*          *          *



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MBWEEK SUMMARY

April 22 - May 1, 2017


Well, I do have to admit I had doubts during the first few days of this MBWeek that it would turn out better than our January California trips – but after a few more days it became obvious that my initial impression was misguided. Although this trip had never been on the MBW schedule before, and though I had never birded California in spring or visited several of the places on the itinerary, we managed to come up with an impressive list of birds.


In all, we had a respectable total of 221 species (plus one non-countable "white starling"), with an even 100 of these "non-Minnesota" species. By comparison, our January MBWeeks average just under 200 – indeed, note on the list below how many species are marked with an asterisk as being rarer or absent in January. Noteworthy as well is at least five of the birds we saw are strong candidates as future splits: i.e., Willet, Warbling Vireo, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, and Yellow-rumped Warbler – along with some of those Santa Cruz Island endemic subspecies.  


With so many birds on our list, it's a challenge to narrow these down into a summary of our most significant highlights. But one place to start is to mention the White Wagtail and Island Scrub-Jay. The wagtail is only Accidental in California, and we were fortunate enough to be in town on the day it showed up on the low-tide mudflats in the San Diego River. On the other hand, the endemic scrub-jay is typically not much of a challenge to find on Santa Cruz Island. But what both have in common is that they represented new additions my life list (at best, I now only manage to see one lifer every year or two), and more significantly they were new additions to the composite MBW list: #707 and 708.


Especially memorable as well was the day we left San Diego when we spent the morning along Kitchen Creek and then visited Jacumba and Fig Lagoon. Our morning highlights included heard-only Mountain Quail (always difficult to see in spring), nice views of a close Gray Vireo, and our best looks at Rufous-crowned and Black-chinned sparrows. Next, in the odd little community of Jacumba, we studied its colony of nesting Tricolored Blackbirds and were surprised by a migrant Hermit Warbler. And we finished the day at Fig Lagoon where a quite unexpected assortment of water birds appeared: a group of 200+ Brant, 21 Common Loons, a Red-throated Loon, and Red-breasted Merganser (all unusual this far from the coast); and as bonuses there were both Clark's and Western grebes, Neotropic Cormorants (rare in CA), and a Least Bittern.


The best highlight in and around the Salton Sea had to be the sub-adult Yellow-footed Gull we finally tracked down between Obsidean Butte and NWR headquarters. This species is hardly ever seen in the U.S. away from the Salton Sea, it is especially elusive in winter and spring, and we were almost distracted at the time by Lesser Nighthawks and Red Knots. We also found a nice assortment of migrants and other birds at the cemetery in Brawley, a Barn Owl roosting in a palm (Guy McCaskie, dean of California birders, found it for us), an abundance of Burrowing Owls, and I was impressed – even if no one else was! – by the tallest flagpole in the Western Hemisphere in below-sea-level Calipatria.


As we headed back west to the Pacific Coast, there was time for more productive birding stops during the next few days. Especially good was Yucca Valley and vicinity, where LeConte's Thrasher was surprisingly easy to find, and where we turned up Lawrence's Goldfinch and Scott's Oriole. Farther west in the San Gabriel Mountains was the Table Mountain-Grassy Hollow area where White-headed Woodpeckers, a Red-breasted Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, a partial albino Western Bluebird, and Cassin's Finches were all unexpectedly cooperative – indeed, all but that odd bluebird could be seen simultaneously!


Of course, our boat trip to Santa Cruz Island highlighted our coastal birding at the end of the MBWeek. Not only was the Island Scrub-Jay (found nowhere else in the world) waiting for us, but we also saw 8 of the 11 subspecies endemic to the island (see list below). And en route to or from the island were four species of alcid (especially Scripps's Murrelet) and three shearwaters (especially the Black-vented).    


You might think that there couldn't be much to add to all the highlights listed in the paragraphs above, but this summary of memorable birds would certainly be incomplete if it ended here. Especially noteworthy as well were: our luck with being at the right place at the right time as a California Condor drifted overhead by the Los Padres National Forest sign; the pair of California Gnatcatchers in an unremarkable patch of San Diego scrub; Yellow-billed Magpies found more easily than expected at a few sites between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara; the other California specialties such as Ridgway's Rail, Wrentit, California's Scrub-Jay and Thrasher and Towhee, and Bell's Sparrow – and even those Scaly-breasted Munias at Tecolote and Lake Los Carneros deserve honorable mention.  


Itinerary


April 22. Arrival in San Diego by 3:30pm; Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Robb Field/San Diego River; first of 2 nights in Chula Vista.


April 23. La Jolla, Torrey Pines State Reserve, return to Robb Field (for the wagtail), Malcom X library gnatcatcher patch, Fashion Valley Mall area, Tecolote Nature Center, J Street and 7th Street mudflats, and Tijuana Estuary NWR.


April 24. Kitchen Creek Road/Pacific Crest Trail/Cibbets Flat, Jacumba, and Fig Lagoon; first of 2 nights in El Centro.


April 25. Carter & Fites Rds thrasher spot (allegedly), Cattle Call Park, Willard St hummingbirds, Brawley cemetery, and Salton Sea (Poe/Vendel Rds, Sonny Bono NWR HQ, Obsidean Butte, the Seawall).


April 26. Return to Brawley cemetery, the Seawall (via The Flagpole), Obsidean Butte, and NWR HQ; afternoon drive to Yucca Valley via Wister State Area and Salton Sea State Area HQ, and evening thrasher spot on Olympia Rd; night in Yucca Valley.


April 27. Black Rock Canyon campground, Big Morongo Canyon, Mojave Narrows Park, and Table Mountain-Grassy Hollow area; unexpected night in Lancaster.  


April 28. 60th Street & Avenue B sparrow spot, and Hudson Ranch Rd/Mil Potrero Rd/ Mt Piños; night in Santa Maria.  


April 29. Guadalupe Dunes Park, Los Alamos, Alisal and Refugio roads, and Goleta (Goleta Beach, Campus Point, Devereux Slough, Coal Oil Point); first of 2 nights in Santa Barbara.  


April 30. Island Packers boat trip to Santa Cruz Island.


May 1. Final morning at Coronado Drive eucalyptus grove, Lake Los Carneros, and Devereux Slough; afternoon (plus 2 early morning) departures for home.


Bird List


boldfaced species = casual, accidental, or absent in Minnesota

• species marked with an asterisk (*) = generally absent or harder to find in January

• species marked SCI endemic = endemic Santa Cruz Island subspecies


Brant

Canada Goose

(Mute Swan / non-countable exotic)

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Surf Scoter

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck


Mountain Quail * (heard-only)

California Quail

Gambel's Quail


Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Clark's Grebe


Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Common Ground-Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove


Greater Roadrunner


Lesser Nighthawk *


Vaux's Swift *

White-throated Swift *


Black-chinned Hummingbird *

Anna's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird (incl. SCI endemic)


Ridgway's Rail

Virginia Rail (heard-only)

Sora

American Coot


Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet


Black Oystercatcher


Black-bellied Plover

Snowy Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer


Whimbrel

Long-billed Curlew

Marbled Godwit

Black Turnstone (leader-only)

Red Knot

Surfbird

Sanderling

Dunlin

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Snipe

Spotted Sandpiper

Wandering Tattler

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet (potential split)

Wilson's Phalarope *

Red-necked Phalarope *


Common Murre *

Pigeon Guillemot *

Scripps's Murrelet *

Cassin's Auklet *


Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Western Gull

Yellow-footed Gull

California Gull

Herring Gull

Least Tern *

Gull-billed Tern *

Caspian Tern

Common Tern * (leader-only)

