Mike had a meeting near San Francisco Airport. While crossing a bridge, he noticed some birds and stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant to watch a while.
The hooded Merganser is the bird that pushed us ove the edge. We became birders because these ducks landed in the lake in New Jersey we lived on. I'm glad they spend the fall and winters in Southern California too.
La Sierra University is a very reliable place to see Acorn Woodpeckers carrying acorns from oak trees to palm trees.
It usually is a good place for western meadowlarks too.
Acorn Woodpecker
Other than getting a latte and a donut, and making pastrami for lunch, we sat around waiting for birds to come by. The Hermit Thrush is a special guest.
We went to Huntington Central Park. There were quite a few exotic birds there like the Orange Bishops, but the good old Black Phoebe posed for a photo.
We visited Pond Park because a family of Least Bitterns had been reported. We only saw one, but it was quite entertaining hoping among the reeds. We also saw a few Ruddy Ducks and Wood ducks.
Stopped by Bolsa Chica last weekend since the Ridgeway Rails chicks have hatched. With a little patience and a little luck, I was able to find a family.
The black skimmers were out and for the first time at this spot, I saw some skimming.
We booked a trip to Big Sur to look for California condors. We stayed at the Ventana Inn and the first afternoon we saw one flying overhead while sitting out on our balcony. Two days later, we went out with the Ventana Wildlife Society and after some time, Chris spotted three flying high overhead.
We went back to Salton Sea in hopes of spotting some baby burrowing owls. We saw a few nests, and several smallish owls. Then Chris spotted this baby owl alone. We did see and hear several adult owls nearby. We left for a while and when we returned it was gone, so we are hopeful it found its burrow.