Species to Date - 2013 My San Diego County Big Year

I will attempt to update this list on a weekly basis as I go through the year.  But time out in the field trying to add new species my delay it at times.

Species seen through March 31, 2013

1	Greater White-fronted Goose
2	Snow Goose
3	Ross's Goose
4	Brant
5	Cackling Goose
6	Canada Goose
7	Wood Duck
8	Gadwall
9	Eurasian Wigeon
10	American Wigeon
11	Mallard
12	Blue-winged Teal
13	Cinnamon Teal
14	Northern Shoveler
15	Northern Pintail
16	Green-winged Teal
17	Canvasback
18	Redhead
19	Ring-necked Duck
20	Greater Scaup
21	Lesser Scaup
22	Surf Scoter
23	White-winged Scoter
24	Long-tailed Duck
25	Bufflehead
26	Common Goldeneye
27	Hooded Merganser
28	Common Merganser
29	Red-breasted Merganser
30	Ruddy Duck
31	Mountain Quail
32	California Quail
33	Gambel's Quail
34	Wild Turkey
35	Red-throated Loon
36	Pacific Loon
37	Common Loon
38	Pied-billed Grebe
39	Horned Grebe
40	Red-necked Grebe
41	Eared Grebe
42	Western Grebe
43	Clark's Grebe
44	Northern Fulmar
45	Sooty Shearwater
46	Short-tailed Shearwater
47	Manx Shearwater
48	Black-vented Shearwater
49	Brown Booby
50	Brandt's Cormorant
51	Double-crested Cormorant
52	Pelagic Cormorant
53	American White Pelican
54	Brown Pelican
55	Least Bittern
56	Great Blue Heron
57	Great Egret
58	Snowy Egret
59	Little Blue Heron
60	Reddish Egret
61	Green Heron
62	Black-crowned Night-Heron
63	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
64	White-faced Ibis
65	Turkey Vulture
66	Osprey
67	White-tailed Kite
68	Northern Harrier
69	Sharp-shinned Hawk
70	Cooper's Hawk
71	Bald Eagle
72	Harris's Hawk
73	Red-shouldered Hawk
74	Swainson's Hawk
75	Red-tailed Hawk
76	Ferruginous Hawk
77	Clapper Rail
78	Virginia Rail
79	Sora
80	Common Gallinule
81	American Coot
82	Black-bellied Plover
83	Pacific Golden-Plover
84	Snowy Plover
85	Semipalmated Plover
86	Killdeer
87	Black-necked Stilt
88	American Avocet
89	Spotted Sandpiper
90	Solitary Sandpiper
91	Wandering Tattler
92	Greater Yellowlegs
93	Willet
94	Lesser Yellowlegs
95	Whimbrel
96	Long-billed Curlew
97	Marbled Godwit
98	Ruddy Turnstone
99	Black Turnstone
100	Surfbird
101	Red Knot
102	Sanderling
103	Western Sandpiper
104	Least Sandpiper
105	Dunlin
106	Curlew Sandpiper
107	Short-billed Dowitcher
108	Long-billed Dowitcher
109	Wilson's Snipe
110	Bonaparte's Gull
111	Laughing Gull
112	Heermann's Gull
113	Mew Gull
114	Ring-billed Gull
115	Western Gull
116	California Gull
117	Herring Gull
118	Thayer's Gull
119	Glaucous-winged Gull
120	Gull-billed Tern
121	Caspian Tern
122	Forster's Tern
123	Royal Tern
124	Elegant Tern
125	Black Skimmer
126	Pomarine Jaeger
127	Parasitic Jaeger
128	Common Murre
129	Scripps's Murrelet
130	Cassin's Auklet
131	Rhinoceros Auklet
132	Rock Pigeon
133	Band-tailed Pigeon
134	Eurasian Collared-Dove
135	White-winged Dove
136	Mourning Dove
137	Common Ground-Dove
138	Greater Roadrunner
139	Barn Owl
140	Western Screech-Owl
141	Great Horned Owl
142	Burrowing Owl
143	Spotted Owl
144	Short-eared Owl
145	Northern Saw-whet Owl
146	Vaux's Swift
147	White-throated Swift
148	Anna's Hummingbird
149	Costa's Hummingbird
150	Allen's Hummingbird
151	Belted Kingfisher
152	Lewis's Woodpecker
153	Acorn Woodpecker
154	Red-naped Sapsucker
155	Ladder-backed Woodpecker
156	Nuttall's Woodpecker
157	Downy Woodpecker
158	Hairy Woodpecker
159	Northern Flicker
160	American Kestrel
161	Merlin
162	Peregrine Falcon
163	Prairie Falcon
164	Red-crowned Parrot
165	Pacific-slope Flycatcher
166	Black Phoebe
167	Eastern Phoebe
168	Say's Phoebe
169	Vermilion Flycatcher
170	Ash-throated Flycatcher
171	Cassin's Kingbird
172	Thick-billed Kingbird
173	Western Kingbird
174	Loggerhead Shrike
175	Bell's Vireo
176	Yellow-throated Vireo
177	Plumbeous Vireo
178	Hutton's Vireo
179	Steller's Jay
180	Western Scrub-Jay
181	American Crow
182	Common Raven
183	Horned Lark
184	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
185	Tree Swallow
186	Violet-green Swallow
187	Barn Swallow
188	Cliff Swallow
189	Mountain Chickadee
190	Oak Titmouse
191	Verdin
192	Bushtit
193	Red-breasted Nuthatch
194	White-breasted Nuthatch
195	Pygmy Nuthatch
196	Rock Wren
197	House Wren
198	Pacific Wren
199	Marsh Wren
200	Bewick's Wren
201	Cactus Wren
202	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
203	California Gnatcatcher
204	Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
205	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
206	Wrentit
207	Western Bluebird
208	Mountain Bluebird
209	Townsend's Solitaire
210	Hermit Thrush
211	American Robin
212	Northern Mockingbird
213	Sage Thrasher
214	California Thrasher
215	Crissal Thrasher
216	Le Conte's Thrasher
217	European Starling
218	American Pipit
219	Cedar Waxwing
220	Phainopepla
221	Black-and-white Warbler
222	Orange-crowned Warbler
223	Common Yellowthroat
224	American Redstart
225	Bay-breasted Warbler
226	Yellow Warbler
227	Chestnut-sided Warbler
228	Black-throated Blue Warbler
229	Palm Warbler
230	Pine Warbler
231	Yellow-rumped Warbler
232	Prairie Warbler
233	Grace's Warbler
234	Townsend's Warbler
235	Hermit Warbler
236	Wilson's Warbler
237	Green-tailed Towhee
238	Spotted Towhee
239	Rufous-crowned Sparrow
240	California Towhee
241	Chipping Sparrow
242	Brewer's Sparrow
243	Vesper Sparrow
244	Lark Sparrow
245	Black-throated Sparrow
246	Sage Sparrow
247	Savannah Sparrow
248	Grasshopper Sparrow
249	Nelson's Sparrow
250	Fox Sparrow
251	Song Sparrow
252	Lincoln's Sparrow
253	Swamp Sparrow
254	White-throated Sparrow
255	Harris's Sparrow
256	White-crowned Sparrow
257	Golden-crowned Sparrow
258	Dark-eyed Junco
259	Hepatic Tanager
260	Summer Tanager
261	Western Tanager
262	Red-winged Blackbird
263	Tricolored Blackbird
264	Western Meadowlark
265	Yellow-headed Blackbird
266	Brewer's Blackbird
267	Great-tailed Grackle
268	Brown-headed Cowbird
269	Hooded Oriole
270	Baltimore Oriole
271	Scott's Oriole
272	Purple Finch
273	House Finch
274	Red Crossbill
275	Pine Siskin
276	Lesser Goldfinch
277	Lawrence's Goldfinch
278	American Goldfinch
279	Evening Grosbeak
280	House Sparrow

