LRP Chick by www.grayimages.co.uk LRP Chick by www.grayimages.co.uk
As I had 5.30pm flight out of LAX, I had plenty of time to do some birding during the day. Andy Birch had kindly offered to take me birding for the morning, despite having quite a hectic home life with his 3-month-old baby girl. He picked me up from my motel and we headed down to Marina del Rey to look for gulls. There’d been a couple of Thayer’s Gulls around, but they were not on show and the only gull of any note was nice 3rd-winter F1-looking hybrid Glaucous-winged x Western Gull. There were a few nice birds around the marina area though, in the way of a couple of Pacific Divers, Horned (Slavonian) Grebe, Royal Tern, c30 Surfbirds and a single Black Turnstone.
Next we headed off to the South Coast Botanic Gardens, where a Thick-billed Kingbird had been seen regularly recently. We headed down to the lake where the bird had been seen and were soon watching it perched on an exposed branch at the top of a dead tree overlooking the lake. The bird moved around and we bumped into it a couple of times as we birded other areas around the lake. There had been a couple of Varied Thrushes reported in the more overgrown areas, but investigations of scratching noises produced only a couple of Hermit Thrushes and a Pacific Fox Sparrow. There were a few other birds of interest around the gardens though. Bell’s Vireo was probably the best bird we bumped into, but Red-shafted Flickers, Red-shouldered Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk all added to a nice ‘red’ theme and Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin and Townsend Warbler all added to the variation.
And that’s the end of my
Hybird 3rd winter Glaucous-winged x Western Gull
As I had 5.30pm flight out of LAX, I had plenty of time to do some birding during the day. Andy Birch had kindly offered to take me birding for the morning, despite having quite a hectic home life with his 3-month-old baby girl. He picked me up from my motel and we headed down to Marina del Rey to look for gulls. There’d been a couple of Thayer’s Gulls around, but they were not on show and the only gull of any note was nice 3rd-winter F1-looking hybrid Glaucous-winged x Western Gull. There were a few nice birds around the marina area though, in the way of a couple of Pacific Divers, Horned (Slavonian) Grebe, Royal Tern, c30 Surfbirds and a single Black Turnstone.
Next we headed off to the South Coast Botanic Gardens, where a Thick-billed Kingbird had been seen regularly recently. We headed down to the lake where the bird had been seen and were soon watching it perched on an exposed branch at the top of a dead tree overlooking the lake. The bird moved around and we bumped into it a couple of times as we birded other areas around the lake. There had been a couple of Varied Thrushes reported in the more overgrown areas, but investigations of scratching noises produced only a couple of Hermit Thrushes and a Pacific Fox Sparrow. There were a few other birds of interest around the gardens though. Bell’s Vireo was probably the best bird we bumped into, but Red-shafted Flickers, Red-shouldered Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk all added to a nice ‘red’ theme and Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin and Townsend Warbler all added to the variation.
And that’s the end of my
Hybird 3rd winter Glaucous-winged x Western Gull
This was mainly a travel day from Salton Sea to
I hunted around for about 5 minutes more, when I flushed another bird. This time it only flew about 30 metres and landed back in the field. I walked around to get sun-side of it and soon found it wandering around in the grass with a second bird nearby. I spent the next 2 hours with the bird, slowly walking it to the end of the field, letting it stop and feed every few minutes until it seemed relatively happy with my presence. I stopped to digi-scope it at every opportunity, until the bird reached the end of the field, much of which was devoid of any vegetation. Although it hesitated to go out into the open, I finally coaxed it out and it showed really well, occasionally running up the sandy bank of a drainage channel wall which bordered the field.
After a while I left the bird and spent a short while walking another part of the field. 5 Chestnut-collared Longspurs where a nice surprise – a bird I haven’t seen for about 15 years, on the Canadian Prairies. Also a flock of 30 Horned Larks flew around the field, one of which landed quite close and provided a good photo opportunity.
