Irish Bird Images

Our trip started on Saturday 29th July with a direct flight from Dublin to Los Angeles, ten and a half hours later we arrived in LA with a time difference of eight hours behind Irish time, we collected our pre-booked hired car at the Airport which cost circa € 420 for 15 days for a Toyota Camry ( a large car with all the added comforts is a necessity with the volume of mileage one seems to cover in the US) and we overnight in LA with a family relative.

Sun. 30th July commenced our Southern California-Arizona birding, enroute highway 10 east to Palm Springs our first stop-off was San Jacinto Wildlife Area and our first experience of Roadrunner and good general birding, continued onto Palm Springs & Desert and Joshua Tree Nat. Park covering trails from south (Cottonwood Springs) to northern exit route 62 at Twentynine Palms. One hour before dark (circa 7pm) numbers of Lesser Nighthawks were plentiful and a great way to end our 1st day. Next day we drove to Arizona's Grand Canyon crossing the Colorado River at Parker Dam and stayed two nights (pre-booked) in Grand Canyon Nat. Park, this spectacular wonder of the world was made more delightful with amazing views of three Californian Condors including views of an untagged juvenile of 18 months, born in the wild and enjoying its new backyard! Wed. 2nd Aug brought us back to LA via the historical route 66 just for the fun of it! Thurs. 3rd Aug we day- tripped to Ventura to bird the Harbour, Santa Clara River Estuary & sewage ponds excellent birding on low tide for gulls, terns and shorebirds, the quantity and variety of birding to be done in a 1 - 2 mile stretch of shoreline left us mesmorized.

Fri. 4th Aug. Began our second leg and Northern California birding , starting with Lake Isabella & Kern River Preserve and last stop of the day Mammoth Lakes. Next day near the eastward side of the Nevada border it was the one and only Mono Lake this famous highly salty and alkaline lake is famed as a crucial stopover for migrants in summer and autumn. The highlight in summer is the tens of thousands of Wilson's Phalaropes with numbers reaching 150,000 and smaller numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes which feed on the flies and their larvae to double their bodyweight before they continue their journey to Ecuador. Surrounding Sierra Nevada birding sites proved excellent for woodland mountain birding. Sun. 6th Aug brought us into Yosemite National Park covering trails from east Tioga Pass to west route 120 brilliant for mountain birding covering species e.g. Clark's Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Western Tananger, Black-headed & Pine Grosbeaks, Dark-Eyed Junco & Goshawk just to name a few. Monday still in the park an early morning drive up Glacier Point Road proved successful for Band-tailed Pigeon, American Dipper, Pine Grosbeaks meadow birding for warblers and flycatchers and at Glacier Point not only was the view break-taking but we stumbled on a Blue Grouse. Later that day we drove to San Francisco for a two day break, in between the ferry crossings on the bay and city tour local birding included Golden Gate State Park & Bolinas Lagoon.

Wed. 9th Aug. Commenced our southbound drive along the coast, birding Moss Landing Wildlife Reserves and National Slough Elkhorn Reserve and Marina. Early on Thursday morning a return to National Slough Elkhorn Reserve for a 2 mile trial was excellent for mudflat birding and warblers e.g. Wilson's, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped warblers also Acorn Woodpeckers and Chestnut-backed Chickadees common here. We continued our drive south to Monterey Bay to prepare for our pelagic next day.

Fri. 11th Shearwater Journeys Monterey Bay Pelagic 7.30am - 3pm was a success with seabirds and our sea legs alike, 28 miles from land and the start of the season for seawatching off California included excellent views of Black-footed Albratosses feeding up for their young back on the nests in Hawaii (a two week round trip for them), also Sooty, Pink-Footed & Buller's Shearwaters, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Parasitic & Pomarine Jaegers, Rhinoceros Auklet other highlights included three species of dolphin, Hump-backed Whale and a report of an Ocra (killer) Whale. Many thanks to Debi Shearwater, Jennifer and all the crew for organising the day and the effort they made to get all birders onto the target bird/mammal at any given moment. Next day early morning birding Morro Rock & Bay good for Western Grebes, Surf Scoter & Loons and return to LA for our return flight the next day and a final farewell and thanks to our Irish - American relatives.

Useful guides and references: The North American Bird Guide by David Sibley, National Geographic Guide to Birdwatching Sites Western US by Mel White, Aba/lane Birdfinding Guide to Southern California and a good roadmap although road signage is pretty good in comparison to Ireland.

Most of our accommodation was not pre-booked as we wanted to be flexible with our traveling and birding and got accommodation at the end of the day (with the exception of Grand Canyon & Monterey Bay only because we had fixed dates for same) and accommodation was relatively plentiful mid-week but week-end are busier in the holiday season and we would recommend pre-booking for popular sites.

We hope you enjoy the images as much as we have enjoyed the experience and pleasure this memorable trip has given us both.