[wisb] CA trip report
- From: "Seegert, Greg" <gseegert@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:50:24 -0500
Wisbirders
I haven't been doing a lot of birding in IL and WI lately because I've been
concentrating on ice fishing in my free time. Last week I went to CA to give a
couple of talks at a workshop in Huntington Beach and built a birding trip
around my meeting. Here's the report for Jann and me....
Sun (Feb 12)---Based on reports of 3 sapsucker spp being seen 3 days before, we
started in Veteran's Park in Sylmar. One of the first birds we saw was
Nuttall's woodpecker. I usually have trouble finding this bird so I took this
as a good omen. However, we found no sapsuckers and the only other bird of
note was red-shouldered hawk. There were two other groups of birders looking
for sapsuckers but as far as I know, none of us found any. At one point, one
of the other groups waved us over and proudly pointed out the sapsucker they
had found. I felt bad telling them that it was a Nuttall's. I saw 4
Nutttall's in the park and these were the only ones of the trip except for one
later today. Next we headed up Rt 2 into the san Gabriel Mts. Our 2 targets
were white-headed woodpecker and Clark's nutcracker. At Charlton Flats, one
of the first birds we saw was the woodpecker. Other spp of note were oak
titmouse and acorn woodpecker. We never found any nutcrackers. We tried an
Abbey on the inland side of the mountains that was good several years ago for
sapsuckers but today we dipped. We found another Nutall's and some CA quail
there, but not much else. At the Grassy Hollow Visitor's Center along Rt 2 we
found another WH woodpecker and a couple more oak titmice.
Mon----We went to the San Jacinto WMA to look for a gyr falcon that had been
there a week before but no one could find it (or since then either). There was
a good variety of puddle ducks including cinnamon teal, plus Mt bluebirds, A
pipits, sage thrasher, rock wren, phainopepla, white-tailed kite, and road
runner. At Little Corona Beach in Orange Co., we found 3 of the four
"rockpipers"....black turnstones, surfbird, and black oystercatcher. We also
found whimbrel, long-billed curlew, Hermann's gull, common murre and both
pelagic and Brandt's cormorants.
Tues----At Crystal Cove SP, we saw all the "CA" birds....thrasher, gnatcatcher,
quail, and towhee, plus Allen's hummer, wrentit, and both black and Say's
phoebe's. We went back to Veterans Park and again dipped on sapsuckers. The
drive back to our hotel covered 80 mi and 2 hrs of LA rush hr traffic. They
must go thru 50 bazillion barrels of oil there every rush hr.....there will
typically be 5-6 lanes of traffic and virtually no one in the car pool lane.
Wed---I gave 2 talks in the morning. In the afternoon we headed N on "The
5"...that's how they talk out there. We went right past Veteran's Park. We
had more detailed info as to where the Williamson's sapsucker usually hangs out
so we decided to stop. It was cold and windy but after about half an hr we
found the sapsucker and did the happy dance we do whenever we find a good bird.
Thurs----We started on the Carizzo Plain where we found ferruginous hawk,
prairie falcon and Mt bluebird. We also got excellent looks at a pr of
LeConte's thrashers out in the open. We dipped on golden eagle and Mt plover.
In the Panoche Valley near Hollister, we went to the B & B that annually hosts
a tree full of LE owls. This year was no exception. We saw about 10 in a pine
tree and the owner said that as many as 22 have been counted in that same pine.
Elsewhere on the property we got a nice look at a barn owl. A W kingbird was
in the same area, a fairly rare sighting for the winter. We drove a couple of
roads for chukar, but dipped. We did find another ferruginous hawk and a
couple of yellow-billed magpies.
Fri---- Jann slept in while I went back to the Panoche Valley. There I found
many YB magpies, a red-breasted sapsucker, and several golden-crowned sparrows.
Next I tried Quien Sabe Rd out of Tres Pinos which was suppose to be a sure
fire spot for golden eagle. Well it wasn't such a spot for me but I did see a
burrowing owl and a prairie falcon. At a nearby reservoir, I saw a bald eagle.
After picking up Jann, we stopped at the famous Moon Glow Dairy. Here we saw
many tri-colered blackbirds, our only Townsend's warblers of the trip,
chestnut-backed chickadee, and both western and Clark's grebe's. A few stops
along the coast in Santa Cruz yielded nothing of note.
Sat----We tried several beaches along the coast from Santa Cruz to Half Moon
Bay. At Scott's Cr Beach there were about 25 snowy plovers. At Vicent Beach
there were at least 7 spp of gulls....Western, mew, ringbilled, herring,
glaucous-winged, Thayer's and CA. We tried for dipper in Pescadaro Cr but
dipped. By the time we got to Half Moon Bay, the winds were at gale force and
I couldn't find much.
Sun---Following a late dinner the evening before with an old friend from Beaver
Dam, we slept in late, then headed back to Half Moon Bay. Conditions were
better but I didn't find much....Pacific and common loons, 100's of surf
scoters, W, eared, and Clark's grebes, whimbrel, surfbird, and B oystercatcher.
A rather disappointing end to our trip.
But overall, it was pretty good. Big misses were golden eagle, brant, and
wandering tattler. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Greg Seegert
Deerfield, IL....until Wed anyway, then it's off to Indianapolis, then Atlanta
the following week, then Columbus, OH.
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