This month has seriously been crazy. In addition to going to Georgia for Camp TALON, I also went to Santa Barbara to tour the Reagan Ranch. While there I was able to do some sightseeing and birding. At the Beverly Hills Hotel we saw lots of lifers Mitred Parakeets: Then we went to the Chinese Theatre and that area to see the Hollywood sign: At our hotel there was yearbird Hooded Oriole: As we drove around we saw lots of yearbirds Band-tailed Pigeons: Then we went birding up by Ojai. I spotted a decent rarity, an American Redstart: Then found a pretty California Sister: After a small issue with getting trapped behind a private gate, we drove to Las Casitas lake, where I saw yearbirds White-breasted Nuthatch and Cassin's Kingbird: As well as yearbirds Great-tailed Grackles: Adorable baby Western Grebes and baby Pied-billed Grebe: Lifer Oak Titmouse: Yearbird Phainopepla: After spending some time in Santa Barbara (and finding lifer Scaly-breatsed Munia in the process) we drove to find some Yellow-billed Magpies: Adult and Juvenile lifers Yellow-billed Magpies (the young one was the only one who would let me get close enough for a decent picture): We also saw yearbird California Scrub-Jay: Yearbirds Acorn Woodpeckers were everywhere: Then we went to the Santa Clara River Estuary and got some pictures of American Avocet: Lifer Snowy Plover, which were nesting in the area: Least Terns were nesting and dive-bombing every bird that came near their territories: Least Tern egg! We also saw yearbird Western Sandpiper, my first one in breeding plumage. The poor bird had an injured wing. Heermann's Gull: Then we went to look for White-tailed Kites and saw them hunting! Then, of course as the highlight of our trip, we took the ferry out to Santa Cruz island to see the Island Scrub-Jays which inhabit only that island. Song Sparrow: Juvenile Spotted Towhee: The gorgeous lifer (obviously) Island Scrub-Jay: Island Fence Lizard: Woodland Skipper: Male Red-shafted Northern Flicker: Echo Azure: Skipper sp.: Loggerhead Shrike, island subspecies, the grayest version of this bird: Lifer Hutton's Vireo: Santa Cruz Island Fox: Western and California Gulls: California Gull: On the way back we got a great show by a ton of Common Dolphins: Lifer Sooty Shearwater: Humpback Whale: On our way back to LAX we stopped to look one more time for Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Didn't see the Sparrow but the guide ahead of us on the trail found a Western Patch-nosed Snake: And we also saw yearbird California Thrasher: Well that was an amazing trip! It was beautiful weather and LA traffic wasn't that bad. Overall another successful trip!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Youtube:The first Kestrel chick fed!
Archives
February 2020
|