2013 My San Diego County Big Year - Weeks 1 & 2

I decided about twelve days into 2013 to do a San Diego County Big Year. Here is a recap of what I have done to this point in the year.

Jan 1

Sooty Shearwater

I spent New Year's Day on the annual San Diego Field Ornithologists pelagic trip, kicking off 2013 as I have each of the last few New Years: with some of my favorite birds and people.  Finished off Day 1 of 2013 by adding regular winter visitors to our backyard.

San Diego Bay and offshore waters, my house

Brant, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Northern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater, Short-tailed Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater, Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, 

Northern Fulmar

American Coot, Spotted Sandpiper Black Turnstone, Bonaparte's Gull, Heermann's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Royal Tern, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Common Murre, Cassin's Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Rock Pigeon, Anna's Hummingbird, Cassin's Kingbird, American Crow, Western Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Finch, House Sparrow

Species to Date - 46

Jan 2

Back to work on the 2nd day of the year but still able to add a few species on my 2013 year list.  The great thing about the calendar flipping is that even common birds are good.

American White Pelican, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Common Raven, Cedar Waxwing, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco

Species to Date -56

Jan 3

My only new addition for the year is one that I am surprised took me this long to tally.  Normally I have one in my yard everyday but it decided to take an extended New Year holiday.

Black Phoebe

Species to Date -  57

Jan 4

A few more regular wintering birds added for the year.

House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Species to Date -  59

Jan 5

Cooper's Hawk

Time to do some land birding in the new year.  I decided to stay close to home and focus on the inland lakes around my house.  Not a great day for the American Coot.  I found an unreported juvenile Bald Eagle carrying a coot.  And later in the day I watched a Cooper's Hawk carry a coot up into a tree.

Lindo Lake, El Capitan Reservoir, El Monte County Park and Santee Lakes

Greater White-fronted Goose, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Least Bittern, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Sora, Common Gallinule, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, 

Bald Eagle

Northern Flicker, Red-crowned Parrot, Bushtit, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Scrub-Jay, Oak Titmouse, Wrentit, Spotted Towhee, Ring-necked Duck, Bald Eagle, Rock Wren, California Towhee, Lark Sparrow,California Quail, Bewick's Wren, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Hooded Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawk

Species to Date -  106

Jan 6th 

Bay-breasted Warbler

I decided to start chasing after some of the wintering rarities in San Diego County along with exploring some unknown/under-birded areas in hopes of finding something new.  Some nice birds with a few of the rarities thrown in.

Lower Otay Reservoir, Otay Mesa, Nestor Park and Pantoja Park

Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Bay-breasted Warbler, Prairie Warbler, White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Horned Lark, American Pipit, Savannah Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, Allen's Hummingbird , Vermilion Flycatcher, American Redstart, Townsend's Warbler, Summer Tanager 

Species to Date -121

American Redstart

Jan 9

Although I had to leave on a business trip to Las Vegas I managed to squeeze in a bit of productive birding. The best thing was finally seeing one of my county nemesis birds, Nelson's Sparrow.

Nelson's Sparrow

Mission Bay--Kendall-Frost Marsh

Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Say's Phoebe, Nelson's Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow 

Species to Date -129

Jan 11

Peregrine Falcon

After returning from my Vegas conference I had enough light to do a bit of birding close to my house.  In a nearby riparian area I saw a sparrow and upon pishing it out into the open, I discovered a Swamp Sparrow.  Normally a great bird but I have already seen it in the county for the new year.  Most years I'm happy to see one anywhere in the state but this winter they have been seen in large numbers across the state.  Still, I added a couple of new species for the year.

Mast Park

Peregrine Falcon, Hermit Thrush

Species to Date -131

Jan 12

Common Mergansers

My wife joined me today to look for raptors and mergansers.  Somewhere along the way I decided that I would do a San Diego County Big Year.  I have not set my sights on breaking Jay Keller's 2012 record of 370; I simply want to set a reasonable challenge for myself and test my birding skills.  State and/or ABA goals are a bit too time-consuming and expensive to take at the moment.  I do hope to reach 350 (and above?) before the calendar turns to 2014.

Ramona Grasslands Preserve, San Pasqual Battlefield, Lake Wohlford

Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, Loggerhead Shrike, Tricolored Blackbird, Long-billed Dowitcher, White-faced Ibis, Cactus Wren, Common Merganser, Forster's Tern, Vaux's Swift, White-throated Swift

Species to Date - 142

Jan 13

Grace's Warbler

Having decided to take on the challenge of a Big Year, I needed to get to work on chasing all of the wintering rarities.  I started out with 3 targets but only ended up finding one, and that due to Barbara C calling me over after she had spotted the Grace's Warbler.  From there I was able to find most of my other targets for the day.  The only miss was a Tropical Kingbird but I found the rarer Thick-billed Kingbird.  I should have plenty of other chances to get a Tropical Kingbird this year.  Then as I was getting ready to head home for the day I got a call from Jay K who had found a Palm Warbler.  There are a  few others in the county this winter but I went for this one and found it exactly where he had it a few hours before.

Thick-billed Kingbird

Greenwood Cemetery, Sweetwater River, San Diego Polo Club, San Dieguito Lagoon, Fiesta Island, Border Field SP

Red-breasted Nuthatch, Grace's Warbler, Eurasian Wigeon, Horned Grebe, Little Blue Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Greater Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover, Thick-billed Kingbird, Pacific Golden-Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Long-billed Curlew, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black Skimmer, California Thrasher, Palm Warbler

 

Pacific Golden-Plover

 Species to Date - 161