California recap and back in Ohio for a bit

Everyone always assumes that a vacation  in California means beaches and sunshine, sidewalks of stars and beautiful people; all the while racing down PCH in a convertible with the top down and the Beach Boys blaring on the radio. But yet I don't "vacation" like most people do. 

We spent seven very long days running around California and into Oregon adding new birds for the year... I was passed out before 9 almost every night...The majority of the people we encountered were on a similar mission and not from CA either....Our rental car was littered with coffee cups, take out wrappers, guides and Pringles cans.... Once again I didn't pack the correct clothing and spent almost the entire time in the same sweatshirt and cargos. (keep those comments to yourself-I did remember deodorant). Not a vacation most people would enjoy. 

It was cool, even cold at times, wet with rain and fog and windy as hell. There were only a few occasions where I was bitching about the sun but I was glad I had remembered the new Ray-Bans. No movie stars and no Beach Boys either. Just birds. 

Seeing life birds (birds I'm seeing for the first time for those of you out there who still have no idea what I'm talking about) is always a great way to start off a trip. Tundra Bean-Goose and Rustic Bunting were a perfect kickoff to this one.  Missing out on Falcated Duck and Brambling took a bit of the shine away but plenty of other birds and mammals made up for it. River otters and American badger were very cool to see. 

Even though the weather and luck weren't completely on my side it still was a great expedition. There are groves of redwoods where the road winds through them that momentarily make you realize how very small we are in this world. The trees and forest floor were so thick with moss in some areas that sound barely carries and whether you want to or not, you can't help but to whisper. The endless horizon and clear blue water stretching out for miles while the waves and tides erase our footsteps can almost leave you speechless.  Pelicans, gulls and seabirds rule this coast. I spent a fair amount of time with one eye closed tight while the other peered through the scope to identify everything winging by. 

But the smell of the Pacific is different than the Atlantic to me. Mingled with freshness, evergreen and earthy smells that calm and refresh rather than the more stagnant, salty, humid eastern shores of Florida . It's one of those places that I never want to leave and each time I'm there I wish for more time. This was no exception. 

55 new birds were added on this trip making it well worth it and bringing my year total to 307. 

Upon our return to the frozen landscape of Cleveland I took a few days off to work and generally catch up on things. 

I then decided to run around the northern part of the state just a little bit to pick up some birds that may be tricky to get later on. The Toledo area was hosting a few common redpolls and a Hoary redpoll which took two visits before finding them. The hoary is a good pick up because those birds can be difficult to track down and it saves me some ridiculous chase later on. The obliging northern saw-whet owl at Maumee Bay SP and the northern shrike were also fine additions.  I went to see a snowy owl at Hopkins with my sister and then found another out in Lucas County on a drive-by. That evening the short-eared Owls at Ottawa didn't disappoint.  Four owls put on a nice show over the Stange Road prairie just after sunset. All in all bringing my year up to 315. 

I'll be headed to the southwest shortly to chase a few more rarities via Dallas. How do you pass up a $96.16 round trip flight. It will be my first timing using Spirit Airlines but as long as they get me there and back what the hell, right? I'm in the process of putting together an attack plan that will most likely include 5-6 states. Thank god for unlimited mileage on rental cars. 

I'm going to try to work on putting a running list on the blog so you can see what's been seen....and let me know if something pops up that I should see. Thanks to everyone who has been helpful so far this year with directions and info. I appreciate all the help I can get. 

So long CA....I'll be back

Once again we hit Colusa NWR, this time before sunrise. Great horned owls called in the darkness and the sounds of geese and ducks progressively got louder. Once daylight broke we began scanning and searching all over again. We again met up with more birders and exchanged numbers in case anyone found it.  To get right to the point, three hours later: still no duck. I'd had it and there were still a few birds to track down. 

We headed over to a little park a few miles away where before we got out of the car we could tell there were a lot of birds around. It seemed like there were birds everywhere. Juncos, sparrows and thrushes were everywhere. Nuttall's woodpeckers and red-breasted sapsuckers were abundant. Spotted towhees and California towhees were in every tangle and a mixed flock of chickadees, warblers and oak titmouse were fun to pick through. We spent about an hour wandering around the park checking off 5 new year birds in the process. Not a bad stop.  

Next we headed down to Nimbus Fish Hatchery to look for reported Barrow's goldeneyes. An hour and half later we were standing looking at 5 in the water below us. Peregrine falcon, red-tails, turkey vultures, kestrel and an osprey kept all of the ducks on high alert.

 

I scanned the far hillside and noticed a hole that looked like there may have been something inside. After realigning to get a better look: Barn owl

It's amazing to me how many barn owls are just sitting around in California. 

