Central California

Boy, what a packed day (and I thought I was gonna be able to turn in early...) Met Rosemary out at Montana de Oro State Park bright and early; I actually beat her there, so I enjoyed watching a lady feed the gulls from on high (we were meeting at the Spooner Ranch), the flock of which contained mostly Westerns but also one Glaucous-winged and an "Olympic" Gull. Got my first Chestnut-backed Chickadee of the trip in the cypress there, and sparrows were already feeding on the ground: mostly Goldies, but with the occasional Whitey of the Nuttall's variety thrown in. When Rosemary showed up she graciously lent me her extra hat as I had left mine in the room, and we headed on down to the campground to make the rounds; it was still a bit early (the sun hadn't hit the bushes yet), but we still kicked up (quite literally) more Goldies, California Towhees, a big mob of California Quail, and a Spotted Towhee as well. A Flicker allowed close approach, and a Scrub Jay practically landed on our feet! They had closed the back end of the campground due to a landslide, and that's why Rosemary figured there were no Steller's Jays back there, as they liked the camper crumbs. But we managed to find one down by the gate on the way back. Song Sparrows also showed themselves, but no Lincoln's to compare them with. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were cooperative, but a single calling Golden-crowned was characteristically UNcooperative, which was a bummer as that would have been a life bird for Rosemary! Unfortunately the White-throated Sparrow that had been hanging around didn't show, so we would hope for him on Sunday. I heard something call from the shore rocks (the voice really carried) that I thought was a bunch of Black Turnstones, but more on that later...

Gull feeding at Islay Creek

Birds around the campground...

         

                                                                        Northern Flicker                                                Ruby-crowned Kinglet                                        Kestrel

     

                                                        California Towhee                                                                                                                Western Scrub Jay

      

California Quail (with his mate at right)

    

The morning mob...

   

Golden-crowned Sparrows

There had been Nelson's Sharp-tailed and Clay-colored Sparrows reported at the Islay Creek mouth (where the lady had been feeding the gulls), but the only thing to show up there was an very cooperative California Thrasher that was feeding on something by the water's edge. Rosemary had to get to a meeting after that, so she took off and I returned to birding, heading back up to the Bluff Trail to hopefully pick up some coastal birds for the trip. All three cormorants were easy (as they always are there), and then I spotted my "turnstones": two Black Oystercatchers sitting on the rocks with their noses in their wings! The sparrows were ultra-cooperative on the trail; even a Wrentit hopped up on the railing! No rocky shorebirds, however; I think the tide might have been a mite high (but the surf was spectacular!).

   

Rosemary checks out Islay Creek for sparrows

We get a California Thrasher instead!

On to the Bluff Trail

   

                                                                    House Finch                                                                    Golden-crowned Sparrow

           

Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrow, the resident central California race.  This may be a bird just coming into adulthood, as he apparently still retains a bit of the rusty head striping.

           

                                                                                                    Wrentit                                                            Song Sparrow

The scenery was certainly a distraction!

   

All three species of cormorants occupy the rocks; these are Brandt's (left) and Pelagics (right).

Rosemary had told me about another "Los Osos Preserve" (I thought there was only the one) called Elfin Forest that sounded wonderful (with a mile-long boardwalk loop; that sounded like a good exercise walk if nothing else), so I headed over there next, and it was indeed wonderful; nothing like the "pygmy forest" (which was the place I was familiar with), as this looked like mostly sage scrub/chaparral, but they had two wonderful views of Morro Bay and the salt marsh, where there were a ton of ducks and shorebirds in great light! Unfortunately you're a bit distant, but many ducks were close enough to ID with the bins, including a male Eurasian Wigeon in among the gazillion Americans, and what was probably a Green-winged x Eurasian Teal mix in with the gazillion Green-winged (he had both the vertical white shoulder stripe and the horizontal white wing stripe). Further out was a large raft of scaup (I'm presuming Lesser unless proven otherwise), and in the shorebird department added Avocet, Willet, and Marbled Godwit. At the other overlook added Brant that were closer to where the homes were, plus a few Ruddies. Several Caspian Terns wheeled over as well, rasping the whole time.

