last post; currently in Palm Springs after having had three nights in San Diego where I managed the following: -
- California Gnatcatcher at Crystal Cove State Park; thank you! A couple of these little critters showed well near Parking Lot 1 on 29th December as well as California Thrasher and a few Black-vented Shearwaters offshore.
- Belding's Savannah Sparrow and Little Blue Heron were both easily seen at Tijuana Slough NWR on 30th December. Loads of numbers of commoner species around San Diego Bay too - waders, waterfowl etc.
- Blue-footed Booby; two seen at Lake Skinner on 31st December - on the small island off Boat Launch #2; disappointingly not as close as some of the photos I've seen!
- Painted Redstart; staked out bird showed really well in trees adjacent to the emergency entrance to the Naval Hospital on Park Avenue in San Diego on 31st December.
- Thick-billed Kingbird; the annually returning bird showed well (eventually) in Chula Vista on 31st December.
- Two Golden-crowned Sparrows at Point Loma on 31st December (near the lighthouse).
- Gila Woodpecker, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Costa's Hummingbird all at Brawley Cattle Call Park on 1st Jan.
- loads of birds at Salton Sea on 1st Jan; specifically an adult Yellow-footed Gull at Redhill Marina (took most of the day to find one!), a 2cy Western Gull at Obsidian Butte, a Greater Roadrunner along Sinclair/Kalin Road junction and good views of the usual stuff like Gambel's Quail, Abert's Towhee and lots of Snow and some Ross's Geese at Sonny NWR.

Cheers
Rich
http://rothandb.blogspot.com/

Rich,
looks like you have seen some scarce birds in CA. I forgot about the Thick-billed kingbird near San Diego. Also I can't remember seeing shearwaters from the CA shore before - I must make more of an effort to look next time.

BTW as this thread seems to be getting a bit of attention, I thought I would mention that the pelagics off Monterrey are well worth doing at any time of year. The shelf is so close to the shore here that you really don't have to go out far to see many of the seabirds.

cassowary said:

Rich,
looks like you have seen some scarce birds in CA. I forgot about the Thick-billed kingbird near San Diego. Also I can't remember seeing shearwaters from the CA shore before - I must make more of an effort to look next time.

BTW as this thread seems to be getting a bit of attention, I thought I would mention that the pelagics off Monterrey are well worth doing at any time of year. The shelf is so close to the shore here that you really don't have to go out far to see many of the seabirds.

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Thanks! Those trips out of Monterey are excellent; I was fortunate to do a whale watching trip out from there this February (where I saw Ancient Murrelet) while a couple of years back went out with Debi Shearwater to The Farallons. There sure are a lot if pelagic species out there... hope to see some on the boat to Santa Cruz Island tomorrow.

Much of today was spent driving from Palm Springs to Santa Barbara, though early morning California Thrashers showed well at Big Morongo and mid a'noon the ever faithful Gray (I guess it is The USA!) Hawk was at Carpinteria by the 101 at junction 88 mid a'noon. A look through the gulls in Santa Barbara produced a couple of first cycle Glaucous-wingeds but little else, though Black Skimmers are always nice.

Yesterday I suffered too much shopping and general sightseeing for my liking in Palm Springs, but after a bit of ebird research stumbled on a nice little reserve at Santa Rosa National Monument where Black-throated Sparrow, Verdin and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher were all easily seen.
Cheers
Rich

cassowary said:

Also I can't remember seeing shearwaters from the CA shore before - I must make more of an effort to look next time.

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Black-Vented are visible from several places along the coast here. Pt Vicente in Palos Verdes we had thousands streaming by. I am told they can been seen from Zuma and Pt Dume in Malibu along with other coastal migrants. It was something I had dismissed as well... how wrong I was!

Thanks everyone for this useful thread. I too will be following in these well-trod footsteps for 10 days in late January, so the tips are very helpful for my planning.

Links to eBird were particularly useful. What an amazing internet resource!!

