September 15-24, 2026 with Micah Riegner
This cross-section of California took us from the deep waters of the continental shelf, through the coastal Redwoods, across the Central Valley and to the high Sierra Nevadas. Our birding began in the Bay Area where our first stop was Byxbee Park at the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve. Here, after much searching, we found a San Francisco Bay Ridgway’s Rail out on one of the muddy channels. In the trailside vegetation were Orange-crowned Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and a super close Chestnut-backed Chickadee. There were good numbers of shorebirds on the mudflats including Long-billed Dowitchers, Least and Western Sandpipers, Marbled Godwits and Long-billed Curlews. We experienced some Bay Area traffic on our way to the Spreckles Avenue ponds and where relieved to get out of the van and enjoy more shorebirds. Both Vaux’s and White-throated Swifts were swarming overhead. A migrant Nashville Warbler was a neat surprise too. We had lunch in Cupertino, then stopped at McLellan Ranch Preserve where Pygmy Nuthatches were coming to the feeders along with Bewick’s Wrens, and Oak Titmice. We crossed over the hills to Half Moon Bay, checked into our hotel, then spent the late afternoon out a Pillar Point watching Wandering Tattlers, Black Turnstones and Black Oystercatchers out on the rocks. In the harbor were Surf Scoters and Red-throated Loons. A pair of Wrentits appeared at close range in the parking lot—the best views I’ve ever had. Before heading to dinner, we stopped at the Clipper Ridge trail where a pair of California Thrashers sang from some close bushes while Townsend’s Warblers foraged nearby.
For our pelagic trip we linked up with Chris’s group, who had just returned from their time in the Sierras. We had an early breakfast, then met Alvaro and his team of spotters. As we left the harbor we saw the resident Northern Gannet sitting on the rocks—apparently, it’s been around for almost a decade. We cruised further offshore seeing droves of Sooty, and Pink-footed Shearwaters with a few smaller, Black-Vented Shearwaters mixed in. Alvaro spotted a Buller’s Shearwater that was resting on the water. Perhaps something was wrong with it. As we neared the continental shelf, our first Storm-Petels appeared. Black Storm-Petrels were the most common followed by Ashy and we saw a couple of Wilson’s (a lifer for me!). At one point we came across a pod of Humpbacks feeding alongside a Fin Whale. Lots of birds were swarming including a couple of Pomarine Jaegers (we had seen several Parasitic up to that point) and a Black-footed Albatross. On our way back to shore the skies opened and we had great light on the Sooty Shearwaters streaming by. As we neared land, we flushed a pair of Craveri’s Murrelets, which darted away, never to be seen again.
The day after our pelagic day, we joined Chris’s group again for a terrestrial day south of Half Moon Bay. We left before light and drove down to Pinnacles National Park arriving in time to see California Condors roosting on the ridgetop—they were pretty darn far away but we could see that they were at least twice the size of the neighboring vultures. We watched for about an hour and a couple took off, then they looped back to the roosting tree. Lawrence’s Goldfinch and California Quail were around too. After Pinnacles we drove up to La Gloria Road and saw Bell’s Sparrow along with another Wrentit and a Hutton’s Vireo. We stopped for Yellow-billed Magpies along the drive out. From there, we tried to reach Moonglow Dairy to see Tricolored Blackbird, but access was blocked off due to a fire. We rerouted and had lunch in Moss Landing, then continued up the coast, making various stops in Santa Cruz, then northward towards Pescadero where we had a big flock of Red-winged and Tricolored Blackbirds in some fields along the road. We scanned Pescadero and saw Pelagic Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones and Wandering Tatler.
From Half Moon Bay we headed inland across the Central Valley but beforehand we visited Tunitas Creek where we came very close to seeing a Northern Pygmy-Owl. Unfortunately it just wouldn’t move from its thicket of willows. Lots of birds were mobbing it including a Sooty Fox Sparrow, but the owl just wouldn’t budge. We then stopped at the Purisima Redwoods where we saw huge numbers of Townsend’s Warblers, Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets in some of the tallest trees on Earth so you can imagine how small they appeared. Before leaving Half Moon Bay, we stopped at the beach to scan for Snowy Plovers, but there were lots of people out walking around and no plovers. We then headed across the Central Valley with a lunch break in Livermore. We continued east, stopping at the Ripon WTP where we saw Nuttal’s Woodpecker and a small Cooper’s Hawk circling over us. We drove on for the rest of the afternoon, stopping briefly to see Lewis’s Woodpeckers before reaching the town of Sonora. Kathy spotted a Barn Owl in the nest box behind our rooms, which was a neat surprise!
