Birding in Southern California

Jim Rose - November 2003

This website provides details of the species seen, along with many photographs, on a five day birding trip to Southern California, in particular in the San Diego and Salton sea areas. The website has been written by a British birder and therefore gives a perspective which is perhaps of particular interest to non-US birders.  Therefore, I have included as many photographs as possible, including the common species, in order to give an idea of what can be seen in the area over a few days. The quality of the photographs is very variable but please bear in mind that each photograph being obtained during normal birding (using a digiscoping set-up) and only a few minutes were taken when photographing any one species.

Summary
Overall the birding was excellent and the San Diego and Salton Sea areas are renowned as being good places for birding in the winter months. I was pleasantly surprised by the large numbers of birds seen, particularly around the Salton Sea. This is clearly an area which attracts huge numbers of ducks, geese, waders and herons during the winter months, so there was always plenty to look at.   My total species count was 133 which I feel is good for a single birder over five days.  There is no doubt that the species count would have been higher if I had been familiar with the bird calls of the local species, or with more up to date local knowledge.

At times, such as the large numbers of birds flying to roost over Harris Road (11 miles S of Brawley), the birding was breath taking. The weather was also very comfortable for birding, as I understand that the Salton sea area becomes incredibly hot during the summer months. The other surprise was just how few birders I met. I did meet two birders trying to twitch a Black Oystercatcher at Point Loma (which unfortunately had gone), but other than that I only met two other people that expressed any interest in birding, even at the NWR Headquarters! So if you want to have the birds to yourself this is a good place to go.

Itinerary
I was fortunate to attend a conference in San Diego in connection with my work. By taking a few days holiday, I managed to squeeze in a total of five days birding spilt into two parts. A car was essential for birding these sites and a four wheel drive was useful at times.

22nd November - Salton City, Anzo Borrego Desert (Yaqui Well), Cuyamaca Lake, Laguna Mountains. Motel in San Diego, ready for an early start.

Weather
The weather was generally very comfortable (70s), although breezy on the coast and a jacket was required. In the Salton Sea area in was warm and tee-shirt weather although the weather turned colder and very windy on the morning I left. At Lake Cuyamaca in the mountains it was very cold and I could have done with gloves!

If you have any comments or questions relating to this trip report please contact Jim Rose.   In particular any feedback on the two mystery birds would be greatly appreciated.

All photographs are Copyright and should not be reproduced without written permission from Jim Rose.

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