A San Francisco Bay Circumnavigation Big Day

A birding big day is always a fun adventure and this year we focused on an unusual geographic feature for such an endeavor. As Jeff will soon be moving up to the Eastbay he was interested in getting to know more of the good birding spots in the Bay Area and concocted a plan to do a big day that scribed a clockwise circle around the Bay. As usual Michael was game and came down from Eureka to join the fun.

After celebrating Jeff's birthday the night before we started out in Napa before dawn getting our 2 owl species, then it was off to Green Island for shorebirds and ducks.

From here we visited Lake Herman and the Benica waterfront before heading south to the Moraga area and then into the Eastbay Hills. A slight navigation error on my part caused us to miss a section we had planned to do in this area so on we went to Hayward, took a lunch stop and then cut across the Bay to the Palo Alto Baylands for more ducks and shorebirds. From here we crossed over the mountain (seeing an excellent Golden Eagle) and hit the coast at Halfmoon Bay. We picked up the expected coastal birds but the real show was the constantly spouting whales just off-shore. Our next stop was the old battery that sits up on a bluff at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge where we added a few more species then it was off to try for the rarity that was being seen this week in Marin County. No luck on the Dusky Warbler but we heard a lot of Ridgeway's Rails as the sun went down.

All told we drove 239 miles and saw 104 species. Not a big number but certainly big fun.

San Benito County - May 29, 2021

 

You take a birding trip, you have a great time with great friends, you return home and slip back into the regular pace of life, a few weeks go by and you start thinking about another birding trip. So many things in life are cyclical in nature and this particular one is one that I relish. After our great early season trip to the Mojave it wasn’t long before I was wondering, “What’s next?” I contacted my friend Jeff Manker about the possibility of doing something over the Memorial Day weekend and fortunately it worked out. Jeff had recently completed a monumental loop trip that took him to the Gulf Coast, the shores of Lake Erie, and back to California with many stops along the way. He added an amazing 43 species of North American birds to his life list and put over 7,000 miles on his truck, a journey that I wished I could have joined him on but I’m not retired yet. Another reason for getting together was a chance to play on a disc golf course in Aromas, Ca. that he and a friend designed and built. We had fun playing it however, I think the course needs a new name. I’m thinking maybe “Njǫrd” would be appropriate as the norse god of the wind was apparently visiting that day and was in a bad mood.

After playing the course we headed out for an evening of birding in a few local spots around Watsonville. I picked up my first Lazuli Bunting of the year, one of my favorite passerines, as well as a pair of American Bitterns, one of which was engaged in it’s unusual call that seems to require many different body parts to produce.

The next day we were off early for a sojourn into San Benito County. We started with a riparian area along the Pajaro River seeing many of the usual suspects to be found there. Next we headed south along CA 25 heading in the direction of Pinnacles National Park. Just north of the park is a county road that winds it’s way westward up and over the ridge leading back into the Salinas Valley. Traveling roads like La Gloria Rd. are a passion of mine. It immediately goes to dirt after turning off the highway and continues for nearly 20 miles that way crossing through a variety of habitats all of which were good for birds. Some of our highlights for the day were Rufous Crowned Sparrow, Costa’s Hummingbird, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Lark Sparrow, Western Wood Pewee, and Black-throated Gray  Warbler. Once again a great day out, give me a week or two and I will undoubtably be thinking of the next adventure we can take on the backroads of California.

On our last day we were joined by Claire for a trip down the Big Sur coast. Always hopeful for a Condor soaring above we often looked to the skies. After a great lunch at the Big Sur Cafe and Bakery we hiked along the Big Sur River on a trail that is a part of Andrew Molera State Park. I can’t say enough about the beauty of this little river and this valley it sits in. I am looking forward to returning with Danette for some hiking and further exploring.

The Thrasher Tour - Spring 2021

Jeff, Me & Michael w/ Shirlene

My mother-in-law was giving us a quizzical look as we sat around her dinning room table. As always she provided a delicious spread for her guests which, this time included Jeff Manker and Michael Morris who met me and Danette at her home in Bakersfield. I think she was wondering if we were slightly crazy in our obsession with chasing birds across the Mojave Desert and she was probably right. However, this was the kind of crazy I happily plead guilty to. Our plan was to meet up in Bakersfield, pile into one vehicle and head for the desert while Danette and her mom went back to Napa. For many years we have come to Bakersfield during our spring break and I have dragged Patrick with me to Butterbredt Spring for a chance to see some early spring migrants. This year I brought the pros from Dover with me. After a great meal and a gear swap we began our trip with a drive up and over Breckenridge Rd. This has always been a reliable place to see Long Eared Owls and would be our highest elevation on the trip. While the owls were a bust we did get a few high elevation species and a soaring Golden Eagle to whet our appetites. From here we made our way to the top of Butterbredt Canyon where we camped and shivered in the clear night air of the desert. Near morning we heard both Great Horned and Screech Owls calling across the early dawn stirring us into action. We spent much of our morning at the spring but it was still early for migrants.

