Southern California is one of those uniquely diverse places in the world, not just for birding but for anything related to enjoying the outdoors. Where else in the United States can a birder be bundled up against chilly spring weather at 8,000 feet elevation watching a White-headed Woodpecker one day, spend the next in a beautiful 90-degree desert chasing Le Conte’s Thrashers, and on the third day experience a chilly boat ride in the Pacific Ocean as pairs of tiny Xantus’s Murrelets skitter away from the bow? In SoCal, if you really wanted to push it, you could conceivably bird your way from the beach to the mountains to the desert in a single day in San Diego County alone… but you just wouldn’t do it justice and you would no doubt miss a lot of the birds and sights. Though I had visited for a 3-day weekend in February, I didn’t have time to get around. I loved it so much, I knew I had to get back out there and this time share the wonderful adventure with Rachel. Here is the story of our birding trek around the lower end of California in April 2008. You may wish to click HERE to skip the short story and view our list and some of our favorite bird photos.

                To view bird photos taken during this trip as a slide show, visit
                   California Birds Collection by Rachel Cass


COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All photos and other content on this website are the exclusive property of Ken Blankenship (KB) and Rachel Cass (RC), unless otherwise credited. Unauthorized use and reproduction is strictly prohibited; you can usually obtain friendly permission to use images by sending me an email.


DAY 1
Sunday, April 6, 2008

We started out with a morning feeder stake-out at a San Diego birder's home who had been hosting local major rarity Clay-colored Sparrow (which we missed but have seen in Georgia) and a local semi-rarity GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, which would be a lifer for us. We enjoyed many beautiful looks at WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS (one taking a bath), LESSER GOLDFINCHES, and several color morphs of HOUSE FINCHES and eventually we got some nice looks at the skittish towhee dashing out of a brushpile to have breakfast. In a brushy ravine down the street, we heard and eventually saw a BEWICK'S WREN, our first PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, a few BUSHTITS, and a NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER was busy on a powerpole.

Next it was on to the brushy riparian habitat at the Dairy Mart Rd ponds. We found several ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, a YELLOW WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, and fly-catching "Audubon's" YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. A few "Least" BELL'S VIREOS were a nice find, as were a soaring NORTHERN HARRIER, TREE SWALLOWS, CLIFF SWALLOWS, chirpy COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, and a singing SPOTTED TOWHEE. Out on the pond, a ROSS'S GOOSE was perched on a fallen tree with a WESTERN GULL. In the water were GADWALL, MALLARDS, AMERICAN COOTS, RUDDY DUCK, and a PIED-BILLED GREBE with one of its young!

We then headed to nearby Monument Rd along the border with Mexico. There was a lot of bird activity in the scrubby habitat here, including a flock of BUSHTITS with one WRENTIT skulking along with it, a boisterous RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, a CALIFORNIA THRASHER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, CALIFORNIA TOWHEES, WILSON'S WARBLERS, a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and a pair of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES had a nest in a row of large trees, as did an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD. A sound that reminds me of a Geiger Counter came from up the steep slope, and though the views were distant Rachel got her life CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER!  We spotted several birds of prey including AMERICAN KESTREL, RED-TAILED HAWK,  a NORTHERN HARRIER, and COOPER'S HAWK.

From there we went over to the north access of Tijuana Slough NWR. We ecountered lots of great shorebirds including LONG-BILLED CURLEW, WHIMBREL, WILLET, AMERICAN AVOCET, MARBLED GODWIT, SANDERLING, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, and the awesome experience of seeing nesting SNOWY PLOVERS in a gorgeous breeding plumage we had never seen before. There was a massive flock of seabirds at the mouth of the river, which erupted into flight with constant raucous calling. The main species was a lifer for us, the ELEGANT TERN! Also flying around the area were CALIFORNIA GULLS, HEERMANN'S GULLS, BROWN PELICANS, CASPIAN TERNS, FORSTER'S TERNS, and BLACK SKIMMERS. Amongst the scrubby ground cover, "Belding's" SAVANNAH SPARROWS were nesting, and a CLIFF SWALLOW was busy building its clay pot dwelling on a nearby condo. A huge sphinx moth was nectaring on flowers, looking like a mini-hummingbird. On the river we found a pretty flock of SURF SCOTERS along with BUFFLEHEAD, EARED GREBE, and RUDDY DUCK while waders included SNOWY EGRET and the locally rare TRICOLORED HERON. A NORTHERN HARRIER patrolled the marsh in the distance.