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Elegant Tern *

Black Skimmer


Red-throated Loon

Pacific Loon

Common Loon


Sooty Shearwater *

Pink-footed Shearwater *

Black-vented Shearwater


Brandt's Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant


American White Pelican

Brown Pelican


Least Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron


White-faced Ibis


Turkey Vulture

California Condor *


Osprey


White-tailed Kite

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Swainson's Hawk *

Red-tailed Hawk


Barn Owl


Burrowing Owl


Belted Kingfisher


Acorn Woodpecker

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

White-headed Woodpecker

Northern Flicker (incl. SCI endemic)


American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon


Western Wood-Pewee *

Pacific-slope Flycatcher * (incl. SCI endemic)

Black Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher *

Cassin's Kingbird

Western Kingbird *


Loggerhead Shrike


Gray Vireo *

Hutton's Vireo

Cassin's Vireo *

Warbling Vireo * (potential split)


Steller's Jay

Island Scrub-Jay *  

California Scrub-Jay

Yellow-billed Magpie *

American Crow

Common Raven


Horned Lark


Purple Martin *

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow *

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow *

Barn Swallow *


Mountain Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee *

Oak Titmouse


Verdin


Bushtit


White-breasted Nuthatch (potential split)

Pygmy Nuthatch


Rock Wren

House Wren

Marsh Wren (potential split)

Bewick's Wren (incl. SCI endemic)

Cactus Wren


California Gnatcatcher

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher


Golden-crowned Kinglet


Wrentit


Western Bluebird

American Robin


California Thrasher

Le Conte's Thrasher *

Northern Mockingbird


European Starling


Cedar Waxwing


Phainopepla


Scaly-breasted Munia


House Sparrow


White Wagtail *

American Pipit


House Finch (incl. SCI endemic)

Cassin's Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch


Orange-crowned Warbler (incl. SCI endemic)

Nashville Warbler *

Common Yellowthroat (heard-only)

Yellow Warbler *

Yellow-rumped Warbler (potential split)

Black-throated Gray Warbler *

Hermit Warbler *

Wilson's Warbler *

Yellow-breasted Chat *


Spotted Towhee (incl. SCI endemic)

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

California Towhee

Abert's Towhee

Black-chinned Sparrow *

Lark Sparrow

Bell's Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow (incl. SCI endemic)

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco


Western Tanager *

Black-headed Grosbeak *

Blue Grosbeak *

Lazuli Bunting *


Red-winged Blackbird

Trilcolored Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Brewer's Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Bronzed Cowbird *

Brown-headed Cowbird

Hooded Oriole *

Bullock's Oriole *

Scott's Oriole *


Significant Others (a tentative & partial list):  


Coyote

Santa Cruz Island Fox (endemic)

California Ground Squirrel

Round-tailed Ground Squirrel

Rock Squirrel

chipmunk, sp.

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Desert Cottontail

Mule Deer


California Sea Lion

Harbor Seal

Common Dolphin

Gray Whale

Humpback Whale




*          *          *


APRIL CALIFORNIA MBWeeks PHOTO GALLERY


~  Also see the photo gallery on the Winter California MBWeeks page  ~



Santa Cruz Island Fox  ~  Santa Cruz I. (2017; Doug Johnson photo)

Yellow-billed Magpie  ~  Los Alamos County Park (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

Violet-green Swallow  ~  Los Alamos County Park (2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Rock Wren  ~  Kitchen Creek Road (2017; Doug Johnson photo)

California Gnatcatcher  ~  San Eligo Lagoon Nature Center

(2018; Roy Zimmerman photo)

LeConte's Thrasher  ~  near Yucca Valley (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

Tricolored Blackbird  ~  Jacumba (2017; KRE photo)

Band-tailed Pigeon  ~  Grassy Hollow Campground

(2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Scott's Oriole  ~  Black Rock Canyon campground (2017; KRE photo)

Black Skimmer  ~  Robb Field, San Diego River (2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Black-vented Shearwater  ~  passage to Santa Cruz Island

(2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Scripps's Murrelet  ~  passage to Santa Cruz Island

(2017; Dennis Randall photo)

