Today after seeing the Common Pochard yesterday Bruce, Ken and I headed north. The plan was to avoid the windy snowy pass on Hwy 199 and instead drive up 101 and come across where the hills were less high. Along the way we wanted to check for the King Eider that had been seen near Read More…
Category: California
Five Days at Sea: Fall Pelagic on the Searcher
I signed up for the Searcher’s 5-day pelagic birding expedition out of San Diego about 18 months ago when I learned last year’s trip was already full, and have been excited about yet in a way havemdreaded the trip ever since. Excited about 5 days of potential rare sea birds, meeting some of the great Read More…
Devereux Slough and Coal Oil Point
This (Sunday) afternoon I finally broke down and went for a birding walk. I am a bit sick of seeing the same things in the same places here in Santa Barbara Co. and was going to take a day off, but by 4 PM I gave in and went birding. Coal Oil Point is a Read More…
Bird Pals Comes Through
Today I took advantage of the cool web site that allows traveling birders to contact local birders for advice and even company birding. I found Rob Denholtz on the site, a Capinteria birder who agreed to meet me this AM for birding his “patch” in S. Santa Barbara County. We met a friend of his, Read More…
Goleta Slough and Beach and More Mesa Today
I had the morning off today, and decided to stay nearby and bird vs. drive and chase. First stop Goleta Slough and Goleta Beach County Park. The Slough was surprisingly not birdy. I’d hoped to find the Laughing Gull that has been seen there often, but didn’t find it. Aside from a few WESP and Read More…
Before and After Work in Santa Barbara Today
I had a short day at work today, not starting until 9 AM and getting off at 3 PM. This allowed me to go for a walk this AM at Devereux Slough (checklist) and this afternoon to check out the Goleta Wastewater Treatment Ponds (checklist) and Goleta Beach County Park after work. This morning Devereux Read More…
Lake Los Carneros and Goleta Waste Treatment Facility Ponds
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…
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…