Though it was too late to get out to Cabrillo National Monument, we birded in the residential but very birdy neighborhoods on Point Loma centering on Dudley St. Here we had another lifer - a singing TOWNSEND'S WARBLER; we also saw very social "non-countable" RED-MASKED PARAKEETS chilling out in the palms. Other interesting birds included RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, and a few CEDAR WAXWINGS. We ended birding for the day on the San Diego River where we added a few birds to the day's list such as GREATER YELLOWLEGS, WESTERN GREBE, NORTHERN SHOVELER, and OSPREY. A gorgeous sunset followed, which we enjoyed both from the Quiviera Basin and later on the Sunset Cliffs, as the glowing orb at the center of our solar system slipped slowly into the Pacific Ocean.

DAY 2
Monday, April 7, 2008

We woke up early and headed east on "The 8" to the scrubby, desert-like habitat along Kitchen Creek Rd - a place where I had spent some time back in February and where migrants had been showing up recently on internet reports. It was chilly in the hills, and I kind of wished I had some light gloves as my fingers numbed up and the focus wheel of my binos resisted being turned.

A brisk walk around Cibbett's Flat campground and along the trails into the hills produced lots of neat birds including our first singing BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW perched on a bush and more calling MOUNTAIN QUAIL which (as in winter) never showed themselves. Noisy OAK TITMICE buzzed the campground along with singing BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, "Oregon" DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and a few STELLER'S and WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS. A reported Gray Vireo made itself scarce, however. As the sun broke over the hills a bit more, we decided to backtrack to a bridge where a trail follows Kitchen Creek itself and where lots of migrants had recently been reported.

Almost as soon as we got out of the car, a flurry of bird action was obvious in a group of large oaks and scrubby riparian habitat along the creek - a flock! We found WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, "Audubon's" YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, a NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and I caught a quick glimpse of a yellow-faced passerine and yelled, "HERMIT WARBLER!" Rachel, who was already in sensory overload trying to photograph this hectic flock, came running over and we both soon enjoyed a few life looks at this western warbler, though never truly out in the open. The flock soon spread out a bit and things slowed down, so we headed downstream along the trail on the other side of the road. A BLACK PHOEBE ducked in-and-out under the bridge, likely building a nest. Overhead, we saw COMMON RAVENS and a RED-TAILED HAWK, while birds popped up in the brush from time to time including a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, "Slate-colored" FOX SPARROWS, BEWICK'S WREN, a WILSON'S WARBLER, and Rachel's first WRENTIT made a quick appearance, with a mouthful of nesting material! On the surrounding scrubby hillsides and rocks were CALIFORNIA TOWHEES, a ROCK WREN, a CALIFORNIA THRASHER, and we both caught a glimpse of a LAZULI BUNTING before it took off down the canyon. A few NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS had been cruising around overhead, but Rachel remained diligent and scoped them out from time to time as we relaxed on the rocks next to this picturesque tumbling stream - sure enough, she called out that she had a VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW! I had only seen this species once before, in Mexico, so it was an ABA lifer for us both.