A visit to Idyllwild was questioned by rrepp because of its high altitude and likely snow. I too was considering that area, or Hurkey Creek/Lake Hemet, for upland forest stuff like Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Quail and some woodpeckers, all of which have records on eBird from past winters. Having only been to NE USA and S America before, there's more for me to try for around Idyllwild than at very bird-rich wetland preserves (unless the whole area is under snow); San Jacinto NWR sounds ecologically different, though good for Tricolored Blackbird, Mountain Bluebird etc and I'll give it a try when it's not being hunted.

Like Rich, I spotted Dana Point for CalGnat on eBird. I'm intending to give it a try on my first morning, retreating to the Crystal Cove stake-out if I fail at Dana Point. A suggestion above that a quick burst of the call of CalGnat might be OK at Crystal Cove is surprising given its protected status, but I'll probably miss the species whilst perched on my high horse ;-)

Sam Bryo said:

Thanks everyone for this useful thread. I too will be following in these well-trod footsteps for 10 days in late January, so the tips are very helpful for my planning.

Links to eBird were particularly useful. What an amazing internet resource!!

A visit to Idyllwild was questioned by rrepp because of its high altitude and likely snow. I too was considering that area, or Hurkey Creek/Lake Hemet, for upland forest stuff like Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Quail and some woodpeckers, all of which have records on eBird from past winters. Having only been to NE USA and S America before, there's more for me to try for around Idyllwild than at very bird-rich wetland preserves (unless the whole area is under snow); San Jacinto NWR sounds ecologically different, though good for Tricolored Blackbird, Mountain Bluebird etc and I'll give it a try when it's not being hunted.

Like Rich, I spotted Dana Point for CalGnat on eBird. I'm intending to give it a try on my first morning, retreating to the Crystal Cove stake-out if I fail at Dana Point. A suggestion above that a quick burst of the call of CalGnat might be OK at Crystal Cove is surprising given its protected status, but I'll probably miss the species whilst perched on my high horse ;-)

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I've just returned from a fantastic trip - I'll chip into the above first off. I'm not too sure whether January is the best time for Mountain Quail, a notoriously tricky species at the best of times. Mountain Chickadee is easy to be honest, even at mid altitude - I saw them at the tourist stop at the top of the aerial tramway at Palm Springs this trip; likewise Pygmy Nuthatch is really easy in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco if that's where you fly to. Birds like Tricoloured Blackbird and Mountain Bluebird were relatively straightforward when I did a solely birding trip last February (trip report can be found here). I didn't end up going to Dana Point, because the light failed and California Gnatcatcher was easy enough at Crystal Cove (just to the north) though looking at the ebird reports, I doubt you'll struggle. Another good resource for up-to-date info are the local ABA forums - these were invaluable at the end of the trip when I was targetting specific birds. The link is here and I used a lot of the CA ones such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Inland Counties.

And so to the final couple of days of my trip from Santa Barbara. A lovely and bird rich area - Saturday was spent heading off to Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers from Ventura. A brilliant day with the sea like a millpond and loads of Black-vented Shearwaters, quite a lot of Cassin's Auklets, smaller numbers of Rhino Auklets and a couple of Pacific Fulmars. However, the highlight for me was the five Scripp's Murrelets that I saw - all within 20 mins of the island on both crossings. Added to this, half a dozen Grey Whales and 100s of Common Dolphins made it even more good value. On the island itself, I got off at Prisoners' Harbour where I located 3 Island Scrub Jays, one almost immediately, as well as a really good looking Island Fox! All very memorable.

Sunday morning was spent rushing around, making the most of the Santa Barbara area before my flight back to London early evening. I started off at Ocean Shores (disused) Golf Course where I saw a Grace's Warbler well, and then headed to Alice Heck Park where the returning Thayer's Gull showed well. Nearby a Hermit Warbler was feeding actively in a parking lot amongst a load of Townsend's Warblers and to round things off, a papping session in perfect light on East beach for Black Skimmers, Royal Terns and loads of gulls. So there ends this trip, and with a load of good birds on what was supposedly a non-birding holiday with my girlfriend! I have and will be updating further on my blog.