California Condors  ~  Hudson Ranch Road, Los Padres Nat'l Forest

(2018; Jena Highkin photo)

White-headed Woodpecker  ~  Table Mountain (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

Island Scrub-Jay  ~  Santa Cruz Island (2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Pygmy Nuthatch  ~  Table Mountain (2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Lawrence's Goldfinch  ~  Black Rock Canyon campground

(2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Common Dolphins  ~  passage to Santa Cruz Island (2017; Dennis Randall photo)

Lesser Nighthawk  ~  Obsidean Butte (2017; KRE photo)


Talk about perfect timing. We pull up to what they simply call "The Sign" at 10:45, step out of our vans, and at 10:26 a condor drifts into view! And within a couple of minutes a second condor appears, and they both eventually circle low over our heads – probably within 50 feet! It certainly looked as if they were checking us out as much as we were looking at them. True, there were 7 of them reported at this site the previous day earlier in the morning. (Big deal!) And we know little so far about when or where Green #96 and Red #22 were hatched or released: about all we learned is that #96 was hatched on 9 May 2015. (But so what?) All that really matters is that seeing them so closely was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.


But our second April MBWeek in California included several other highlights. After all, we came up with no fewer than 224 species in all: 3 more than last year, and only 3 fewer than VENT's 2017 tour along a similar itinerary – which carries a price tag nearly three times higher than our MBW. (And we probably would have recorded 230 if a certain boat trip hadn't been been canceled.) Of these birds, 100 or so were "non-Minnesota" species, including a long list of California specialties – some of which are seldom seen in other states.


In addition to those condors, these quintessential California birds included: mostly-heard Mountain Quail, several Allen's Hummingbirds, a posing-for-photos Ridgway's Rail, Nuttall's Woodpeckers, California Scrub-Jays, Yellow-billed Magpies (endemic to CA), lots of Oak Titmice/mouses, California Gnatcatchers (especially visible and surprising by San Elijo's nature center), cooperative Wrentits, California and LeConte's (again near Yucca Valley) thrashers, now-countable Scaly-breasted Munias, Lawrence's Goldfinch (more than usual), California Towhees, Bell's Sparrows (again north of Lancaster), and Tricolored Blackbirds.


And there were several other special sightings as well. At the risk of forgetting some of your favorites (I apologize in advance), some of our memorable finds were the staked-out Fulvous Whistling Duck at Goleta's sewage ponds, a Lesser Nighthawk circling over our vans at midday, Vaux's and White-throated swifts, 6 hummingbird species (incl. a male Calliope spotted by Val), 24 shorebird species (especially that concentration of some 200 Red Knots at the Salton Sea!), an unusually close Pelagic Cormorant posing in La Jolla, 2 Western Screech-Owls (incl. 1 spotted by Roy), lots of Burrowing Owls around the Salton Sea, our stop at Table Mt (with White-headed Woodpecker, Clark's Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Cassin's Finch), 11 flycatcher species (incl. Pacific-slope), Violet-green Swallows, 17 sparrow species (incl. Brewer's and Black-chinned), 3 kinds of orioles, nice looks at migrant MacGillivray's Warblers, and more.


[PS – Well at least no one got seasick! Still, the canceled boat trip to Santa Cruz was the leading disappointment of this MBWeek, especially since the trip was made the day before and the day after we were supposed to go. So we not only missed seeing the endemic Island Scrub-Jay (you'll just have to go another time – the jays aren't going anywhere), but also there was a fair-to-good chance of seeing as many as 5 alcids and 3 shearwaters en route to the island.]


Itinerary


April 21 – Arrival at SAN by noon; afternoon at Tecolote Nature Center, San Diego River north jetty, Robb Field mudflats, and Malcolm X Library gnatcatcher-less scrub; dinner at La Quinta and first of 2 nights in San Diego.