Not far away, we parked and wandered around in similar (but flatter) scrubby desert-like habitat on La Posta Rd. A LARK SPARROW's song rang out across the landscape, and as we searched for it, Rachel found lots of interesting butterflies to chase and also an incredibly beautiful flame-yellow male SCOTT'S ORIOLE. I sat back on a cool rock formation out in the fields (which earlier had some interesting rodents perched on it) and enjoyed watching a game of cat-and-mouse play out. Rachel would stalk up on the oriole, just close enough to get a nice shot, and as she would raise the lens he would take off for the next bush - fun to watch, not fun for the photographer! Wandering around this area really payed off, as we found a few endlessly-trilling BREWER'S SPARROWS and flushed a covy of CALIFORNIA QUAIL. We got separated and just enjoyed wandering around; I ended up so far from the car that I decided to head over to the road and use it to get back faster than walking through the brush. On the other side of the road, a jangly little song got my attention and soon I was looking at my first "Bell's" SAGE SPARROW. Though we regrouped and headed back to the spot as quickly as we could, this bird eluded Rachel and her camera.

We ended up winding our way high into the Laguna Mountains and made one of those fun vacation decisions when we stopped for snacks at the Mount Laguna general store and cabin rentals. We kind of half-jokingly asked how one would rent a cabin, you know, for future reference. The gentleman at the counter (also the manager) gets out the book, says he's got a couple available for the night if we wanted to stay! Soon afterwards, we were all smiles as - instead of a long, worn-out drive back to San Diego - we found ourselves sipping cold beverages, kicking back in the chairs outside our little cottage! We laughed as we watched the local tribe of ACORN WOODPECKERS and their awesome, raucous antics. We also found singing PURPLE FINCHES, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, squeaky PYGMY NUTHATCHES, AMERICAN ROBINS, OAK TITMOUSE,  "Oregon" DARK-EYED JUNCOS and STELLER'S JAYS literally at our feet, and a few BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS poked around in the grass behind the cabin. We got a good night's sleep, planning to head doooown to the desert in the morning.

DAY 3
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

We learned something weird this morning. It simply gets light earlier here. I'm no expert on time zones and sunrises and Earth's rotation, etc. - but I know that if you arrive at your first birding spot in Georgia at 7:00am (as we did today outside Borrego Springs), it is not even light yet. But out here, it seemed as if we had already lost the first hour of birding! And the worst part was - we had read that in order to find the local Le Conte's Thrashers, you needed to be there as the sun rose. Oh, well - we'll make the best of it :)

First of all, this habitat was not "desert-like" - it was the DESERT. Yet, it was different from the first deserts we had ever visited, the reddish-orange rocks and suguaro cactus-dotted ones in Arizona last year. The ground here was chalky grayish-white, gritty, hard, and with sculpted white sand dunes snaking through low, dry, sparse sagebrush and other vegetation. All around us was a ring of gorgeous mountains rising up from the desert - so this is what it looks like to look back up at the peaks where we stood on an overlook yesterday! Our first birds were rambling BREWER'S and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, and a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE that kept us company most of our time here. We found some neat bugs, and one of those crazy antelope-like long-eared hares burst out of its hiding place and tore off across the landscape. A couple HORNED LARKS passed by overhead as did some swallows, and a NORTHERN HARRIER patrolled nearby. Finally, two Thrashers appeared, bounding from one bush to another! OK, so they were SAGE THRASHERS and not the elusive, secretive Le Conte's - but we had never seen one of these, either so it was just as cool.

We made another stop at the end of Rango Rd to look for an equally elusive thrasher (Crissal), but found more cool desert birds instead like BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, and more passerines including NASHVILLE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, and WESTERN KINGBIRD.

At the Anza-Borrego Desert Visitor's Center we enjoyed air conditioning and, almost as if on cue, a pretty male COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD zipped down to sip from the prolific blooming plants in the planted desert garden right out front! More BREWER'S SPARROW buzzed, and a pretty VERDIN chipped from a blooming ocotillo. A stop in more nice ocotillo-dotted habitat on Borrego Springs Rd produced our (and everyone's?) favorite emberizid - a pair of BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS with a fuzzy-headed little fledgling! I heard some faint flight notes, looked up and pished at a pair of little birds that were flying hard against a strong breeze that had built up - undulating like finches. To my amazement, they spiralled down, and perched not more than 20 yards from me in the brush - a male and female LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH! I tried yelling to Rachel, but she was too far off enjoying the sparrows and several ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS to hear me.