Scott's Oriole

I am bound by the whim of my school district as to when they decide to give us our spring break and am anxious for retirement when I can make that call. A highlight at the spring was a pair of Scott’s Orioles. 

     From here we headed north towards the Owens Valley, even more interesting to me as I had just re-read Cadillac Desert, the Marc Reisner masterpiece on the history and politics of western water development. Again, the season was early so we saw mostly the usual suspects but did manage a Black-chinned Hummingbird and a number of Bell’s Sparrows at Red Rocks SP, a few good water birds at Klondike Lake, and visited new area for me, Summit Creek in the area of the Olancha Pass trailhead. We ended our birding day at the 5 Bridges gravel ponds at the northern end of the town of Bishop, adding a number of good water bird species to our list.

     After spending the night in Bishop we headed east over the White Mountains, it was here that we picked up a life bird for both Jeff and Michael, a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay near top of the climb. Searching around the junction of Hwy. 168 and White Mtn. Road again we found it to be too early for much activity. Continuing on the road took us into Deep Springs Valley, a place I have long wanted to see. We spent a good deal of time scanning the fields near Deep Springs college where saw many Sage Thrashers and desperately tried to turn one of them into a Bendire’s. Also making an appearance for us was a weasel, surely a surprise.

Deep Springs Valley

Continuing on, our goal was Death Valley National Park and to get the authentic experience, we planned our arrival at Furnace Creek for 12 noon, a target, I am happy to say, I hit with perfection. Prior to entering the park Jeff found us a great lunch/birding spot along Hwy. 95 using ebird to locate hot spots. Torrance Ranch turned out to be a really interesting riparian area where, along with sandwiches we picked up a Virginia Rail. Then it was off to Furnace Creek where, like the 3 morons we are, we figured that birding the golf course at 12 noon was a capital idea and sure to net us some good birds. I think our best sighting there was bats flying around hawking bugs in the middle of the day. To be fair we did pick up some birds for the trip list but probably should have skipped it. We decided that our best bet for a campsite was as high as we could get on the west side of the park so we travelled the park roads to get to Wildrose Campground where we were lucky enough to snag the last campsite (there are only 20 or so of them).

Wildrose Canyon

This canyon was a great place to camp and had a good variety of birds including a Roadrunner coming to a seep in the road to drink. We picked up another target bird the next morning by driving up the valley a ways and found an active flock of Pinyon Jays (as Michael predicted we would).
We left Death Valley NP via the Wildrose Rd. going west and got down to the business of locating the one bird that was the theme of this trip - the LeConte’s Thrasher. Just about everything we did until returning to Bakersfield was in pursuit of this devil bird. We used recent sightings in ebird and staked them out in the hopes of seeing this slippery customer but all we ended up doing was to prove the adage that, “you don’t find a LeConte’s Thrasher, they find you.” And on this trip they didn’t make the effort. We passed through Ridgecrest, California City and Mojave without any luck and only a few other species.
We finished up the final day of our trip with a return to Butterbredt Spring hoping for some different birds. We added Chukers and a lone Mountain Quail that Michael found and Jeff could not quite get into his line of sight. This bird could very well be Manker kryptonite as he keeps missing it but comes tantalizingly close every time. From here we followed Kelso Valley out to Hwy 178 and the Kern River Preserve which was still closed due to covid. We were able to bird along some of the edges of the preserve and we did pick up an early migrant, a bird we determined to be a female Prairie Warbler. An uncommon sighting but one that after careful deliberation we were confident in. Down the Kern River we drove to emerge at the bottom end, back at my mother-in-law’s house. Even though our trip list was not substantial (I think we were just short of 100) the camaraderie and the simple fact of being on the road, looking for birds with two of the best people I know was the tonic I needed to see out this school year. I hope Shirlene will have us back again soon. All birding trips should start on a full stomach and she certainly sent us on our way with three of them.

The Crew