Hello Tweeters and Cal Birders,

Alan Lincoln and I enjoyed our first day and a half of birding in
California Friday, 2/15, and Sunday morning, 2/17. We are grateful for
the help of Sandy Koonce, Stan Gray, Madeline Bauer, and several others
who generously took the time to respond to my message. After considering
driving time vs. birding time, we decided to follow Stan Gray?s detailed
directions for a trip encompassing the nearby San Gabriel Mountain
foothills and out into Antelope Valley. The weather was sunny and
pleasant in late winter and we enjoyed five life birds (see my asterisks
in accounts below), familiar birds in unexpected locations (a Bewick?s
Wren singing on territory in the desert!), and the search for life birds
in interesting habitat unfamiliar to us.

Friday, 2/15/08?Tired from our trip to Ontario, we got a late start on
our one full day of birding. Times posted are a rough guess at when we
arrived at each stop, since I do not bother to record times until we
leave an area.
8:10 AM?The MORMON ROCKS: It was chilly and quite windy when we arrived,
but the sun was warming the rocks and the birds were active.
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS caught my eye as we drove up. The voice of the
CALIFORNIA THRASHER (*) then riveted my attention until I squeaked and
imitated the poor fellow out into the open. I heard, but did not see
California Towhee at this location, but we enjoyed the PRAIRIE FALCONS,
even though they kept other species momentarily invisible. The pairs of
Common Ravens were lots of fun to watch here and throughout the day.
There were sparrows here, but we did not get decent looks to identify
the Rufous-crowned Sparrow we sought.

9:20 AM?Taking Stan?s suggestion, we crossed 138 and searched along the
mountain road on the other side. The CALIFORNIA TOWHEE (*) gave us
excellent views here, and we picked up singing WRENTIT (*), too. We
don?t have Western Scrub Jay in Seattle, so these were a treat
throughout the foothills and lowlands.

10:30 AM?WRIGHTWOOD?We pulled off on Lone Pine Canyon Road after I
noticed some houses with feeders. From the street, we picked up
STELLER?S JAY (a beloved backyard bird in Seattle), Northern Flicker,
NUTTALL?S WOODPECKER (*), California Quail, and Mountain Chickadee. The
cinnamon rolls at the bakery were a find as well.

11:00?At JACKSON LAKE we especially appreciated the ACORN WOODPECKERS,
which can only be found sparsely far south in Washington State. One
Chipping Sparrow contributed to the list, along with many juncos, jays,
and WILLIAMSON?S and RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS. We had spent too much time
with the familiar mountain species, just as I had feared, so we finally
headed out. From here on out I was racing to catch up with the day.

12:00?VALYERMO P.O. POND: MALL, CAGO and domestic ducks and geese.

12:15?ST. ANDREWS ABBY?Wonderful place to bird! All three red finches,
OAK TITMOUSE (*) [located for us by a delightful priest], YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER, White-breasted Nuthatch, BLACK PHOEBE, lots of White-crowned
Sparrow, HERMIT THRUSH. A woodpecker made me wonder about Gila WO here,
and Alan worked to get a Gilded Flicker. None of our Nuttall?s were
Ladder-backed. Feeders at the guest facility gave us Anna?s hummers. We
could have spent more time earlier in the day, but there was no sign of
Rufous-crowned Sparrows now on the hills behind the Abby.

1:50?On the road out, we picked up MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.

2:00?The ROADSIDE POND on Bob?s Gap Road (not shown on any map) produced
American Widgeon, coots, and Pied-billed Grebe. WESTERN BLUEBIRD was by
the road.

2:45?SADDLEBACK BUTTE S.P.?Lots of tracks off the trails near the
campgrounds indicated jackrabbit, ground squirrel, and kangaroo rat. I
accidentally caved in a large burrow ?main hall?. I really must get a
book on mammals. I?d seen something running on the ground. Rodent?
Roadrunner? Thrasher? I wasn?t fast enough to get on it.

3:15?AVE. J, west of the park?SAGE SPARROW (belli? or nevadensis?).
Western Meadowlark along N. 110th.

3:50?AVE. I, east of 110th?FERRUGINOUS HAWK (I love seeing these.)

4:00?Joshua tree forest further east on I?This was very silent and
still. I flushed a Black-tailed Jackrabbit as I wandered for nearly an
hour. There was lots of scat and tracks. Several sheep carcasses
consisted of mounds of clean, white bones covered by a carpet of wool. I
found owl pellets under an old, worn perch on a Joshua tree. There were
lots of tiny bones in the pellets and a partial skeleton of at least one
small critter nearby with an elongated skull about 2 ? inches long. One
incisor tooth was in the front and 4 or 5 long, sharp molars in the back
of the jaw. The sun was warm and tiny red and green plants grew in a
mosaic of cracks on the desert floor. Alan saw a shrike on his journey,
and I determined the site deserved a morning trip before we left.

5:30?A kettle of 12 TURKEY VULTURES drew us to the side of the road near
the park on our way home.

Sunday, 2/17/08 We got up early to bird before our afternoon return flight.

7:30 AM?SADDLEBACK BUTTE SP?House Finches greeted us here, as they did
in the other Joshua tree forest. Lots of House Sparrows. We didn?t stay
long.

7:50?The agricultural fields on 110th (J to I) gave us lots of Killdeer
and a flock of some 50+ American Pipits.

8:15 to 10:00?The Joshua tree forest on I?Following the singing along
the row of deciduous trees beside the power lines bordering the fields,
we found Yellow-rumped Warbler and BEWICK?S WREN on territory. High,
pure whistles drew me out in the desert, but I was unable to locate
their source. Perhaps small mammals produced some of these, but there
was one that probably belonged to a bird because it was light and short
like a call note. I pished and whistled back, but I could not get a
visible response. Migrating swallows, TREE, ROUGH-WINGED, and
VIOLET-GREEN, kept us entertained until it was clear that the desert
action was over for the morning.

10:50?CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT?We were delighted to see two female COMMON
MERGANSER along Hwy 138, along with Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye.

The MORMON ROCKS afforded no sparrows, but we did catch fleeting glances
of the two Prairie Falcon.

Our misses include desert species such as Cactus Wren, and our targeted
Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Verdin, Mountain Plover, and Le Conte?s
Thrasher. We want to return for these and for other CA specialties,
including the Thick-billed Fox Sparrow.

Once again, our thanks to those who helped us with our trip plans and to
our families, who tolerate our obsessive hobby with benevolence.

Patricia Lott
Seattle, WA

P.S. Sandy, feel free to post this to your listserve if you think others
may be interested.