Cheers
Rich
http://rothandb.blogspot.co.uk/

Thankyou Rich - I'm glad you did so well in SoCal and hope I score at least some of your better species. I won't be heading very far north, so will have to hope for the Nuthatches etc around the San Jacinto Mountain roads, along with Pinyon Jay, Clark's Nutcracker and other upland stuff. Given the weather in most of the US at the moment, I'm not really sure what to expect.

Weather is fantastic right now in Southern California.

I had Nutcracker and Nuthatches on the Angeles Crest Monday (Jan 6). There were patches of snow on the ground near Buckhorn...

All the Campgrounds etc are closed for the season. You can park in Devils Canyon and walk to Chilao Visitors Center.

Whiteheaded Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee and Steller's Jay were about all that was around abundantly.

Buckhorn Day Use Area had three distant Clark's Nutcrackers. Good views...

Not really a fantastic payoff for the amount of driving unless these are species you are in dire need of. I am sure there are better more accessable places to find these species currently.

Re: shearwaters, I saw plenty of Black-vented Shearwaters passing Malibu from Zuma Beach a week ago. I could see and identify them with the naked eye so they are fairly close on some days.

Lawrence's goldfinch drives me insane as does cinnamon teal. I dispute their existence.

Interesting thread indeed, since I will go to SoCal (and towards SanFran) 13th to 28th Feb. Not a birdwatching trip, really - but 'all eyes and ears', as always.
A practical question (travelling from/to Europe) is what Optical gear to bring. I have an Opticron MM52 and a lightweigth tripod in addition to the usual binoc's + an DSLR with 300/4 lens and 1.4 converter (you'll never Guess the brand). We'll have a hired car most of the time, but I'm more interested if scope is a must, or should I rather give photo priority?
Possible itninerary will be the triangle Sta Barbara - San Diego - Palm Springs (Salton/Joshua Tree) and Monterey of course. Santa Cruz Isl is also wanted, but since there are other issues during this vacation, time and weather conditions may be Critical.

Best regards from Norway,

If you're looking for shorebirds or a lot of sparrows and will use the scope a lot I would attempt to bring it.

If you're mostly vacationing with the odd "stolen" birding day, I would go with the camera equipment since you will use that for other stuff during your travels.

Myself, I try to bring everything and then only use a quarter of it and feel like a dummy lugging it around.

Re: Silverwolf - I can probably get you both species in Southern California today. Lawrences might be tricky, but I can probably drive you to within twenty feet of a Cinnamon Teal.

Thank you for Your 'second opinion', must do some test packing & weighing - as always!

I would like to thank all who replied to my questions about Southern California. Since one week, I’m back in Sweden and I can think back on two fantastic weeks in California.

There were too many highligts to mention all – here are a few:

- weather like a real good Swedish summer day - every day
- often unbelievably good photo light
- at least 5 California Condors (Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and a few km:s North from there) – unfortunatley a little too far distant for good photos
- 8 Greater Roadrunners (Anza Borrego 2, Salton Sea 4, Joshua Tree NP 2)
- California Gnatcather(s) at Crystal Cove State Park
- Beautiful views on Anna’s, Allen’s and Costa’s Hummingbird
- Spectacular flocks of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes at Salton Sea
- Townsend’s Solitaire at Lake Fulmor
- Unexpected male Vermillion Flycatcher in Palm Springs
- California’s beautiful corvids, like Western & Island Scrub-jay, Steller’s Jay and Yellow-billed Magpie
- Surfbirds, Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers and other shorebirds
- Close views of American Dipper – thanks to the ebird link I got
- And all other splendid birds: sparrows, warblers, gulls, waders…

I have started to go through and upload photos from my trip – link is in my signature below. There are 40 pics there at this moment; there will definitely be more soon.

There are also some photos of unidentified birds – mainly sparrows – that I plan to take to the ”Bird Identification Q&A” here on Birdforum. I hope some of you will be able to help out…

So – once again: Thank you all for replies and advice! For me this is Birdforum at its best!

Bring on the sparrows!