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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xenospiza" data-source="post: 1385269" data-attributes="member: 23772">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...</blockquote>

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