From the hatchery I decided that since it was our last night to be spent in California I wanted to watch the sunset over the ocean once in this trip. We headed down to Half Moon Bay and had a really nice dinner at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company watching the sun sink into the water as gulls and Pelicans plunged into the water. It was great ending to a nice day. 

The next morning we had a few hours to kill before boarding the plane home. We went to Pillar Point and walked the beach and the trails. Hundreds of sanderlings scurried along while marbled godwits, Willets and black oystercatchers moved up with the rising tide. Heading to the airport is always a little depressing but the California was a success in my book putting my year total at 308. 

Back to the cold of Ohio for a little while. Maybe a few owls will help pass the time before I run off again. 

Next up: Arizona

F Duck

   Today we had an early start.  Shocking. Winding our way south through dense fog and darkness was again a little unnerving but we pressed on. Driving through the redwoods is always an impressive sight though. These trees are so tall and so immense that they dwarf everything around them including us. We stopped a few times to listen for owls to no avail. We tried to do the "drive through" tree but it was too early and a holiday unfortunately. From the forests we entered into agricultural areas and groves and then orchards until we started seeing rice fields filled with waterfowl.      

       Thousands of ducks, geese and swans dabbled and dove in these vast 'lakes'. Black-necked stilts, Avocets, long-billed curlews and white-faced ibis were plentiful as were long billed dowitchers, egrets and herons. Many red-tailed and red-shouldered Hawks watched these winter visitors waiting for the right moment. Once we finally made it Colusa NWR it was around noon and we set up shop. Scanning, scanning and more scanning. Four hours of scanning. I had a headache and my right eye hurt from scoping for so long and my left eye was damn near swollen shut. It was bright and sunny for once and I wished it wasn't. Every solitary Pintail resting in partial view made my heart skip a beat.  

 

    We drove the one way auto drive through the refuge looking at every bird out there and I shit you not there had to be 200,000 ducks and geese out there. The neat thing about this auto tour is that it is exactly that: an auto tour. Your car is your blind and if you get out of your car you are fined $275. I like this idea. None of the birds flushed and flew away. They didn't mind the traffic and gave us closer views to most species than I have ever had.  I have to wonder why more refuges don't adopt this policy. 

      The proverbial needle in a haystack remained hidden although if I was searching for Eurasian Wigeon I would have been ecstatic in counting 9 throughout our tour and scoping forays.  Even though there were 20 people scouring the refuge, no one could find the Falcated Duck. "F" duck as it shall be known from now on. 

As the sun dipped below the horizon thousands of greater white-fronted, snow and Ross's geese took flight to head out to pastures and parts unknown. Truly an amazing sight. Even the dark morph Ross's goose was a lackluster consolation prize for the "F" duck.  

A great horned owl teed up for us to watch as darkness claimed the refuge. We decided to stay close by for one last shot in the morning.....at the end of the day one thing is certain: I dread doing this again. 

Bramlings are Assholes, Surfers are cool

Again we went back to the neighborhood where the Brambling has been visiting feeders. We decided what the hell since we were close and had a few other places in the area to check out anyway. So we arrived at sunrise. The area is a cul de sac next to a church that the yard backs up to. Of course it was Sunday. We watched the area for about an hour while everyone arrived for services and then decided to get the hell out of there and continued to check the front yard. The backyard where the feeders apparently are cannot be seen but the birds pop up into the trees and sit around a lot. So they say....  We were joined by a group of guys from San Diego, a few people we had seen the other day and a couple others. We scoured the neighbors yards and walked around like we were lost using our binoculars to look high and low. I feel a little bad for the people who live on this street. All of these people walking around for the last two weeks had to be a little unnerving for them.   After a few hours we decided to give up, to hell with this bird, I had wasted enough time on it. 

Next we headed over to the north jetty on Humboldt bay. We arrived just as the tide was beginning to go out and walked along the beach towards the jetty. On our way out we run into a guy who is drinking a beer and just hanging out. He started up a conversation and learned that his name was Chris and that he was a surfer who's family had moved from the Cincinnati area when we was a kid.

He was waiting for others to show up before hitting the water for the day because the day before the "man in the white" had cleared the line at the end of the day. I had to ask him exactly what that meant. It turns out a great white shark had been seen in the area while the guys were surfing the afternoon before and he did not want to be the only person in the water today. He told us a bunch of stories and other places to go look for birds. He said that while he is out there sitting on his board waiting on a wave, Western grebes will swim right up to him and check him out. Close enough to touch. He assured us that it was safe to walk out but to not "turn our backs" on the ocean. We parted ways and headed to the end of the jetty. 

