Birding
Where I've been/What I've seen
Earliest wake up day today! Got up around 4:10 to be at the festival by five. After checking in and eating breakfast, I hopped on the bus headed to Anza-Borrego State Park. On the way there I had a Prairie Falcon, Mountain Bluebird, and a flock of about 30 Red-winged or Tricolored Blackbirds. I fell asleep, which explains the general lack of birds while traveling through there. We arrived at the campground after the slightly scary way down a Mountain road in a bus, and I immediately saw a White-winged Dove I then heard my ABA nemesis, Verdin, and tried to go find it. I saw it, but while I was enjoying the sight of it, I heard a drumming sound right above me. Turns out it was a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and according to our leader, it was a very nice sighting. We decided to go around the center, to see if we could pull out anything before venturing out around Anza-Borrego. I pulled out some Western Bluebird and LEGOs, while the rest of the group found a male Costa’s Hummer, more Verdin, and a Cactus Wren. We also had a kind of out of place Sora in a little pond. The bus driver had pulled up, so we decided to get back into the bus and head to our next stop. eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34766694 This next stop according to our leader was some place called the “Access Trail”, to stop to see if we could find Rock Wrens, Black-throated Sparrows, and more Costa’s Hummingbirds, along with our best chance at Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. One of the first things I noted on the ground were several of their tracks, which kind of looked like two ovals right next to each other. Then, while walking to the Rock Wren spot, we had my Lifer Black-throated Sparrow, and I took some not amazing pictures of it. We then stopped again and listened for Rock Wrens. I heard at least four, and then the trip leader found one sitting on a rock. It was pretty distant, but I got some nice views in the scope. We reached the end of the trail and turned around, and during the process we found California Quail, Costa’s Hummers, and a kettle of TUVUs. We were about 500ft from the van when somebody called “SHEEP”, and on the hill, were about 8 female and lamb Bighorn Sheep. The group got really excited and we stayed watching the sheep for a good 15 minutes. eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34766696 On our next stop we had a chance at Bell’s Sparrow, and LeConte’s Thrasher, but dipped on both. In fact, the only bird seen was a Common Raven. I’m not even going to put in the eBird list. We then had a 20 minute break for lunch. The next stop was the Settling Ponds, where the only highlights were Phainopepla and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, and other than that it was practically dead. eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34766700 We then proceeded to our last stop, which was a campground just west of Borrego Springs. Since it was toward the warmest hours of the day, birds had seemed to stop making any movements, and you just had to get really lucky by flushing them. Highlights here were Lincoln’s Sparrow(a year bird), and a pretty Adult Male Costa’s Hummingbird(along with a couple of females). eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34766698 We called it a day and headed back to the festival HQ. I was getting picked up in an hour so I decided to check the river for a Mew Gull. I got really lucky, and it happened to be the first bird I looked at!
eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34766698 I got picked up after doing some more birding over there, and that was the end of the day for me.
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