San Diego Bird Festival – March 1-4, 2012

This year’s festival was filled with birds, ocean mammals and lots of great people. Doing all four festival days, plus the following day with a couple of new friends, was exhausting but well worth the effort. Festival attendees on my trips came from all over the US and Canada with even one person from as far away as Germany.

March 1

I co-led the San Diego County “Birding 100” field trip with Phil P. We set out with 20 eager festival attendees to find as many species as possible between 6:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. We finished the day with a trip record of 128 birds. We made eleven stops throughout the day and found the expected San Diego late-winter species plus many overwintering rarities. Species included HEPATIC TANAGER, YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE and a EURASIAN WIGEON.

I sometimes forget how tall and I am, and was reminded of this when I offered my scope to another birder who hadn't yet seen the bird it. I hadn't even thought about the close to two feet of height difference between me and her. I got the scope adjusted and she was able to see the bird. We even had a bluegrass musician on the trip but unfortunately she didn't bring any of her instruments. One can only hope that she will bring at least one of them next year. Steve C from New York and Greg from San Francisco were great assets on the trip to us leaders with their sharp eyes. Most, if not all, of the participants picked up at least one lifer somewhere along the way.

Reddish Egret

Click photo for more pictures

March 2 & 3

I went out on two pelagic trips as a paid passenger. Good birds abounded, including many COMMON MURRES, XANTUS’S MURRELETS and even a BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE (a San Diego rarity). We also had lots of close encounters with both Common and pelagic Bottlenose Dolphins. Whales included the expected Gray Whale and a few Fin Whales. On the jetty between the harbor and the ocean were many gull species including a both HERRING and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS plus WANDERING TATTLER, both BLACK and RUDDY TURNSTONES AND SURFBIRDS.

Common Dolphin

Click photo for more pictures

After the boat trip on the 2nd I was joined by Bonnie D. from Chicago and her son Greg. We went out to Mission Trails in East County and had great looks at two COMMON POORWILLS that flew over our heads and sat on the path 25 feet in front of us. From there we went looking for owls and had GREAT HORNED OWL and multiple BARN OWLS calling, then brief looks at a couple of WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS that quickly buried themselves inside the trees but continued calling.

March 4

Back to work leading a trip, this time as a co-leader with Steve R. on the Inland County Trip. Unfortunately, the weather was against us and we encountered high winds much of the day. We were still able to find good birds such as RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, GOLDEN EAGLE, NUTTALL’S and LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS and TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS. Tom J from Vermont kept me on my toes and laughing all day long even though he was a bit under the weather. It was nice to also meet local birder Rebecca M, whom I had talked to online but not yet met. Really nice lady and someone I hope to bird with in the near future. Even though we missed some of our targets, we still managed a decent day of birding and most people recorded life birds, including one person who tallied six lifers.

Sage Thrasher

Click photo for more pictures

March 5 (post-festival)

Benedikt B. from Germany and Bonnie D. joined me the day after the festival to chase after birds they hadn’t seen during the festival. We tracked down CACKLING GOOSE, a lifer for Benedikt, followed shortly with a lifer for Bonnie, TOWNSEND’S WARBLER. We tried for some additional birds but time was cut short due to plane departures, so we didn’t find all of our targets.

Pelagic Cormorant

Click photo for more pictures

San Diego Audubon once again did a great job of putting together the festival. Great birds and great people made for an awesome long weekend. I know I've missed mentioning some people from the trips (Gil & Mary T, Pat & Bob C, Kathy D, Linda & Charles T, Adam W are some) but you all helped to make these trips a success as much as anyone else. Many thanks to everyone who helped make this such a nice event.

Snowy Owls

I spent the weekend of February 25 & 26 chasing after some Snowy Owls in Ocean Shores, Washington. After two flights to get to Portland, followed by 3.5 hours of driving through rain, sleet, hail and snow, I arrived in Ocean Shores. Once there, the conditions were even worse, with all of the above plus winds of up to 60 mph.


Click the photo above to see video of hail storm.

I met Jennifer R and Peggy M, friends who had been in Ocean Shores for the day, and they assured me that my desired Snowy Owls were still there and unfazed by the weather. That wasn't much of a surprise as they came in from the tundra, but one never knows.

It was too late in the day to have much of a chance to photograph the Snowy Owls. Other rare birds were in the area and so my friends guided me right to the Emperor Goose that was sharing a golf course green with close to 100 Canada Geese. A Black-legged Kittiwake made a pass directly over the car as we were driving then another flew in for a look while we were at the jetty. Gulls, gulls, and more gulls, plus gull hybrids, were everywhere.

Sunday morning weather was much better than I had feared. I trekked out to where the owls had been reported and was rewarded with at least 5 Snowy Owls (what I think was the 6th may have been one of the 5).


Click the photo above to see more photos of the Snowy Owls.

I watched as one took flight and pounced on breakfast behind a fallen tree. Others sat still and simply watched what was going on around them. An adult Bald Eagle flew around at the southern end of the peninsula. I can't remember the last time I didn't get excited at seeing a Bald Eagle but the owls were just that overpowering.

I had only a short amount to spend with the owls as I had to return to Portland to catch my flight home. On the way back to the rental car I found a reported rarity I missed the day before - a female King Eider.


Click the photo above to see additional photos.

Driving to the airport I came across 20+ Trumpeter Swans in a river easily seen from the roadway. It felt very odd to have the Trumpeter Swan as the default swan species of the area. I passed a few other small bevies along the way. The rain, sleet, hail and snow continued on and off the entire 4-hour drive back to the Portland airport.


Click the photo above to see video of snow storm.

All in all, a great trip, especially considering how I spent only 5 hours birding over the entire weekend birding. But those few hours were filled with awesome birds and fantastic friends.

