Sunday, June 28, 2015
Today would be my last day in Arizona. From my campground, I headed up to Incinerator Ridge on Mount Lemmon. I wasn’t expecting to add much up here, but a few more looks at Arizona mountain birds would be nice. I saw a few good birds here like Grace’s Warbler and loads more Yellow-Eyed Juncos, but I was able to add a Violet-Green Swallow to my list.
#400 Violet-Green Swallow
It was time to head down the mountain and leave Arizona. I think, at this point, I’m done birding Arizona for a while. I’ve gotten pretty much all the needed species with a few exceptions (Gilded Flicker being the biggest need). I think birding another state will now give me better outcomes.
On to California.
Before I left, I did pick up one new mammal, the Harris Antelope Squirrel. They were running back and forth across the highway for a good park of the trip.
First stop in California was the Salton Sea. It’s a good birding spot – when it’s not 109 degrees outside. Holy shit. This sucked. First off, the GPS, when you try to go to the Sonny Bono NWR, leads you to a field with no trespassing signs all around it. Good job! I finally got to the NWR after nearly an hour of wandering around and backtracking my paths. Goal here was one stupid bird, the Yellow-Footed Gull. It was about a half-a-mile hike to get to the gulls. I was drenched with sweat when I got there. My eyes were burning from the salt. It took some looking, but I finally found them as well as a few California Gulls.
#401 Yellow-Footed Gull
#402 California Gull
Time to get out of Dodge.
From here, I headed on in to San Diego. Good birds here. Last year on my trip here I went to La Jolla Cove, where I promptly has a panic attack from how crowded it was. Also, it was a punch in my humility button how unattractive I felt among the SoCal beautiful people. This year. I went again. No panic attack this time thankfully. Did pick up a few birds though.
#403 – Brandt’s Cormorant
#404 – Heerman’s Gull
#405 – Western Gull
I also pick up California Sea Lion and Harbor Seal as well as California Ground Squirrel.
No panic attack here. I’m good. On to the campsite.
I intended to camp at San Onofre State Beach. It’s a little farther north than I would have liked, but campsites in California are hard to come by. Plus this site has showers. I stunk by this point.
I got in just before the last light faded from the sky. I was able to pick up a few more birds.
#406 – California Towhee
#407 – Wrentit
Not too bad of a day to pick up 8 bird species and four mammal species.
Bret's Birding Blog 