As the tide ebbed, more and more rocks were exposed and birds began to materialize. Black-legged kittiwakes and brown pelicans cruised by, Ancient murrelets and Common murres sheared the waves while booking past us and  Black turnstones, rock sandpipers and surfbirds picked at the newly exposed world below the waterline. Common, Pacific and Red-throated loons, Eared, horned, western and red-necked grebes, Brant's and Pelagic cormorants and all three scoters wave peaking all around as the waves pounded the shore.

That was when we saw Chris on his board waiting on the next curl. We spent the next 20 minutes watching him and his compatriots surf and enjoyed the sunny weather on the jetty. 

Because I am a glutton for punishment I decided to take us back to look for the brambling one last time. We spent about a half hour with Zero results and decided to call it a day. F. U. Brambling. 

I could seawatch all day long here. 

Tundra Bean there, Done that

    We left the hotel at 5 AM in the driving rain. It was a dark, dark road that never seemed to get any brighter. I've driven through a lot of weather situations in my travels but I'm not sure that I've ever driven though rain that was coming at me from five different directions. The first few hours of the trip were through forests of redwoods and along the coast with zero street lights and fewer guardrails in places that needed them. Once the "sun" finally came up I stopped for much needed coffee and to let my hands relax from clenching the steering wheel....we continued on. It took six and a half hours to reach our destination: Nestucca Bay NWR. The rain had eased up as we made the turn into the entrance road and within 14 seconds "there it is" is all I could say. The visiting Tundra Bean-goose that has been overwintering at the refuge stood out like a sore thumb. Well to me it did anyway. We parked and I got out and grabbed the scope at the exact same moment the skies opened up again and the wind almost blew the scope off the deck. Another couple was there and asked if I had seen the bird. I explained where it was, that it was with a dozen Canada geese and put the scope on it and they still couldn't see it. I guess sore thumbs are different for me.... You be the judge:

After viewing the goose and scanning the rest of the geese for ten minutes in the deluge I decided enough was enough. There were plenty of Canada's and Cackling Geese but I was soaked to the bone, exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Yay! Now let's drive 7 hours south! 

Apparently the Brambling went rambling

  Today we got up early and drove in the rain and dark through the redwoods up to Arcata, California. Our mission was to stake out a Brambling that had been hanging out for about the last three weeks.  The rain stopped when we got there and we spent the next five hours scoping out the entire neighborhood. Large flocks of pine siskins, Oregon juncos, golden-crowned sparrows and stellar's jays kept us entertained but the Brambling never put in an appearance. We were joined by a couple from the Bay Area who are spending the weekend in that area and will let us know if it is seen again for our return trip to the bay. 

Six Band-tailed pigeons were calling and then seen flying out of the forest when we arrived and Anna's Hummingbirds were zipping around relentlessly. 

This part of California in general is actually very pretty. The groves of redwoods are awe inspiring and the drive along the coastline is really something to see. 

Somehow this scene made me think of what California must have been like 40 years ago. 

We passed a lot of places on the way today that I would've liked to have stopped and investigated but I didn't want to "waste" the time this morning. Possibly on the return trip. We're headed up to Oregon tonight to shoot for another rarity tomorrow. I am hoping it is not a wild goose chase..,

Day 1 in Cali

After arriving at midnight we crashed out and got up early to head over to Golden Gate Park. After finally finding the spot we spent five minutes before the celebrity bird made its appearance. The Rustic Bunting that has been hanging out with a group of Juncos stayed true to form and dropped in about 15 feet away from us. We observed the bird for a little while as a herd of Brewer's Blackbirds surrounded us, stumbling around like the walking dead, Varied Thrushes poked around the edges and White-crowned Sparrows owned the brush-pile. Amusing at is was, we had big plans for the day. 

We starting driving north and made the obligatory stop for photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We decided to make a detour to check out Point Reyes National Seashore. Somehow in all my visits to California I had never ventured out there and after today I can say I really love that place. It's vast, beatiful and contains many different habitats from wave crashed shores, rocky cliffs, grassy plateaus, farm lands and pine stands amid coastal scrub. I did not plan to spend the day there, but before we knew it the sun was setting over the Pacific. 

Birds, birds and more birds along with mammals filled the day. Scoping the ocean, hiking trails and glassing basically everything that moved makes for a tired traveller tonight. 33 new birds were added today along with an American Badger for the mammal life list. 

Tomorrow we will continue to head north to Arcata for target #2 since today went a completely different direction than I had planned but I wouldn't change a thing. Even though I love a good chase, I'm a firm believer that spending time outdoors in a beautiful location is never time wasted. It's as much about the journey as it about the trip. Tomorrow is another day...