Elfin Forest trailhead

  

    

                                                        Western Scrub Jay                                                                                        California Towhee

Morro Rock and Bay from the trail

   

                                                                                                                Marshes from the overlook                                                       Look carefully at this Green-winged

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Teal, and you'll notice a horizontal

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           white stripe in addition to the vertical

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           one, suggesting a Green-winged/

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Eurasian Teal cross.

    Headed over to Morro Bay State Park to squeeze in more coastal birds for the trip, and stopped at the Marina first, where I heard there were Large-billed Savannah Sparrows. Didn't know exactly WHERE they were, but this was a familiar trail from past trips, so I moseyed around the loop (the back trail was actually semi-dry this time) and added Eared and Pied-billed Grebe, a complaining Belted Kingfisher, a whistling Osprey, closer looks at the Brant, and a Long-billed Curlew doing what our Snowy Egrets do along the San Diego River mouth: following on a clam-digger's heels! Several Least Sandpipers flew by at the point, and enjoyed a nice male Red-breasted Merganser bathing himself. The shorebirds were in the sun on the way back, but there were tons of godwits and willets, and what was odd was watching a handful of the godwits take off periodically and zigzag as though something were chasing them, scolding as they went! I didn't see any Peregrines around, so who knows what was inspiring this strange behavior... Back at the car a Common Loon gave me the looking over before I continued on. Stopped at one of the bayside pullouts to enjoy close Brant and Western Sandpipers in with more willets and godwits, then headed out, stopping at some eucs and adding Townsend's Warbler on the way out.

Marina Trail at Morro Bay State Park

   

                                                                Long-billed Curlew                                                                                                        Marbled Godwits

           

This Anna's Hummingbird has to turn at just the right angle for the sun to catch his red throat!

Back side of the Marina Trail; locals traditionally look for Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow here at very hide tides!

Al Schmierer had very graciously offered his porch as an alternative "field trip" on Sunday should we get rained out (it doesn't sound like it's going to, though), as he has many feeders and the sparrows come to you, as it were, so he wanted me to see the setup. Headed over to his beautiful rolling ranch (he's got his own version of El Capitan in his back yard) and was treated to more sparrows, adding Juncos and the elusive Lincoln's to the day list! In back, he had a hummer feeder that a Wrentit and Orange-crowned Warbler raided while we watched (that was normal, he said), and had both American and Lesser Goldfinches at his thistle feeder. I jokingly told him that maybe I should pray for rain! J An added bonus was a Bobcat that stalked by up the hill!

View from Al's driveway...

Birds in his back yard...

   

Lesser and American Goldfinches (along with a Golden-crowned Sparrow) hog the thistle feeder while Goldies and a Song Sparrow hog the bird bath!

Headed back to the motel to get the directions to the Community Center (I wanted to find the place in the daytime), so I did that, then decided to head down to Morro Rock to look for Sea Otters. There was a group of four quite close to shore (people were liberally disregarding the "no parking" signs), and one was even tagged! At the rock itself added Heermann's, Ring-billed, and California to the gull list, and while I didn't spot any Peregrines (I never do there, really), the Canyon Wren came through beautifully! More people were feeding the gulls, and of course the blackbirds and squirrels invaded as well; I notice that the California Ground Squirrels up here appear to be more rufousy than ours! Many plumages of Surf Scoters close at hand made for a good study as well, and on the way out three White Pelicans fed and swam close to the road.

A tiny piece of Morro Rock up close

This is a great place to study gulls up close as well...

      

Western Gulls (2nd year bird left, adult right)

            

First year Western Gulls

   

California Gulls (3rd year bird at left, 2nd year bird right)

   

Ring-billed Gulls (adult left, camera-shy 1st year bird at right)

Adult Heermann's Gull

   

Brewer's Blackbirds and California Ground Squirrels

                   

                                                                                        Canyon Wrens                                                                    Yet another Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrow

   

Traffic signs are ignored when Sea Otters are spotted!

      

Sometimes it's hard to tell where the kelp stops and the otter starts!  (Notice his foot tag as well!)

 

Snoozing Sea Otters

   

                                                                                                            White Pelicans                                                                                                        Surf Scoter

Cruised the Embarcadero looking for a restaurant that was recommended by some friends of mine (couldn't find it, girls; I'll Mapquest it...) and came home, surprisingly shot, so went for the Cup o Noodles for dinner...
 

Go to top