And so my trip to
The usual view of Sprague's Pipit
With some patience, some good views of Sprague's Pipits can be obtained
Horned Lark
This was mainly a travel day from Salton Sea to
I hunted around for about 5 minutes more, when I flushed another bird. This time it only flew about 30 metres and landed back in the field. I walked around to get sun-side of it and soon found it wandering around in the grass with a second bird nearby. I spent the next 2 hours with the bird, slowly walking it to the end of the field, letting it stop and feed every few minutes until it seemed relatively happy with my presence. I stopped to digi-scope it at every opportunity, until the bird reached the end of the field, much of which was devoid of any vegetation. Although it hesitated to go out into the open, I finally coaxed it out and it showed really well, occasionally running up the sandy bank of a drainage channel wall which bordered the field.
After a while I left the bird and spent a short while walking another part of the field. 5 Chestnut-collared Longspurs where a nice surprise – a bird I haven’t seen for about 15 years, on the Canadian Prairies. Also a flock of 30 Horned Larks flew around the field, one of which landed quite close and provided a good photo opportunity.
And so my trip to
The usual view of Sprague's Pipit
With some patience, some good views of Sprague's Pipits can be obtained
Horned Lark
I started off just after dawn at another site for Sprague’s Pipit, this time a bit closer to the prison. From Wiest (which runs north-south, just east of the prison) I took Peterson road west. When the bushes that line the road stop and there is a single tree to the north of it, park safely to the side of the road and check the field on the south side of the road (you need to cross the drainage ditch by going over the sluice). This time I was in luck. The grass in the east side of the field is quite long, but this thins out and in this shorter grass I managed to get views of at least 3 Sprague’s Pipit (see my article on finding these birds HERE).
After finishing at the field I headed off to Red Hill Boat Launch. There were lots of waders roosting in the bay on the right long
I headed off to the boat launch and stop at a couple of sites along the eastern and western side. Yellow-footed Gull was the best bird I saw here. There was an adult mooching around with a bunch of cormorants, plus a bird which could have been a first-winter, with white head and underparts, but it didn’t move around much, so I couldn’t get much more on it. Lots of Brown and White Pelicans on the water here too.
Next stop was the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Headquaters (what a mouthful!). This was the first place where I’d seen Snow Geese in any large numbers (about 5000), but they were feeding in rather distant fields, not close enough to pick out any Ross’s Geese in them. When the got up and flew around I could pick out two blue-phase birds, one an adult, the other a juvenile. The area around the visitors centre was good for a number of birds; Gambell’s Quail, Verdin and Abert’s Towhee were all seen around this area. Obsidian
Next I thought I’d look for Mountain Plovers in the burned fields dotted around south-east
I finished the day at Unit 1, which was full of birds! The rarest bird was a male Eurasian Wigeon, feeding on the ponds between the observation tower and the
Male Gambell's Quail
Female Gambell's Quail (left) and Burrowing Owl (right) with pellets.
Part of a Snow and Ross's Goose flock (left) and 1st-winter Ring-billed Gull (right)
I started off just after dawn at another site for Sprague’s Pipit, this time a bit closer to the prison. From Wiest (which runs north-south, just east of the prison) I took Peterson road west. When the bushes that line the road stop and there is a single tree to the north of it, park safely to the side of the road and check the field on the south side of the road (you need to cross the drainage ditch by going over the sluice). This time I was in luck. The grass in the east side of the field is quite long, but this thins out and in this shorter grass I managed to get views of at least 3 Sprague’s Pipit (see my article on finding these birds HERE).
After finishing at the field I headed off to Red Hill Boat Launch. There were lots of waders roosting in the bay on the right long
I headed off to the boat launch and stop at a couple of sites along the eastern and western side. Yellow-footed Gull was the best bird I saw here. There was an adult mooching around with a bunch of cormorants, plus a bird which could have been a first-winter, with white head and underparts, but it didn’t move around much, so I couldn’t get much more on it. Lots of Brown and White Pelicans on the water here too.
Next stop was the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Headquaters (what a mouthful!). This was the first place where I’d seen Snow Geese in any large numbers (about 5000), but they were feeding in rather distant fields, not close enough to pick out any Ross’s Geese in them. When the got up and flew around I could pick out two blue-phase birds, one an adult, the other a juvenile. The area around the visitors centre was good for a number of birds; Gambell’s Quail, Verdin and Abert’s Towhee were all seen around this area. Obsidian
Next I thought I’d look for Mountain Plovers in the burned fields dotted around south-east
I finished the day at Unit 1, which was full of birds! The rarest bird was a male Eurasian Wigeon, feeding on the ponds between the observation tower and the
Male Gambell's Quail
Female Gambell's Quail (left) and Burrowing Owl (right) with pellets.
Part of a Snow and Ross's Goose flock (left) and 1st-winter Ring-billed Gull (right)
Arrived in
Arrived in
The main aim of today was to stake out Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow on the high tide in
I started off at first light at Formosa Slough. There were plenty of shorebirds there, mainly dowitchers and Semi-p Sands. The best birds were two female Hooded Mergansers on the relief channel between the lake and the flood control. There were also 3 Little Blue Herons (2 adults and 1 juvenile) and Hermit Thrush.
I then headed off to Mission Bay where I spent an hour either side of high tide failing to see the Nelson's. There were plenty of other birds around though, including Belding's and Large-billed Sparrows, 4 Violet-green Swallows and Clapper Rail. Then it was off to the South Bay Marine Biological Study Area (what a mouthful that is!). Great place though with loads of birds. 30 White Pelicans, 15 Bonaparte's Gulls, 200 Black Brants, 20 Royal Terns, 100 Forster's Terns, American Herring Gull, Osprey and Red Knot.
The mouth of Tijuana Slough was good, with the highlight being 3 Pacific Golden Plovers. Also in the area was 30 Royal Terns, Caspian Tern, Greater Yellowlegs, 15 Surf Scoters, Whimbrel, Red-breasted Mergansers and 4 Buff-bellied Pipits.
Pair of Hooded Mergansers, male left, female right
Black Brants
Pacific Golden Plovers
The main aim of today was to stake out Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow on the high tide in
I started off at first light at Formosa Slough. There were plenty of shorebirds there, mainly dowitchers and Semi-p Sands. The best birds were two female Hooded Mergansers on the relief channel between the lake and the flood control. There were also 3 Little Blue Herons (2 adults and 1 juvenile) and Hermit Thrush.
I then headed off to Mission Bay where I spent an hour either side of high tide failing to see the Nelson's. There were plenty of other birds around though, including Belding's and Large-billed Sparrows, 4 Violet-green Swallows and Clapper Rail. Then it was off to the South Bay Marine Biological Study Area (what a mouthful that is!). Great place though with loads of birds. 30 White Pelicans, 15 Bonaparte's Gulls, 200 Black Brants, 20 Royal Terns, 100 Forster's Terns, American Herring Gull, Osprey and Red Knot.
The mouth of Tijuana Slough was good, with the highlight being 3 Pacific Golden Plovers. Also in the area was 30 Royal Terns, Caspian Tern, Greater Yellowlegs, 15 Surf Scoters, Whimbrel, Red-breasted Mergansers and 4 Buff-bellied Pipits.
Pair of Hooded Mergansers, male left, female right
Black Brants
Pacific Golden Plovers
Belding's Savannah Sparrow (left) and 1 of the 3 female Greater Scaup (right)
1st winter male White-winged Scoter
Further down the road at Dana Point there must have been at least 10,000 gulls roosting on the beaches and the mouth to the San Juan Creek. The best was a juvenile Glaucous Gull, but other birds included a couple of juvenile Thayer's Gulls, c4 Herring Gulls and some rather smart Heermann's Gulls.
Juvenile Glaucous Gull
2nd winter American Herring Gull
Juvenile Thayer's Gulls
Belding's Savannah Sparrow (left) and 1 of the 3 female Greater Scaup (right)
1st winter male White-winged Scoter
Further down the road at Dana Point there must have been at least 10,000 gulls roosting on the beaches and the mouth to the San Juan Creek. The best was a juvenile Glaucous Gull, but other birds included a couple of juvenile Thayer's Gulls, c4 Herring Gulls and some rather smart Heermann's Gulls.
Juvenile Glaucous Gull
2nd winter American Herring Gull
Juvenile Thayer's Gulls
