A Birder's Journal: May 2026

Yellow-throated Warbler (image from Public Domain)

Springtime is such a joy to a person interested in birds. The weather is warming, the hills are green and full of spring flowers, and the birds are displaying their showiest plumages. It is also one of the two times of year (spring and fall migration) when you can expect a few birds to show up in your local area that are wildly off course from their normal haunts. These birds are called "vagrants". If you are a birder who is into the chase as I am then you will probably be plugged into the various social media channels that report these wanderers (ebird, list serves, etc.). Last week a report popped up of a Yellow-throated Warbler in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. One of these had been showing well in Humboldt County but I couldn't make an escape to go see that one so this was my chance. I was in the truck 15 minutes after seeing the message and pulled up to the hotspot after a 1-hour drive. Another birder was there and as I walked up to her I asked if she had seen it. She said she could hear it high in the Eucalyptus trees and as I got close to her I saw some movement behind her about 1/2 way up the understory and there it was, a beautiful bright male. We followed it's movement for about 30 minutes, helping other birders locate it as they arrived. Conditions were very poor for photography so I will have no photo documentation of this sighting but that's not so important. This eastern warbler has eluded me on it's home territory so it was a special sighting to see it here in California.

Another springtime birding tradition I have maintained is a visit to Butterbredt Spring on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert. I had not made any birding plans for May as we had expected to be traveling but circumstances arose that required us to postpone that trip and now I had some time on my hands. My two regular companions for these trips, Michael and Jeff were busy with other things so I would make this trip on my own (however, I sorely missed their company).

I took a somewhat circuitous route going south driving out Mines Rd. from Livermore and then out to I-5 via Del Puerto Canyon Rd. This took me through some really beautiful country, all the while I was wishing I could be doing it on my bike! Plenty of Oak Titmouse, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow-billed Magpie and Acorn Woodpeckers but curiously absent of warbler species (granted I only stopped a few times as I had a long way to go). Then it was on to Kern National Wildlife Refuge where I drove the tour route and saw most of the usual suspects for this time of year. Of note were the large number of Cattle Egrets and a nesting pair of Common Gallinules. Quite a few Yellow and Wilson's Warblers as well.

Heading towards the Mojave I drove around Lake Isabella to Weldon and then south towards Butterbredt. I stopped briefly at Frog Springs to see if any migration wave had come over the ridge that day, my conclusion - no. Not many birds here. As I reached the intersection of Jawbone Canyon Rd. and Butterbredt Canyon Rd. I was greeted by a rather large rattlesnake guarding the entrance. I deftly navigated around him and made my way over the pass and on down to the spring. Not a lot of diversity in the migrants over the pass, mostly Western Tanagers. There was a pretty strong north wind blowing when I got to the spring and there were many warblers and tanagers in the Trees of Heaven seemingly waiting for things to calm down. That evening and the next morning there was a significant wave of migrants coming up the canyon, stopping at the spring and then passing on. Warblers were Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Wilson's, Townsend's, Orange-crowned and a few Nashville. I was very surprised by a female Northern Parula, a bird I had never seen at Butterbredt before. As I walked down the canyon below the spring, migrating birds continued to pass for the rest of the morning. I photographed what I thought was a funny looking Wilson's Warbler but what turned out to be a female Hooded Warbler, another bird I had never seen at Butterbredt before. Later that day I met a Las Vegas birder named John Mark Simmons who said he had seen both of the rare warblers down in the spring as he sat by the water. He was kind enough to point out the differences between a female Hooded and a Wilson's, namely the white outer tail feathers. I went down into the spring and sat for a bit fighting off the mosquitos and was visited by both again. What a treat!

As is often the case in a migrant trap like Butterbredt Spring the next morning was pretty quiet. I had arrived as a wave was passing through and it was gone the next day. There were still a few good birds around. Loggerheaded Shrike, Cassin's Vireo, both Dusky and Hammond's Flycatchers, Ash-throated Flycatchers and several Costa's Hummingbirds. All in all another great visit to a special place. Returning to Bakersfield, I took the long way and drove over Breckenridge Road. All the way over from the east side there were singing Lazuli Buntings and as I reached the forest on the top I wished I had more time to explore. It was beautiful up there. I finished up my trip with a stop for lunch and a quick visit with my mother-in-law and then back to Napa to wait for the next adventure.

See my trip list here. Some photos from my adventure: