The schedule for this month’s trip to
California didn’t come together very well, and I ended up with some spare time
in the middle of the trip. But that
meant that I had a vacation day available for birding while in California – not
a bad silver lining all things considered.
There were a couple statebird possibilities to aim for in the area –
Black-throated Green Warbler near San Luis Obispo, and Northern Parula in Santa
Cruz. And even after committing some
time to chase after both of them, I’d likely still have some additional birding
time available. So I planned to bird Pt.
Pinos on the Monterey Peninsula. I
birded this area once before at least a couple decades ago and really enjoyed
it, so I was looking forward to getting back there.
On the day before my vacation day my meetings
ended a bit early, giving me just barely enough time to try for the
Black-throated Green before dusk. So I
changed my plans a bit, and instead of heading to the hotel, I headed to the
Oceano Campground at the Pismo State Beach where the bird had been seen for
several days. Several e-bird posts
included an explicit location where the bird was being seen (which is not often
the case). I arrived just a bit before
sunset, parked at the edge of the campground, and took the 5 minute walk to “the”
spot for this bird – described as willows over the water at the northern tip of
the lagoon. Along the way I heard numerous
“Audubon’s” Warblers, so I wondered how I would pick out one wayward eastern warbler
among flocks of these common birds. Within
seconds of arriving at the northern end of the lagoon I saw a bit of movement
in the willows. Although the bird was
back in the trees a bit, I quickly saw glimpses of yellow on the bird, and soon
it popped into the open – it was the Black-throated Green Warbler. It was literally the first bird I saw and it
took less than 30 seconds to find it!
They should all be that easy.
Black-throated Green Warbler was #371 for
me in CA. And CA is my first state for
this eastern species as a rarity (see my statebird map below).
I spent a little more time in the park and
found good numbers of Audubon’s and Townsend’s Warblers, and a couple
Chestnut-backed Chickadees in the woods.
And had a couple minutes to get to a beach area in the park and saw the Ross’
Goose stakeout among the numerous Western and California Gulls, Coots, and Mallards
looking for handouts.
That evening, as I was reviewing my plans for
the next day to try for the Parula and to bird Pt. Pinos, I checked that day’s California
e-bird rarity report. The list included
a Falcated Duck at Colusa NWR. This bird
had been reported there a couple weeks earlier, but with no recent reports, I
had written it off. This is undoubtedly
the same bird that spent the winter of 2011-2012 at Colusa NWR, and was reliably
seen from an observation platform every day for 3 months. That is except for 2 days – 1 of which was
the day I spent there looking for the bird.
So even though it would mean a long 5-hour drive, I instantly changed my
plans to go to Colusa.
Unfortunately this trip to Colusa NWR was
more frustrating than my 2012 trip there.
Not only did I not see the bird despite standing in a cold rain for 5
hours, but another birder there saw the bird 3 times while I was there. Twice while he was standing right next to
me. I’m jinxed…
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