April 22 – La Jolla (in time to see their half-marathon and lots of traffic), Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Elijo Reserve & Nature Center, Cabrillo Nat'l Monument, J Street & 7th Street mudflats, and Tijuana Slough; dinner at Black Angus.  


April 23 – Kitchen Creek Rd & Cibbets Flat campground, Jacumba, and Fig Lagoon (when it was 98º in El Centro, 2 degrees shy of the record); dinner at Court Room and first of 2 nights in El Centro.


April 24 – Carter & Fites Rd, Willard St feeders, Cattle Call Park, Sonny Bono NWR Unit One, seawall from Young Rd north, Obsidean Butte, Sonny Bono NWR headquarters, and N end of Garst Rd (it hit 98º again); dinner at Guadalajara.


April 25 – Riverview Cemetery in Brawley, Sonny Bono headquarters & Rock Hill, Salt Creek Beach (99º later that day), Big Morongo Canyon Preserve/Covington Park, and Olympic & Drexel thrasher flats (post-dinner); dinner at Sizzler and night in Yucca Valley.


April 26 – Black Canyon campground, return to Big Morongo Preserve, Oak Glen Preserve, Table Mountain, Grassy Hollow, and Bob's Gap; dinner at Pour D'Vino and night in Lancaster.


April 27 – Apollo Park, 60th St & Avenue B flats, "The Sign" on Hudson Ranch Rd (arrived @10:45; condors @10:26!), Valle Vista campground, Mil Potrero Park, Pine Mountain Club, and Mt Piños road; dinner at Shaw's Restaurant and night in Santa Maria.  


April 28 – Guadalupe Dunes, Los Alamos County Park, Figueroa Mountain Rd (incl a motorcycle rally), Refugio Rd (more bikes), Goleta Slough, and Campus Point; dinner at Adolpho Grill and first of 2 nights in Camarillo.  


April 29 – [Canceled boat trip to Santa Cruz I], Point Mugu Rock & State Park, Round Mt, Ventura Harbor, Devereux Slough, and Coal Oil Point; dinner at Adolpho Grill.


April 30 – Return to Santa Barbara (via some traffic delays) and the Goleta Butterfly Grove, Lake Los Carneros, Goleta sewage ponds, and departure from across the street (i.e., SBA).


Bird List (224 species + 2 "non-countable" exotics)


(boldfaced species = "non-Minnesota" birds; i.e., Casual, Accidental, or absent in MN)                              

Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Goleta sewage ponds)

Brant

Canada Goose

("Bewick's"/Whooper/hybrid swan, sp. – Devereux Slough in Goleta)

Blue-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Duck

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck


Mountain Quail (heard-only along Kitchen Creek Rd and Mil Potrero Park; brief Figueroa Mt

                              Rd fly-bys)

California Quail

Gambel's Quail


Ring-necked Pheasant


Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Clark's Grebe


Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Common Ground-Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove


Greater Roadrunner


Lesser Nighthawk


Vaux's Swift

White-throated Swift


Black-chinned Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird (Big Morongo Canyon Preserve)

Allen's Hummingbird

Calliope Hummingbird (unexpected at Torry Pines Preserve)


Ridgway's Rail (vocal & visible at Tijuana Slough)

Sora (heard-only)

American Coot


Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet


Black-bellied Plover

Snowy Plover (more than usual at Salton Sea)

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer


Whimbrel

Long-billed Curlew

Marbled Godwit

Black Turnstone

Red Knot (~200 of them at Salt Creek Beach!)

Surfbird (San Diego River north jetty)

Sanderling

Dunlin

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

Spotted Sandpiper

Wandering Tattler (La Jolla & Goleta)

Willet

Greater Yellowlegs

Wilson's Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope


(5 possible alcids: missed due to canceled boat trip)


Bonaparte's Gull

Heermann's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Western Gull

California Gull

Herring Gull

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Elegant Tern

Black Skimmer


Red-throated Loon

Pacific Loon

Common Loon


(3 possible shearwaters: missed due to canceled boat trip)


Brandt's Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant (unusually close at La Jolla)


American White Pelican

Brown Pelican


Least Bittern (heard-only)

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (still present at Tijuana Slough)


White-faced Ibis


Turkey Vulture

California Condor (!!)


