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 |
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 |
 |
| Thick-billed Kingbird |
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 |