Our visit to Calaveras Big Trees this year was above average. We walked the loop trail through the Giant Sequoias (those Sugar Pines are big too!) where we saw woodpeckers of all sorts including White-headed, Hairy, Northern Flicker and best of all, a pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers. The real surprise, however, was a covey of Mountain Quail that were quite close. They emerged from the bushes and took off after seeing us. Hermit Thrushes, Townsend’s Solitaires and MacGillivray’s Warblers were also along the trail. We had lunch nearby, then we drove down the Spicer Reservoir Road where we saw a Merlin, Evening Grosbeak and Red-breasted Sapsuckers. We checked Bear Valley Ski Area, which was pretty darn quiet, then drove over to Lake Alpine and saw a pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers, a fantastic way to end the day.
The day we crossed over the Sierras we stopped first at Cascade Campground where we spent about an hour watching Clark’s Nutcrackers, White-headed Woodpeckers and eventually, a Northern Pygmy-Owl that was calling from one of the super tall trees. Thick-billed Fox Sparrows were scratching around on the road. From the campground we drove on to Donnell Vista then onward towards Sonora Pass with a stop for American Dipper along the way. At Sonora Pass we saw Red Crossbills and Pine Siskin—both were new for the trip. We had lunch in Bridgeport then scanned the Bridgeport Reservoir where there were Clark’s and Western Grebes, White-faced Ibis on the mudflats and a flock of Least Sandpipers. We then checked into our hotel in Lee Vining and in the late afternoon we drove up Lundy Canyon, which was cold and windy.
The next morning, we visited South Tufa of Mono Lake and had fun exploring the lakeshore and adjacent sage country. There were thousands of Eared Grebes on the water and numerous Brewer’s Blackbirds warming up on the tufa towers. In the sage country, we saw Sagebrush Sparrows, some flyover Pinyon Jay’s and best of all, a Prairie Falcon, which we followed along the road. At one point it veered off and landed on a distant hillside, then it took off and shot right overhead on its way to the lake. We had an enormous breakfast back in town, then we birded Crawley Lake where we saw Sage Thrashers, Vesper and Savanna Sparrows, and a line of Tree Swallows on the fence wires. We had a mid-day break, then left for Bodie. After our history tour with Lee, we scoured the hillsides for sage-grouse. In doing so we turned up a Badger that was hiding out in the bushes. We would have totally glazed by it were it not for my thermal scope!
Before our long drive back to the coast, we birded Log Cabin Mine Road above Lee Vining where we had a close encounter with a Northern Pygmy-Owl getting mobbed by Yellow-rumped Warblers. We had breakfast, then drove all the way crossed the Sierras and the Central Valley to catch the last rays of sun at Coyote Point where we saw Forster’s Terns and a close Long-billed Curlew, our last birds of the trip. I’d like to thank Caroline in our office for setting everything up for us and you all for joining me in California. I look forward to our next Field Guides adventure!
Mammals
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus) Common around Lee Vining.
Long-eared Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrimaculatus) These were the chipmunks at Calaveras Big Trees.
California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)
Common Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) Seen along the road at Sonora Pass.
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)
Douglas's Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii) Abundant especially at Calaveras Big Trees.
American Badger (Taxidea taxus) What a surprise! We were scanning for sage-grouse when we found one of these instead, honestly, a much rarer find!
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) We had an incredible time watching them feed during our pelagic trip.
Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
Coyote (Canis latrans) Seen near South Tufa, Mono Lake.
California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) Seen during the pelagic trip.
Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) Out on the rocks at Pescadero.
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) The common deer we encountered throughout the trip.
Fish
Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) We saw the tip of the dorsal and pectoral fins poking out of the water.
Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) We saw a few on our pelagic trip.
Reptiles
Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer) We saw one crossing the road at Crawley Lake.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/575902
Micah