San Diego Birding

Here are some of the digiscoping and birding highlights from my last San Diego trip. The San Diego area has some of the most diverse habitat and thus, ample birding opportunities. One of the more common birds in the area is the Western Bluebird, pictured above. I never tire of watching or photographing this species when the chance presents itself.

With the help of some friends, I was able to track down a number of missing species from my bird life list, including the Mountain Plover (above) that we found foraging in agricultural fields near the Salton Sea. Another target bird that we tracked down in the same area is the eye-popping Grey Flycatcher (pictured below). This is a bird that is drab even by Empidonax standards.

The bird pictured above is a California Gnatcatcher. Federally endangered, this species is most easily distinguishable from the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher by the almost entirely black underside of its tail.

California Gnatcatcher, perched on barb wire.

I've got some serious catching up to do here at 600 Birds. Since my last post I've been to Corpus Christi for the American Birding Association convention and shortly after that, I flew to Homer, Alaska for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. After those two trips, I now find myself sitting at 597 birds. Looking ahead to my travels in the fall, I'm wondering where I'm going to find those next 3 birds.

In the meantime, summer is here and I'll be tending to our gardens and hanging out with my kids, who all of a sudden have a lot more free time on their hands. That won't stop me from daydreaming about that Black-billed Cuckoo that I still need to cross paths with.