California 2011 Summary
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2011 Trips   California Photos 

California: It is no accident that we continually return to California - dramatic and diverse scenery, an ever growing number of family & friends, as well as an abundance of wildlife - always make for a great time.

We started our trip visiting Diana’s Uncle Mario and Aunt Lorraine in Stockton.  Unfortunately we missed their 60^th wedding anniversary as it was scheduled on a weekend that Paul had to work.  (Of course we missed their 50^th Wedding Anniversary as we were scheduled to fly Boston to California on American Airlines on September 11^th and our flight never took off).   

In the Central Valley Area we drove to Micke Grove Regional Park in Lodi accompanied by Uncle Mario where we had Yellow Billed Magpies right in the parking lot with a group of Brewers Blackbirds.  We then set off to Cosumnes River Preserve and walked the wetlands nature trail where we had a flock of Sandhill Cranes flyover, Wilson’s Warbler, Spotted Towhee, House Wren and Belted Kingfisher.  

It was a great weekend catching up with Uncle Mario and Aunt Lorraine and many of Diana’s cousins. 

We departed Stockton and headed to Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area (Yolo Bypass) to meet our friends Alison Kent who lives in Davis and Holly Jessop from Benecia.  After obtaining our target, a Tricolored Blackbird, and the “Bicolored form” of Red Winged Blackbird, we set out for our next stop at the Davis Co-op for Barn Owl. "He was so cute sleeping in his box right in the middle of the parking lot!"

We tried for Western Screech Owl at the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve with no luck, and then we drove up Gates Canyon to try (also unsuccessfully) for Mountain Quail. We traversed over the Vaca Mountain Ridge to Mix Canyon then on to Lake Solano near the town of Winters before proceeding to the Napa Valley area stopping at Lake Hennesy where we had a group of Western Grebes and our first California Gull sitting on a dock.

Alison suggested we hike Sugarloaf Ridge State Park to try again for the Mountain Quail which are very difficult to find at this time of year. We took the Bald Mountain Trail and hiked 2.8 miles each way with no luck on the Quail, but we did find Vaux’s Swifts (ABA birds for us) circling overhead . The hike took us about 4 hours and the day started off in the high 50’s and ended in the 80’s with not a cloud in the sky.  Then we set off to Bodega Bay in preparation for our pelagic trip the following day. We checked the pier where our boat would depart from and were delighted to pbtain close views of our life Heerman’s Gull, along with a large group of Elegant Terns (ABA birds) perched on the pilings. We then drove along the bays edges to find hundreds of Shorebirds including: Western and Least Sandpipers, Willets, Whimbrels, Marbled Godwits and a few Brandt Geese along with lots of Western Gulls.

The pelagic trip departed out of Bodega Bay with Debi Shearwater and her volunteer guides (one of which was Steve Howell, author of the “Birds of Mexico”).  It was a long day at sea but we had some fantastic birds and got most of what we had hoped to see including: Laysan & Black Footed Albatrosses, Bullers, Sooty, Flesh Footed and Pink Footed Shearwaters, Black, Ashy and Fork Tailed Storm Petrels, Cassin’s & Rhinocerous Aucklets.  Forsters and Elegant Terns were still perched on the pilings upon returning.

Upon returning we met Paula and Bob Anderson from Lake Havasu for dinner at the Bayview. They were driving down the coast from Washington and we coordinated our meeting to coincide with them passing thru.

On the 15^th we met Holly and her Dad, Alan, at the Motel Inverness just outside Point Reyes National Seashore. The grounds of the hotel abutted the marshlands and had beautiful gardens that attracted Chestnut Backed Chickadee and Anna’s Hummingbird at the feeders.

Our first stop at Point Reyes was Abbott’s Lagoon where we had White Crowned Sparrows and Marsh Wrens and then headed down the road to McClures Beach to see the Tule Elk.  We then stopped at the Drakes Bay Visitor Center - the sheer cliffs along the ocean reminded me of the cliffs of Dover in England. Western - California and Heerman’s Gulls lounged on the beach while small flocks of Sanderlings ran along the encroaching tides.  As we passed the cow filled barnyards, flocks of Red-winged and bicolored blackbirds congregated and we were lucky to again encounter some Tricolored Blackbirds, which was a life bird earlier in the trip. Next we drove to Lighthouse Point and ultimately finished the day at Chimney Rocks.  

Another pelagic, out of Half Moon Bay, with Shearwater Journeys was next on the agenda. New on this trip were ABA birds South Polar Skua , Wandering Tattler on the jetty rocks near the dock, and a small flock of Marbled Murrelets. We got better looks at the Cassin’s Auklet, Rhinocerous Auklet, Tufted Puffin and Pink-Footed Shearwater. We also met John Vanderpoel who was doing a Big Year , but would ultimately come up just short at 744 ABA birds. 

We ended this long day as we met Diana’s  former Nokia colleague Deepika Chauhan for dinner in Palo Alto.

For our last day we made our way to Big Sur to search for California Condor and we spotted 2 at mile marker 54 just across from the Point Sur Lighthouse on Rt 1 just south of Carmel.  These gorgeous birds soared with their long fingers extending and their tails tilting for steering in the wind. We proceeded further south on to Andrew Molera State Park where we did a 2.5 mile walk thru a campsite and to the beach. Along the way we had Townsend’s, Orange-crowned and Wilson’s Warblers, Brown Creepers, Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Stellars Jays and a Black Phoebe. The next stop was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park where we walked to a view of a waterfall that dumped onto the beach. We did have time for one final stop at Los Lobos State Park. and did a short walk along the edge of the upper cove and enjoyed some beautiful views of the rocky, cliffed coastline. Many cormorants and seals were perched on the rocks below as a Peregrine Falcon quickly zipped by us as we were scanning the coastline.

With that behind us it was now off to the airport for our return to Massachusetts where Mocha was anxiously waiting for us!

2011 Trips   California Photos