carenp wrote:
> in a few days, i'm going to take a week and venture forth to visit the
> parental units who have moved from what is clearly heaven (along the
> ocean) to what is clearly not heaven (banning / palm springs)... i'm
> driving, so if someone could take time to point out some of the nicer
> birding sights along the way (or in the banning area), i'd appreciate
> it...
>
> i honestly don't recall insanity being part of the family tree before
> now... :)
>
> thanks!
> 00 caren
> http://www.parkgallery.org <http://www.parkgallery.org/>
> george davis creek, north fork
>
Two of my favorite places along I-5 are Ashland, Oregon and San Luis
Reservoir State Recreation Area just off the freeway about 60 miles
inland from Monterey Bay.

Stay at Ashland, see a play or two (Oregon Shakespearean Festival), eat
well and bird the area around Emigrant Reservoir just a couple of miles
east of town. Highlights might be an oak titmouse and any number of
woodpeckers.

San Luis Reservoir is a large artificial lake three miles or so west of
I-5 and about 15 miles west of Los Banos, CA. There's a nice campground
at the north end of the reservoir and a superb one called Basalt
Campground a couple of miles to the south. I have birded that area
twice in February. The reservoir will have a large and varied number of
waterfowl. There were scads of ruddy ducks and a lot of merganser. I
saw my first northern mockingbird in the north campground.

The piece de resistance, however, is Basalt Campground. The central
valley of California is the only home of the yellow-billed magpie, of
which you will see plenty. Take peanuts! I had my first sitings of
golden eagles, loggerhead shrikes, brown-headed cowbirds and
white-tailed kites there and there are lots of other birds:
meadowlarks, golden- and white-crowned sparrows, hawks to challenge your
identification skills and lots of great horned-owls that hoot at each
other half the night. I got to watch the owls mate and catch mice from
the road and grounds. Great memories. There are also plenty of rabbits
and hares and the coyotes to pursue them in the dark. To top it all
off, there's a resident elk herd that you can watch going up and down
the valleys on their daily pursuits.

Good luck and let me know how your trip goes,

Dale