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.