Captured - California Central and Southern
We just completed a two-week, late summer trip through central and southern California with focus on the diverse habitats and specialty birds. Most of our birding was set with the gorgeous backdrop of mountains and wild open spaces. (Here we’re following a Prairie Falcon through the sky).
We saw many of California’s best-known species, including the endemic Island Scrub-Jay on our day excursion to Santa Cruz Island.
LeConte’s Thrasher in the western Mojave Desert was also a well-found target.
We visited the Tehachapi Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the southern end of the Sierra Nevada. We had nice looks at White-headed Woodpeckers, a striking mountain bird of the west.
We timed the tour to include a day of pelagic birding from San Diego. We did well on birds with looks at some of the SoCal specialties like Least Storm-Petrel and Craveri’s Murrelet, but perhaps the #1 highlight wasn’t even a bird, but instead a cooperative Sperm Whale logging on the surface near the boat.
Birding Southern California at any time of year isn’t complete without a visit to the Salton Sea. However, in late summer it’s at its most oppressive with daily temperatures regularly in the triple digits. We were fortunate that it never quite cracked 100F. Look at us.
Summer is the only time of year to find Yellow-footed Gull, a Gulf of California endemic that wanders north to the Sea in small numbers in summer. We were fortunate that the gulls ended up being pretty close.
You can see our eBird checkist here (https://ebird.org/tripreport/407137) and you can see all of us smiling in Red Rock Canyon State Park.
