Vacation in woodpecker country June 2008.
Arrived in Los Angeles at 07.06 in the evening.
Next morning driving in direction of Ventura via 101.
Very surprised about the relaxed driving style, even in a busy town like Los Angeles.
I saw a sign “information center” from the street.
There I got some information and bought “Sibley Field Guide”.
After a 2 h walk in Santa Monica Mountains I continued to Ventura.
For Channel Islands tours I stayed over night at McGrath campground.
Nearby is a lagoon, beach access, swamp, some bushes and trees on campground.
Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, one Night Heron, American Coot, Song Sparrow, Black Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing and a lot of frogs was in the muddy and sweet water area.
In the lagoon are lots of Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls, some American Avocet and Black-naked Stilt.
At the beach are a closed area where breed Snowy Plover and Least Tern.
In open areas are mostly Western Gulls, Brown Pelicans and some Killdeers.
Anacapa Island
On the boat trip we saw seals, lots of dolphins, a Humpback, Sun Fish, Whale, Sooty Shearwater, lots of Western Gulls, cormorants ( mostly Brandt’s ) and near the island Pigeons Guillemot. The island itself is breeding place for lots of western Gulls.
Santa Cruz Island.
I got instruction where is possible to find the Island Jay, but I could no find them. I have been told the Island Jay was not seen since 8 months.
Loggerhead Shrike, Common Raven and Red-tailed Hawk I found there.
Lake Casitas
Some Clark’s and lots of Western Grebes, also some Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Steller’s Jay and my tent place located under the sleeping tree of Turkey Vulture ( suppose more than 50 ).
Los Padres National Forest
Very dry area, but lots of flowers from time to time at the street.
In the high mountain are forests where I found Snowy Plant.
Hairy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren and different lizards.
Lake Isabella
Around the lake is open area on in the east are bush and forest.
There is located the protected area.
In the evening we had very windy condition. Early in the morning I visited the forest, but very few birdlife.
Sequoia National Forest
In Kernville information center I got some advices.
The landscape on the way to north is very dry with small bushes, but changed immediately to forest.
Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pileated Woodpecker on an old stump, Western Tanager, Mountain Chickadee, Darke-eyed Junco, Fox Sparrow, American Robin, some interesting ferns, one kind of orchids.
The high light is the tall Sequoia trees.
Sequoia National Parc
White-headed Woodpecker at the camping ground ( 3 x ).
In higher area Red-brested Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, lots of spectacular Sequoia trees and flowering Iris hartwegii.
Different places with giant Sequoia trees, some in the forest and some around meadows.
Kings Canyon
The deepest Canyon of USA. There is a street trough the Canyon, very breath – taking landscape. On the final end starts some treks trough the forest up along the river and nice waterfalls.
One spectacular Sequoia place is located near the entry at the parc.
Often Dark-eyed Junco, sometimes Fox sparrow, Wilson’s Warbler, Wood Pewee, Lesser Goldfinch, Pileated Woodpecker, White-headed Woodpecker, American Robin, Yellow Warbler, some deer, one King Snake, Black Widow, Black Bear, different lizards and some interesting ferns.
Not so crowded like Sequoia National Park.
Yosemite
All camping places booked out ( it said booking is necessary some mounts in advance ), higher area campgrounds still closed.
One spectacular Giant Redwood place, but not compare able to Kings Canyon and of course Sequoia National Park.
Pileated Woodpecker I saw also twice there and one orchid.
On the way back from Mono Lake there was thunderstorm and 1 h rain.
Only one rain in 3 weeks.
Via Tioga to Mono Lake
In higher area Dipper and Red-breasted Sapsucker ( campground ).
At Mono lake mostly Californian Gulls ( around 55.000 should breed there ), but every day also Bonapart’s Gull, one time Franklin’s Gull and Herring Gull.
Best view place for Gulls are county. On the same place are Killdeer, Violet-green Swallows looks nice in the sun, Wilson’s Phalaropes and one Red-necked Phalarope. They often follow clouds of small flies.
Around the parking place are trees and bushes. Northern Flicker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, American Kestrel, Bullock’s Oriole, Spotted Towhee, and Red-winged Blackbirds. But also often European Starling.
In the lake also Eared Grebes, Mallards, Gadwalls and some Cinnamon Teals.
Another view point is Lundy.
From there is a view to breeding place of Osprey
At the beach was Brown-headed Cowbird.
June Lake
Yellow-headed Blackbird is common at the lake.
At campground are very noisy in the morning caused by Clarks Nutcracker. Lower noise made Steller’s Jay.
Near the lake are some places with lots of wild flowers.
Lots of wildflowers are also at the mountains near Great Lake.
Brigdeport
Forster’s Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, Eared Grebe, White Pelicans, Wilson’s Phalaropes and Willets.
In this area also Bullock’s Oriole and Western Kingbird.
Casa Fruitta
San Luis Rey Res. State Rec. area I left 9:00 pm because there it was still extreme noisy ( music which You can hear maybe a quarter of mile away ).
Other campgrounds are closed in this area.
It was the unique noisy campground on this vacation.
Behind Casa Fruitta campground are some bushes, trees and meadows.
White-headed Woodpecker, Killdeer, American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak and Lazuli Bunting are there.
Pinnacles National Monument
Nice rock area with small trees and bushes.
It said it should is the best place for Condor in USA, I did not saw them.
2 x Greater Roadrunner, 1 x Nuttall’s Woodpecker, 1 x Plain titmouse, 1 x American Kestrel, many White-throated Swift and different Turkey Vulture.
Some ferns e.g. Adiantum jordani and lizards.
Monterey Bay
Different Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curley, Killdeer, Snowy Plover and 1 x Sanderling.
Lost of Brown Pelican and Western Gulls, but also some Herrmann’s Gulls.
Elkhorn was closed, but nearby was a boardwalk.
Short-billed Dowitcher and Willets was there.
In the port area at the cross to Elkhorn are good view points.
Rhinoceros Auklet, Brown and White Pelican, Pied-billed Grebe, Cormorants, Snowy Egret and Marbled Godwit are there. Nearby is a beach with Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel and Long-billed Curley.
Also nearby are some sweet water places with birdlife, but at the busy street.
Santa Cruz
In the north of the town the coast has lots of rocks.
Pigeon Guillemot I saw in a busy area near the wave surfer.
Cormorants, Western Gull and Herrmann’s Gull are common there.
In the hills are the arboretum.
Especially the Australian part with Grevillea is an ideal place for watching Anna’s and Allan’s Hummingbird.
But New Zealand part with Phormium colensoi is good for Hummingbirds too ( in NZ the flowers visited by Bellbirds and Tuis ).
Arboretum is also place for Acorn Woodpecker, Californian Towhee and Californian Quail.
Henry Cowell State Forest Park
Lots of tall trees and many ferns, some of the ferns are more than 5 feet tall.
Some birds is possible to see, but it is a deep forest and ferns was the most interesting there for me.
Ana Nuevo
Sea Elephant colony, 1 x Red-throated Loon, different Pigeon Guillemot, Western Gull, Herrmann’s Gull, Turkey Vulture.
They island in opposite the seals colony is far away. With bino is not possible to define the birds of the big bird colonies. Rhinoceros Auklet should live there.
Butano State Forest
Remote area, even it is quite near to San Francisco.
Really nice campground, deep forest, lots of ferns.
I heard many birds, but there are not easy to find.
Golden Eagle, Tree Creeper, Song Sparrow, Acorn Woodpecker and Steller’s Jay I found there.
Botanical Garden San Francisco
Some good places for Hummingbirds ( e.g. Anna’s Hummingbird ), Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Californian Towhee.
But very interesting is the collection of plants of California, Australia and other areas.
Near the airport is San Andreas Lake.
Nice area with some birdlife. Access for swimming I did not found, so I suppose it is forbidden there.
Showers are not available on San Francisco Airport.
Some areas has very helpful bird list, with information overview of spring, summer, autumn and winter.
In this lists are information like common and abundant, fairly common, uncommon, rare and extremely rare.
