Sunday, June 19, 2011

California/Arizona, Feb 2011 - Day Ten

Our last morning in California, we decided to get up early (what a surprise!) and drive across the city to Huntington Park where some Spotted Doves had been seen recently. The traffic was pretty bad and the neighbourhoods sketchy but we eventually made it to the park, where we found about 15 Spotted Doves within a 2-minute walk from the van! Well, that was easy.

Spotted Dove

We then got out of there and headed to the airport after a quick breakfast to dump the rental car and catch our flights. It was a pretty amazing trip, not just for the birds either! Great times were had despite the lack of sleep and food at times, and the amount of time we spent sitting in the van. We ended up putting 5000km on the rental van, something that the rental company probably wasn't too happy with! Considering we only had eight full days down there that's quite a bit of driving but it was well worth it as we ended up with 260 species! Pretty good for a short trip in February eh? 210 of these were in California and 135 in Arizona.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the report even if it was a little late and spread out! I'll post some stuff about what I've been up to since early May next weekend - don't have a lot of internet access at work.

Here's the trip list, lifers for me (15) are in bold:

Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Scaled Quail
California Quail
Gambel's Quail
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon
Clapper Rail
Sora
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Snowy Plover
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Spotted Sandpiper
Wandering Tattler
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Surfbird
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Yellow-footed Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Xantus's Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet
Cassin's Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Spotted Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Owl
Western Screech-Owl
Whiskered Screech-Owl
Burrowing Owl
Short-eared Owl
Common Poorwill
White-throated Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Arizona Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Gray Flycatcher
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Cassin's Kingbird
Thick-billed Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Plumbeous Vireo
Cassin's Vireo
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Island Scrub-Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Mexican Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Chihuahuan Raven
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Mountain Chickadee
Mexican Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bridled Titmouse
Oak Titmouse
Juniper Titmouse
Verdin
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Cactus Wren
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Pacific Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Wrentit
Northern Mockingbird
Bendire's Thrasher
Curve-billed Thrasher
California Thrasher
Crissal Thrasher
Le Conte's Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Phainopepla
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Pine Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hepatic Tanager
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Canyon Towhee
California Towhee
Abert's Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Yellow-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Number of Species: 260

2 comments:

ljb said...

Wow, bud ... great trip report and amazing variety of photos. Where to next?

dwaynejava said...

David, great meeting you in Hammilton. This last posting was amazing... the list is jaw-dropping. Great blog as well! -Dwayne