We wrapped up with a neat visit to Yaqui Well and Tamarisk Gove campground. We added a few birds to our trip list such as PHAINOPEPLA and BLUE-GRAY GANTCATCHER, and Rachel finally got to glimpse a SAGE SPARROW. She also had a really neat, up-close and personal experience with a friendly, bubbling ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. After another fun day seeing new birds and new places, we climbed back up into the Lagunas to our little hideaway for the night.

DAY 4
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

When we awoke very early the next day for our transfer farther east, we were amazed by the weather. The wind was howling, the temperature was hovering right at freezing, and the clouds were actually blowing along at ground level, leaving the trees and just about everything else covered with a thick layer of hoarfrost! We let the vehicle warm up and melted the windows clear before slowly and carefully winding down from the elevations along roads that went from spattered with ice to searing hot later in the day down around the infamous birding destitation known as the Salton Sea.

At our first stop in a marshy area, we found the different western song of a MARSH WREN, a huge flock of shorebirds flying around willy-nilly (hard to ID), and a few groups of blackbirds including some easy-to-spot male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. A HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER posed cooperatively for Rachel. The open water in the area produced WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBES and a few RED-NECKED PHALAROPES. At a nearby public park we had nice looks at WESTERN KINGBIRD, CACTUS WREN, ABERT'S TOWHEE, and CALIFORNIA QUAIL.

At our next stop in the actual vicinity of the Salton Sea itself, we found the roadside at the check-in station full of birds! As I wandered off to check out NASHVILLE WARBLERS, BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, Rachel discovered a LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, WARBLING VIREO, and even a VERDIN that showed her to its unique bottom-entry nest! We took our time birding along this road through many shallow lagoons and ponds, finding lots of shorebirds like DUNLIN, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AMERICAN AVOCET, LONG-BILLED CURLEW, MARBLED GODWIT, WHIMBREL, WILLET, both Dowitchers, and more! We could hear COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and CLAPPER RAILS from the cattails on the other side of a dike nearby, and a few times some very "weird smells" that we had been warned about wafted our way. At the end of a road to the sea itself, we parked and found two left-over winter surprises - a flock of AMERICAN PIPITS and a MERLIN. Upon reaching a spot where we could scan the lake, we were overwhelmed by waterfowl, waders, and more! Here were literally thousands of birds - MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAIL, CINNAMON TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREAT BLUE HERON, AMERICAN WHITE and BROWN PELICANS... it was awesome! So was a cute little female RUDDY DUCK who motored up a canal next to us. We spotted an unmistakable pink dot out there, which turned out to be a good bird for the area - a ROSEATE SPOONBILL.

Determined not to miss what we thought would be a "gimme," I called a friendly local birder I met online. As I was confirming that the Spoonbill had already been seen that week (but was still a good re-find), he was giving me pointers on where to find our target... we were already in the right place! Just then, Rachel says in as controlled a voice as she can - "Ken. Right there! Right there! Back up the car 10 feet!" I hung up, feeling sure she had spotted our quarry. Sure enough, proudly standing on one leg in front of its humble dwelling was our first BURROWING OWL! It seemed like this opened the flood gates, as we found several more of these beautiful yet different owls along the roads nearby.

We spent a nice afternoon walking along the somewhat strange shores of the Salton Sea at Obsidian Butte, sometimes crunching through a foot deep layer of barnacle shells and dessicated fish carcasses, and sometimes clambering around on huge boulders. Rachel had fun stalking a group of shorebirds including WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS as well as some handsome breeding-plumage EARED GREBES diving out in the water, until being stung by a bee (ow!)... so while she took it easy in the car in the comfort of the AC I made one last-ditch effort to hike a half mile along the shore to get to the right sun angle to scan a huge loafing group of birds for a Yellow-legged Gull or (mega-rarity) Blue-footed Booby to no avail. We did add some neat birds in this area not far from the Sony Bono-Salton Sea NWR visitor's center, like CASPIAN TERN, GULL-BILLED TERN, RING-BILLED GULL, BONAPARTE'S GULL, and CALIFORNIA GULL. We then made a pretty long end-of-day drive north, stopping to catch some sleep in the town of Indio.

DAY 5
Thursday, April 10, 2008

This morning we wound our way through some unfortunate morning traffic in Palm Springs, and then up into the San Jacinto Mountains for more high elevation birding. The approach actually reminded me in some ways of going into the Santa Catalinas via Tucson. We stopped along Santa Rosa Mountain Rd briefly where we found the (ubiquitous) ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, along with a calling WRENTIT, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, a singing SCOTT'S ORIOLE, some bustling BUSHTITS, and a bird only briefly glimpsed that I still think was a Gray Vireo but it never reappeared.

Higher up, we spent a wonderful time hiking and hanging out around Hurkey Creek Campground. A pair of STELLER'S JAYS were busy building a nest under the eaves of the restroom building, PYGMY NUTHATCHES squeaked overhead, and a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER softly pecked on a tree. Some reminders of home included AMERICAN ROBINS, HOUSE FINCHES, HAIRY WOODPECKER, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS but the western feel was provided by more silly ACORN WOODPECKER antics, OAK TITMICE, and virtually tame WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS who patrolled the campsites looking for scraps. We took a trail through gorgeous conifers and out into the scrubbier habitat of the surrounding slopes. Here we flushed another covey of CALIFORNIA QUAIL, and found BEWICK'S WREN, SPOTTED TOWHEE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, and we stalked a FOX SPARROW that I think may have been the "Thick-billed" type but the bill just didn't seem quite robust enough. On the way back, we were exploring along Hurkey Creek itself when we both caught a glimpse of a large shape waft down from one tree trunk to another - a woodpecker! We quietly made our way around to the right side of the tree and found ourselves staring at our life WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER! This was one of our big targets for the day up here, and we enjoyed our brief encounter very much.

We stopped in the touristy but cute town of Idyllwild and picked up some tasty deli sandwiches and fresh produce, then wound up mountain roads through numerous vacation cabins to Humber Park with beautiful, towering rock formations all around as we enjoyed our picnic lunch. Rachel spent some time stalking various birds around the parking lot while I hiked the steep Devil's Slide Trail hoping for a Townsend's Solitaire or Williamson's Sapsucker (nope), and was rewarded with more spectacular views!

Down the road, we spent some time hiking and napping at a nearby nature center and walking around the small but gorgeous Lake Fulmor. A BROWN CREEPER played hide-and-seek around a tree, a few BAND-TAILED PIGEONS loafed in the trees, and both WHITE-BREASTED and PYGMY NUTHATCHES were busily scrambling along tree trunks. A finch song rang out near the vehicle, but it wasn't quite like the PURPLE FINCHES we heard outside our cabin in the Lagunas and earlier today in the San Jacintos. We spotted the singer, which turned out to be our first CASSIN'S FINCH! Woodpeckers were well-represented this afternoon, as we found NORTHERN FLICKER, NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER, ACORN WOODPECKER, briefly glimpsed another WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER who did not want his picture taken! We reluctantly said goodbye to the heights, the montane habitat, and its birds as we wound down many switch-backs to the valley below for a loooooong afternoon drive to Ventura for our last adventure - a boat out to Santa Cruz Island! Though we never did the tourist thing there, we kind of felt like real Angelinos as we hit Los Angeles right in the middle of evening rush-hour and slogged our way north on "The 5" to a good night's sleep in a Holiday Inn on the harbor.

