some birding in San Diego

In some recent email with Rick Nirschl, he inquired, regarding my recent vacation (Jan 9) to San Diego and my mentioning a somewhat-unexpected lifer Red-throated Pipit and CA list Orchard Oriole, if I was doing any trip report...?

Well, this trip that I've taken back to my 'old stomping grounds' (1988 to 1994) almost every January for the past 10 years, is not really a 'birding trip', although I always do a fair amount of rather casual birding.  I was going to email Rick back and comment on this, but shrugged my shoulders, and thought why not write something up anyway?  So - here is a report, on a couple of days of the trip:

The first full day of the visit: I was bumming around Pacific Beach, thought of the posting I'd seen on SDBirds of the pipit, and thought 'what the heck'?  A 20-minute drive down to Imperial Beach, and almost immediately I run into an old birding buddy (and expert local birder), Claude Edwards!  He had looked for the pipit in the past several days, without success.  The R-T Pipit was often seen in a flock (of varying size) of American Pipits, which moved amongst at least two or three different spots in the area.  No pipits were around the usual 'main' spot, and Claude then led me down the street a short ways, to a flowering tree hosting several orioles.  First, an out-of-season Bullock's Oriole is seen, and about 10 minutes later, a vagrant female Orchard Oriole appears (an addition to my CA list!).

The rest of the afternoon is spent moving between two of the pipit spots, and finally some pipits are found, but no Red-throated yet...  Claude eventually leaves, but I stay for about an hour longer.  I come across the adult male Vermilion Flycatcher that was being seen (VERY nice!) at the second spot, and at 4:10 am about to call it quits - I would not likely return later in the week (Red-throated's were reported from time to time back when I lived here - they seemed to me to be generally an uncooperative and unreliable vagrant to try to chase...)

but I decide to try the first spot one last time before I depart, and - BINGO!  A Red-throated Pipit is mixed in with about 20 Americans in the schoolyard lawn, and the light was PERFECT for great looks in the scope.  A first-winter bird - heavily streaked above and below.  (I understand this to be a first winter record for the ABA area for Red-throated Pipit)

Now on to Monday.  I was rarely a 'day lister' when I lived out here - but now, since I've moved back east, and have discovered what a BLAST it is...  I decided to have a little fun, and do a 'sort-of' Big Day.  I picked a manageably-sized area with a good variety of habitat - this area (about 14 miles from the coast) included Lake Murray Park and much of Mission Trails Regional Park.  I would go out from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and see how many species I could find within the bounds of this area.  My estimate?  I think 70 is 'doable' but would not be easy.

I started out at Lake Murray.  As Becky Cullen once mentioned in a TNA newsletter, most of the ducks we get here are the same ones they get out there (although the coastal spots have greater numbers and variety).  I recorded Mallard, Gadwall, L Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy, and Eared Grebe...  and Wood Duck (used to be a rare find in SD County, but increasing in recent years).

Audubon's Warblers, Anna's Hummingbirds, White-crowned Sparrows, and Black Phoebes are common to abundant.  A Western Bluebird is seen briefly on a telephone wire.  The chaparral near the lake seems a bit slow, but Bewick's Wren, California Gnatcatcher, and some Bushtits are welcome additions.  An Osprey is patrolling the lake, and Lesser Goldfinches and Great-tailed Grackles are back at the parking lot.

Now on to Mission Trails Park.  I do some of the Cowle's Mountain hillside, and add needed species like Wrentit and California Thrasher - and a VERY nice find, the first Rufous-crowned Sparrow I've seen in a long time!   :-)

And now, on to the San Diego River Canyon / Mission Dam area of the park.  There is plenty of water flowing, but birds are rather scarce.  One by one, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Scrub Jay, Red-shouldered Hawk, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Cassin's Kingbird, Red-shafted Flicker, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Common Raven are slowly added to the list.  At one point I hear a familiar call note in the trees, and soon a Hutton's Vireo is revealed.  A nice male Phainopepla is found near the far parking lot.  It is about 2:00, and my list stands at 57 - I am running out of species, and 70 is starting to look out of reach...

but then, a rally - old Hollins Lake (a large cattail pond, actually) have Shovelers and Moorhen.  A few Red-winged Blackbirds fly out of the marsh (R-Ws are harder to get out here than Brewer's).  A couple of Downy Woodpeckers are in the trees here (also a hard bird to find in SD County).  A Kestrel is in the open field area.  And back out toward the campground parking lot, (local knowledge is starting to pay off...), I'm able to turn up the American Goldfinches and Cedar Waxwings I expected    :-)    But where was the White-tailed Kite?  as I headed out of the area in my car - what's that raptor out across the river soaring over the fields?  It's the KITE!  A very striking bird, even from such a distance.  8 species in about 12 minutes - nice!

What birds do I still need?  A Say's Phoebe is still missing!  I need to find a schoolyard around somewhere...  and I do, and I get the phoebe - 66.  I have almost 1 hour left, and what to do?  Head back to Lake Murray, and try for any birds that might be found that weren't found this morning.  The light on the gulls is good - and most of them seem to be California!  I could not find one mixed in with the Westerns and Ring-billed's earlier...?!  I think they feed elsewhere earlier in the day...  and then a familiar sound from nearby - a few Killdeer fly around the shoreline near me.  The first shorebird on the day, and the final species on the day.

So I came up a bit short of 70, at 68 species - but it was a lot of fun!  and put a new perspective on some of my old favorite birding spots.  and just casual birding for the rest of the trip resulted in 143 species on the week.  If you've bothered to read this far, hope you enjoyed this little report from the southwest corner of the US.