e.g. Mono Lake, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
California 06/2008
1. Black Phoebe
2. Western Bluebird
3. Costa’s Hummingbird
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Mallard
6. Brown Pelican
7. Great Egret
8. Brandt’s Cormorant
9. Western Gull
10. Western Scrub Jay
11. Californian Quail
12. White-tailed Kite
13. Band-tailed Pigeon
14. Tree Swallow
15. Yellow-rumped Warbler
16. Northern Harrier
17. American Coat
18. Ruddy Duck
19. Pied-billed Grebe
20. Least Tern
21. Caspian Tern
22. Rock Dove
23. Black-necked Stilt
24. Snowy Plover
25. Killdeer
26. Dunlin
27. American Avocet
28. Sooty Shearwater
29. Black-crowned Night Heron
30. Pigeon Guillemot
31. Gadwall
32. American Crow
33. Common Yellow Throat
34. White Swan
35. Black-headed Grosbeak
36. Barn Swallow
37. Horned Lark
38. Cliff Swallow
39. Brewers Blackbird
40. Great-tailed Grackle
41. House Sparrow
42. House Finch
43. American Goldfinch
44. Savannah Sparrow
45. Marsh Wren
46. Loggerhead Shrike
47. Mourning Dove
48. Winter Wren
49. Common Raven
50. Song Sparrow
51. Great Blue Heron
52. Whimbrel
53. Turkey Vulture
54. Clark’s Grebe
55. Hooded Oriole
56. Red-winged Blackbird
57. Oak Titmouse
58. Steller’s Jay
59. Hairy Woodpecker
60. Bewick’s Wren
61. White-breasted Nuthatch
62. Western Kingbird
63. Oliver-sided Flycatcher
64. Pileated Woodpecker
65. Western Tanager
66. Mountain Chickadee
67. Dark-eyed Junco
68. Fox Sparrow
69. White-headed Woodpecker
70. American Robin
71. White Pelican
72. Red-breasted Nuthatch
73. Brown Creeper
74. Wilsons Warbler
75. Wood Pewee
76. European Starling
77. Lesser Goldfinch
78. Yellow Warbler
79. Dipper
80. Californian Gull
81. Violet-green Swallow
82. Canadian Goose
83. Eared Grebe
84. Wilsons Phalaropes
85. Willet
86. Least Sandpiper
87. Cinnamon Teal
88. Northern Flicker
89. House Wren
90. Red-breasted Sapsucker
91. Bullock’s Oriole
92. Bonapart’s Gull
93. Osprey
94. Brown Cowbird
95. Clark’s Nutcracker
96. Yellow-headed Blackbird
97. California Towhee
98. Snowy Egret
99. Pygmy Nuthatch
100. Black-billed Magpie
101. Green-tailed Towhee
102. Sage Trash
103. Sage Sparrow
104. White-crowned Sparrow
105. Herring Gull
106. Forster’s Tern
107. Double-crested Cormorant
108. Cassin’s Finch
109. American Kestrel
110. Meadow Lark
111. Spotted Towhee
112. Franklin’s Gull
113. McGillivray’s Warbler
114. Western Kingbird
115. Acorn Woodpecker
116. Northern Goshawk
117. Red-necked Phalaropes
118. Nuttall’s Woodpecker
119. Greater Roadrunner
120. Plain Titmouse
121. White-throated Swift
122. Marbled Godwit
123. Long-billed Curlew
124. Short-billed Dowitcher
125. Anna’s Hummingbird
126. Allan’s Hummingbird
127. Western Pewee
128. Wilson’s Warbler
129. California Trasher
130. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
131. Cooper’s Hawk
132. Black Oystercatcher
133. Peregrine Falcon
134. Golden Eagle
135. Purple Finch
136. Herrmann’s Gull
137. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
138. Downy Woodpecker
139. Rhinoceros Auklet
140. Pelagic Cormorant
141. Green Heron
142. Cattle Egret
143. Wild Turkey
144. Western Grebe
145. Eurasian-collared Dove
146. Sanderling
147. Elegant Tern
148. Rufous Hummingbird ?
149. Clark’s Nutcracker
150. Yellow-billed Magpie
151. Bushtit
152. Wrentit
153. Golden-crowned Kinglet
154. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
155. Northern Mockingbird
156. Phainopola
157. Orange-crowned Warbler
158. Lazuli Bunting
159. Blue Grosbeak
160. Black-throated Sparrow ?
161. Chipping Sparrow
162. Tricolored Blackbird
163. Red-throated Loon
164. Black-chinned Hummingbird
165. Cedar Waxwing
166. Red-shouldered Hawk ?
Hope you were treated well........
Hello Chris,
very friendly atmosphere and helpful people.
Big variety of landscapes and wildlife.
The huge groups of dolphins alone are worth to visit California.
I would recommend California for people with interest for nature.
Next spring vacation I do not planned yet, favorite is Southern California especially Salton Sea.
The bird migration in Texas should be the best in North America, but I suppose landscape in California is more interesting ?
Best regards
Dieter