DAY 6
Friday, April 11, 2008

Our last full day of adventures in SoCal just might have been the best! We boarded the huge catamaran that would ferry us out to Santa Cruz Island and took front row seats (well, standing room) on the front upper deck on the rail so we could spot birds. As we pulled out of Ventura Harbor, we saw both CLARK'S and WESTERN GREBES, a single EARED GREBE, COMMON LOONS, and a sharp-looking SURF SCOTER. When we reached open water and the boat started picking up speed, I became acutely aware of the "micro climate" created by the cold ocean waters here... here I am in shorts and a tee-shirt against an 18-knot wind created by the speed of the boat and what must have been a 35 degree windchill factor! Smartly, Rachel retreated to a more protected area and sat down to warm up - but doggone it, I wasn't going to miss a single bird so I stubbornly stayed at my post, shivering and with tears welling up against the stinging breeze. BUT... it was awesome! Small numbers of SOOTY SHEARWATERS appeared on the water and lifted into flight, while large numbers of PACIFIC LOONS (most in breeding plumage!) fired across the sky in big groups, migrating north. Though it was brief, my first encounter with the tiny XANTUS'S MURRELET was just like the books said - a pair of birds that flushed off the water and quickly skittered away off the port side of the boat! Closer to the island, the white patches on the sides of their rumps identified several PELGIC CORMORANTS, while we got much better looks at a few PIGEON GUILLEMOTS and their little red feet sticking out behind them as they fled the boat.

We pulled up to the pier at Prisoner's Harbor and found that (thankfully) it was a beautiful, warm day and I began to unthaw from what was really only the result of the cold water and the speed of the boat, not the weather. We were happy and surprised to find that all but about 5-6 people on the boat were high school kids, teachers, and chaperones on a science field trip and they promptly departed on the trails to be picked up by the boat at another dock. This left us virtually alone to explore the island on our own! One thing we had read was that many of the birds on these islands are sub-species, a result of the same isolation factor at play in the more famous Galapagos Islands. We found several of these quite readily in the scrubby habitat along a creek and in the trees towering over the few structures near the pier. These included ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, BEWICK'S WREN, and SONG SPARROW. I took a short hike up the steep cliffs on the trail, which produced amazing views and one of the biggest targets of the day, a single ISLAND SCRUB-JAY perched up on a tree giving its raspy calls! We wandered up the creek bed, just having a nice time looking for insects and birds in this unique habitat. We hiked up the road a ways, and were greeted by another subspecies - the island ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD, who proudly reigned over his territory from an exposed perch. We got a little silly about the whole "subspecies" phenomenon, and started joking that everything was a "subspecies." The damselflies - subspecies damsels. The fennell thickets - subspecies fennell. The barn - subspecies barn. The boulders - definitely subspecies rocks. And when Rachel was stung by a small insect, she said with a sarcastic grimace, "Ow! I got bit by a sub-species!!" A little pishing brought up a curious GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, my first good look at one and a lifer for Rachel!

Back down at the pier area, we laughed at the COMMON RAVENS inspecting anything that might produce a snack. We were warned that this population has actually learned to unzip backpacks so we kept a wary eye as we enjoyed a picnic lunch right on the rocky beach. Then, in the distance, two larger shorebirds became visible walking in the surf... two BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS! Rachel headed off to stalk them, as I watched with delight and kicked back to cut up and eat an avocado with the waves of the Pacific Ocean lapping on the shore - a truly SoCal experience. We both explored the rocky shore for a while, and a GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL which flew past and landed in the harbor was yet another new bird for us! We could see the Guillemots and other birds out on the water, but just too far out for photos. We didn't really want to leave, but reluctantly got on the boat after enjoying watching some amazing sea life and kelp towering up under the pier. On the boat ride back, the PIGEON GUILLEMOTS were even closer, and we took our places at the same chilly spot upstairs. We sere soon joined by a general nature-loving Californian who had been enjoying the island as well, but concentrating mainly on finding a special bee (you guessed it - a subspecies!). He was also quite an avid birder, and we all spotted birds on the return trip, including many more groups of fast-flying PACIFIC LOONS (likely 100-200 total for the day!) and a few more SOOTY SHEARWATERS. Off the bow, I spotted a larger alcid and noted before it took off with a buddy that its face was mostly white with a dark black line through it - sure, passed off the local birder, those are COMMON MURRES. But for us, they were lifers! Twice we encountered pairs of XANTUS'S MURRELETS but both times they just skittered off too fast to be photographed. Another new bird for us was a gray football-shaped bird with a white belly and an orangish-yellow bill that came hurtling past the bow of the boat - obviously an alcid. I had studied a lot for this trip, and said, "Cassin's?" The birder immediately dismissed that and said, "No, too big." I asked, "RHINOCEROS AUKLET?!," and he smiled with approval and said, "Yep. It was a Rhino alright." Wow... we knew we had a good shot at the Murrelet and Guillemot today but I did not expect four lifer alcids! And to top it all off, we ended the boat ride with one more lifer - a SURFBIRD working the jetty as we slipped back into the harbor.