Osprey


White-tailed Kite (Lake Los Carneros)

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle


Barn Owl (brief view at Big Morongo)


Western Screech-Owl (one seen plus another heard)

Burrowing Owl (especially along Kalin Rd!)


Lewis's Woodpecker (Oak Glen Preserve)

Acorn Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

White-headed Woodpecker (best view at Table Mt)

Northern Flicker


American Kestrel

Merlin

Peregrine Falcon


(Nanday Parakeet – "non-countable" bird at Point Mugu nest)


Olive-sided Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

Hammond's Flycatcher (seen by a few at Cibbets Flat campground)

Pacific-slope Flycatcher (the default Empidonax)

Black Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Cassin's Kingbird

Western Kingbird


Loggerhead Shrike


Bell's Vireo

Hutton's Vireo (Cibbets Flat campground)

Cassin's Vireo (Refugio Rd)

Warbling Vireo


Steller's Jay

(Island Scrub-Jay: missed due to canceled boat trip)

California Scrub-Jay

Clark's Nutcracker (Table Mt)

Yellow-billed Magpie (best views at Los Alamos Park)

American Crow

Common Raven


Horned Lark


Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow (also best at Los Alamos)

N. Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow


Mountain Chickadee

Oak Titmouse


Verdin


Bushtit


Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Pygmy Nuthatch


Rock Wren

Canyon Wren (heard-only)

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Bewick's Wren

Cactus Wren


Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

California Gnatcatcher (San Elijo Reserve & Nature Center)

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher


Ruby-crowned Kinglet


Wrentit (more cooperative than usual)


Western Bluebird

Swainson's Thrush

American Robin


California Thrasher

LeConte's Thrasher (again near Olympic & Drexel)

Northern Mockingbird


European Starling


Phainopepla


Scaly-breasted Munia (again at Tecolote Nature Center)


House Sparrow


House Finch

Purple Finch

Cassin's Finch (best at Table Mt)

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch (more sightings than usual)

American Goldfinch


Spotted Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

California Towhee

Abert's Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow (Salton Sea NWR Unit One)

Black-chinned Sparrow (Kitchen Creek Rd)

Lark Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

Bell's Sparrow (again at 60th Street & Avenue B)

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco


Yellow-breasted Chat


Western Meadowlark

Hooded Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Scott's Oriole (especially Kitchen Creek Rd)

Red-winged Blackbird

Tricolored Blackbird (best views at Jacumba)

Brewer's Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird


Orange-crowned Warbler

Nashville Warbler

MacGillivray's Warbler (almost new for MBW composite list)

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler (incl both Audubon's & Myrtle types)

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler


Summer Tanager

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting (Refugio Rd)



Also see the PHOTO GALLERY following the summaries

of the 2018 and 2017 MBWeeks.


_________



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MBWEEK SUMMARY

APRIL 21 - 30, 2018


  Ridgway's Rail  ~  Tijuana Slough (2018; KRE photo)

  Western Sandpiper  ~  Campus Point (2018; Linda Sparling photo)

  Elegant Terns  ~  San Diego (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   Western Screech-Owl  ~  Refugio Road (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   Acorn Woodpecker (2018; Linda Sparling photo)

   Pacific-slope Flycatcher  ~  Point Mugu State Park (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   Oak Titmouse (2018; Roy Zimmerman photo)

   California Thrasher  ~  Valle Vista campground (2018; KRE photo)

   Wrentit  ~  Point Mugu State Park (2018; KRE photo)

   Brewer's Sparrow  ~  Salton Sea NWR Unit One (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   MacGillivray's Warbler (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   Western Tanager (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

  Allen's Hummingbird (2018; Jena Highkin photo)

   Townsend's Warbler (2018; Roy Zimmerman photo)

KRE photo