I couldn’t leave Santa Barbara without at least one STP stop. After a morning walk at Lake Los Carneros where birds were pretty much the same as the last timeI was there a couple of weeks ago, I visited the Goleta STP right beside the airport. Check in was easy and the ponds fairly small, Read More…
Author: Ed
Tuesday Routine
It has worked out for the last 4 weeks I’ve spent Tuesday mornings at Devereux Slough and Coal Oil Point. It has been fun to see the beginning of fall migration of shorebirds. Last week I saw a small flock of Semi-palmated plover, and this week a mixed flock of peeps, Least and Western sandpipers Read More…
Juvenile Song Sparrows in Social Groups on Santa Cruz Island
I mistakenly ID’ed juvenile Song sparrows on Santa Cruz Island yesterday at Savannah sparrows. The eBird tool questioned the submission as rare, but I spent some time observing the birds and took some photos that I studied before submitting them. One of the factors I considered was that there was a pretty big flock of Read More…
More Mesa and Santa Barbara Bocanic Garden’s Today
This morning I decided to check out More Mesa while I waited for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s to open at 9 AM and was blown away by the extent of this mesa, right overlooking a huge piece of the coastline just south of Goleta, and north of Santa Barbara. It is really impressive. Birding Read More…
U C Santa Barbara Lagoon and Goleta Beach County Park
This morning I went to the eBird hotspot UC Santa Barbara Lagoon, and learned when I got there that parking near there is a big problem. As best I could tell there are 2 spots that you can use hours other than 7:30 Am- 5 PM M-F if you have a Beach Access Permit ?? Read More…
Devereux Slough and Coal Oil Point this Morning
A beautiful morning in Santa Barbara today, and I don’t work until afternoon, so I headed back to a more leisurely walk at this spot. Highlights were lots of Snowy Plover chicks. new shorebirds moving south, I saw 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 BBPL, 14 SPPL, 8 Whimbrel, 1 LB Curlew as likely migrants, along with Read More…
Figueroa Mountain, Santa Barbara County, CA
As a consolation to being with my family today on father’s day I headed for the hills, literally. About 1 hour 20 minutes drive from Santa Barbara is the summit of Figueroa Mountain. It’s in the Los Padre National Forest, so it seemed an appropriate place for father’s day. It is also far enough away Read More…
Out and About Santa Barbara
I had planned to head into the mountains east and north of Santa Barbara today, but the Sherpa Fire made me skeptical of air quality, so I stuck close to town. I looked into going to Santa Cruz Island, but the boats are all full for the whole weekend, so no to that too. First Read More…
Pinnacles NP but no California Condor
Kay and I went to Pinnalces NP today hoping to see a California Condor, but struck out today. We first went to the west entrance, and after hearing that CACO had been seen often on the High Peaks Trail. We started a hike up the trail, but after about 1 1/2 miles headed back down Read More…
Santa Barbara Harbor and Stern’s Wharf
Kay picked me up from working today and we went to the beach at Santa Barbara near the wharf where we had subway sandwiches and watched the Western gulls eat shrimp, the Snowy egrets chase each other around, the Black-crowned night herons fly overhead, and enjoyed the cool breeze and bright sunshine. A nice way Read More…