The ride back down to San Diego was another slog... more traffic in L.A. and we were already pretty tired. But luck shined on us in an unexpected way. All week the news was full of stories about how American Airlines was cancelling flights left and right. Sure enough, when we called them we found that our morning flight back to Atlanta tomorrow had been one of hundreds that were cancelled. The representative was very helpful, and got us booked on a one-way flight (before we had a connection) on Delta in the mid-afternoon. Yes! A better flight, and we could now sneak one more morning of western birds into our schedule. We got back to our friend Greg's place, had some dinner, and crashed hard on his couches.

DAY 7
Saturday, April 12, 2008

On our "bonus birding" morning in San Diego, we began at a neat urban site called Famosa Slough. From the parking lot of a gas station (huh?), we scanned this unique conservation area of wetlands and cattails tucked in amidst concrete and cars, apartments and businesses. There were BLACK-NECKED STILTS and a AMERICAN AVOCET crouched on its nest, something we had certainly never seen before! There were many waders including GREAT BLUE HERON, GREAT EGRET, and SNOWY EGRET. Waterfowl included AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, RUDDY DUCK, and PIED-BILLED GREBE. It was quite a productive stop, and I was happy to see that this area is protected as it obviously provides crucial habitat where there certainly is little else that these species could call home in the area.

We then made our way out to Point Loma, where we explored the neighborhoods again before going into Cabrillo National Monument when it opened. We found a few nice flocks in the area of Dudley St again, including lots of warblers like NASHVILLE, YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, TOWNSEND'S, and WILSON'S WARBLERS. Down on the trails at Cabrillo looking out over the Pacific, we found another flying BLACK OYSTERCATCHER, got a quick glance at a BLACK TURNSTONE and better looks at two RUDDY TURNSTONES which are less common out here. A single WHITE-THROATED SWIFT buzzed along one of the towering cliffs, and the 1,375th ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER of the trip (maybe too high a number) popped up on a post with a special delivery for an unseen brood. At Rosecrans Cemetery, we didn't find too many birds - but were ecstatic that our bonus morning yielded one more life bird for the trip, a handsome CASSIN'S VIREO quietly singing in one of the many trees in the cemetery that are known as migrant traps to local birders.

We finally had to drag ourselves away from San Diego (what a great town!) and Southern California (what a great place!), so we ditched the rental car and hopped on our new Delta flight back to Atlanta. Though we were exhausted, we had smiles on our faces as we shared stories about the trip and looked at photos on the laptop almost the whole way home, already thinking of when we might come back for more SoCal birding and fun.

TOTAL SPECIES: 202

LIFE BIRDS: 29

California Quail	Hammond's Flycatcher
Sooty Shearwater	Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Pelagic Cormorant	Cassin's Vireo
Black Oystercatcher	Island Scrub-Jay
Surfbird	Sage Thrasher
Glaucous-winged Gull	Townsend's Warbler
Elegant Tern	Hermit Warbler
Common Murre	Green-tailed Towhee
Pigeon Guillemot	Brewer's Sparrow
Xantus's Murrelet	Black-chinned Sparrow
Rhinoceros Auklet	Sage Sparrow ("Bell's")
Burrowing Owl	Yellow-headed Blackbird
Costa's Hummingbird	Cassin's Finch
Allen's Hummingbird	Lawrence's Goldfinch
White-headed Woodpecker