Hi Tweeters,

Thanks to everyone who sent me their tips for birding So Cal. Cindy and I
had a
great time and only got "El Nino'ed" one morning.

Here is what we did and highlights:

Feb 10: Arrived at San Diego airport...Anna's Hummingbird and California
Quail at the airport while waiting to pick up our rental car! Drove into
the Laguna Mts and stopped at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Cuyamaca Lake.
Lots of Acorn Woodpeckers and Western Bluebirds, and flocks of Lesser
Goldfinches. Plain Titmouse and White-breasted Nuthatch at Park Museum. Lots
of wintering ducks on the lake. Many Eared Grebe. Continued on to Borrego
Springs, in the desert.

Feb 11: Birding at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A magical place, very
dry, with palm oases (loaded with birds) scattered about. In the morning,
on the Palm Canyon Trail, we saw: Gambel's Quail, Verdin, White-throated
Swift, Black-throated Sparrow, Rock and Canyon Wren, Black Phoebe,
Phainopepola, Loggerhead Shrike, Greater Roadrunner. We spent some time
trying for thrashers at the suggested spots, with no success. The Yaqui
Springs Trail was also good. Drove to Brawley and added Abert's Towhee and
Gila Woodpecker at a small date palm orchard right in town.

Feb 12: Birding at the Salton Sea. We saw over 80 birds on this loop. The
lake was pretty high. Highlights included: Ross' Goose, Burrowing Owl,
Clarke's Grebe (20 ft. away), Mountain Plover, Snowy Plover, Gray
Flycatcher. Looked without success for the Yellow-footed Gull.

Feb 13: Birded Big Morongo Canyon Preserve in the morning, where we watched
an active noisy colony of Nuttel's Woodpeckers in the large cottonwoods
right in the parking lot. Also got several California Thrashers, and
Red-shouldered Hawk. Then on to Joshua Tree National Park, mostly for
hiking and sightseeing. The Joshua trees were teeming with Ladder-backed
Woodpeckers. At the cactus garden trail, we saw Mountain Bluebird and
Brewer's Sparrow. Drove to Blythe that evening.

Feb 14: Birded the Cibola Wildlife Refuge on the Arizona Border. Early
morning birding yielded Crissal Thrasher, Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail. Also
saw large flocks of Sandhill Cranes, Snow, and Ross' Goose. Then onward to
Yuma.

Feb 15: Birding the Yuma loop in the early morning, we heard the Yuma
subspecies of the Clapper Rail calling at Mittry Lake, and got a Vermillion
Flycatcher at Yuma Territorial Prison State Park (no convicts).

Feb 16: We drove back toward to San Diego through the desert and over the
Palomar loop, stopping at the Palomar observatory (really cool). Good looks
at a Golden Eagle in the desert, and nice mountain birding at Palomar, but
cold and fogged in. Then onward to Escondido, north of San Diego, for the
night.

Feb 17: El Nino hit and the morning was rainy. We went over to the San
Elijo Lagoon and hiked a trail going through coastal scrub and thickets. We
got California Towhee, Wrentit, Green-tailed Towhee; heard but couldn't
locate California Gnatcatcher (very frustrating). Then on to Torry Pines
Park, where the coastal trails are very scenic. Along the trail, we saw a
Peregrine Falcon, and Rufous-capped Sparrow. In the afternoon, we birded
the Tijuana Slough near the Mexican Border. Under the constant roar of Navy
rescue helocopters doing touch and go landings we scoped zillions of
shorebirds (Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Least Sandpiper, etc.) and
saw a Little Blue Heron and several White-tailed Kites. Near dusk, we
zipped out to Otay Lakes, a reported good California Gnatcatcher spot, but
couldn't locate one.

Feb 18: This morning, I decided to get the stinking Gnatcatcher. I went
back to the San Elijo Lagoon trail, and played a tape for 1 sec, and the
bird popped right out (a guilty pleasure). We spent the rest of the morning
at the Buena Vista Lagoon and along the ocean beach, then headed to the
airport for our flight back to Seattle.

TRIP LIST:

Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Snow Goose
Ross' Goose
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Ring-necked Pheasant
Gambel's Quail
California Quail
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Snowy Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Mountain Plover
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Common Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Western Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Band-tailed Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Burrowing Owl
White-throated Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Mountain Chickadee
Plain Titmouse
Verdin
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Cactus Wren
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
California Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Wrentit
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
Crissal Thrasher
American Pipit
Phainopepla
Loggerhead Shrike
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Abert's Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Rick Romea "We're gonna need a bigger boat"
Seattle, WA - Jaws
rromea at stioptronics.com
206-523-5831 (Home)
425-827-0460 X 316 (Work)