Jan 29-30, 2011 Weekend

I started the weekend chasing after an EASTERN PHOEBE that had been reported in Oceanside, the far northwest corner of San Diego County. It turned out to be amazingly easy to find due to the great details posted by Steve who originally found the bird. From there I headed over to Guajome Regional Park where I found a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER in the trees around one of the pond.

Around eastern Point Loma on Sunday morning I had a wonderful morning of birding while finding previously reported rarities. It started before I could even get the car into park as I saw the BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER at a Red Hot Poker plant. It flew up into the yard where there are more of the same plants but in 30 minutes of hoping it never did return down to the street.

One block over I ran into Steve and Bruce who helped me finish off the "Black-throated Slam" by seeing one BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER and one BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER each. Also seen were both of the TENNESSEE WARBLERS that have been in the area, easily distinguished by one being much dirtier than the other. Things really quieted down quite a bit when the raptor parade started. First two RED-TAILED HAWKS circled overhead and then a PEREGRINE FALCON slowly flew through the area. Two SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS flew overhead, one much higher than the other. Not to be outdone, a MERLIN came ripping through at a much higher rate of speed than any of the other birds. I heard what I believe was the BLUE-HEADED VIREO calling but was never able to see it clearly. YELLOW-RUMPED, ORANGE-CROWNED and a WILSON'S WARBLER rounded out the warblers in the area.

In the afternoon I helped lead the San Diego Audubon tour of NWR Salt Works located in the southern end of San Diego Bay. As a group we tallied over 65 species over the 5 mile walk with my personal highlights being: a HERRING GULL, three BONAPARTE'S GULLS seen at close range, a very much in need of a molt BRANT, and a MERLIN that we spooked that was perched on the outer dyke and unseen until it took flight. Luckily we managed to stay away from the incoming storm and mostly dry except for a few sprinkles.

The place in not only great for birding but is simply fantastic history filled place. Turning sea water into salt has been going on for hundreds of years in this same place. If you have never taken one of the walks through Salt Works I highly recommend doing so. Check the San Diego Audubon web site for information on upcoming tours.

A few photos can be seen at the following link:

http://finatic.smugmug.com/BlogPostings/Jan-29-30-2011-Weekend/15703759_4rpVt#1177005605_jAXTB

Triple County Weekend

I’ve recently joined a group of crazy birders who try to tally as many bird species as possible in each of California’s 58 counties. The neat part of county listing is that even a very common species such as a House Finch “means” something – at least 58 times. Another bonus is looking forward to seeing every part of the state.

When my friend Jennifer from the Bay Area told me she would be in southern California for a conference, I couldn’t think of a better reason to chase some birds in neighboring counties. Jennifer is also into the county listing game and we have enjoyed birding together a few times, helping each other on our county lists.

I left home early Saturday morning and headed up to Los Angeles. I missed one of my target birds (a reported Broad-winged Hawk) but found many other good birds. Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve in Los Angeles County is a vast park with lots of area to cover. Native scrub, ponds and open space hold quite a variety of wildlife. I enjoyed listening to California Thrashers singing from within the bushes as I walked some of the trails finding regular species such as Lesser Goldfinch, Red-tailed Hawk and Bushtit.

Bette Davis Picnic Area along the Los Angeles River is a neat little place right next to the freeway in Burbank. A Eurasian Wigeon had been reported and was still there when I arrived. The river is lined with concrete at this area so I was very surprised at the number of birds. A small flock of Black-necked Stilts took flight when a Peregrine Falcon unsuccessfully swooped through looking for a meal.

A couple of stops in the late afternoon at small parks around Claremont and San Bernardino County let me tally a few new county birds. My favorite of these was a Taiga subspecies Merlin that flew into the top of a tree at John Galvin Park. The setting sun really lit up this bird for a nice photo.

Roughly 12 hours after leaving the house I met up with Jennifer and one of her friends. We headed up into the mountains in search of owls and were met with gusty cold wind. We managed to hear one Western Screech-Owl and one Great Horned Owl through the wind but, unfortunately, were not able to see them.

On Sunday I went around San Diego County with my birding pal Steve, looking for reported rare birds and we were fortunate to find three of them: Chestnut-sided Warbler, Palm Warbler and a Eurasian Wigeon. Thanks to my buddy Jay for helping us with some of the finer points of gull identification. We identified Thayer’s, Glaucous-winged, California and Glaucous-winged x Western hybrid Gulls at Lower Otay Reservoir. The similarities between immature Thayer’s and California Gulls are amazing. Leg color and bill color are the keys to pulling out a Thayer’s from a group of Cali’s.

Photos of many of these birds are posted on my web site at http://tinyurl.com/69xyqgm