Moss Landing

On Friday December 30th my wife, son and I went to Moss Landing. We used our usual plan, starting at the State Wildlife Area where we were greeted by a friendly Long-billed Curlew. We saw the expected birds - Brown Pelicans, Willet, gulls etc. as well as a Harbor Seal and several Sea Otters.

Long-billed Curlew

We then drove across the busy highway to Moss Landing State Beach where an immediate find was a state mammal - a pocket gopher. The water was quite high but Marbled Godwits few in the vegetation and the White-tailed Kites were in their usual tree. A Pelagic Cormorant was a bit of a surpise.

Botta's Pocket Gopher

We then took a path through the dunes and walked along the beach where we found several Snowy Plover as well as Willets and Sanderlings along the waterline. A few Surf Scoter were in the water.

Snowy Plover

Sanderlings and Willet

We then walked back along the road. The harbor area had both Common Loon and Pacific Loon and we saw one California Sea Lion (but could hear many more). A group of Heerman's Gulls were on one rock; Brwon Pelicans on another.

Mormon Lake CBC

On Saturday December 17th I did my traditional route on the Mormon Lake CBC along with Troy, Kathryn and Jeff. There had been no snow to speak of prior to the count and we arrived at the Upper Lake Mary Dam to see open water. So we knew immediately that things would be different to recent years.

The walk across the dam yielded Ruddy Duck, Mallard and a Western Grebe on the water - the latter being seen on the count for just the second time. A flyover Bald Eagle was expected, but our first passerine was a Townsend's Solitaire and we also saw a perched Red-tailed Hawk. Our seventh and eight species of the day were, often the first two seen, Common Raven and Dark-eyed Junco.

Sadly this great start did not continue and the trek out to Vail Lake and back yielded little but the expected forest birds. A group of 43 Mountain Bluebirds being the only thing of note.

Meeting at the Lodge for lunch we found that Ashurst Lake was also open and although duck numbers were small there were several species as well as unexpected Ring-billed Gulls on the water. The Mormon Lake fire station area gave two new birds for the count - American Avocet and a Common Loon, and a group of us stopped to see the loon on the way back.

The count had 49 species of which I saw 28.

Flagstaff Golf Course

Turning into the Flagstaff Athletic Club on Tuesday December 6th I saw a white goose among a group of Canada Geese flying overhead. I looked for the bird after my swim on Thursday 8th and found Tom, Jason and Ron with their scopes looking at birds on the driving range. They were looking at a Cackling Goose and a California Gull and said that they had earlier seen 2 Snow Geese and 6 White-fronted Geese.

A week later on Thursday December 15th posts indicated that there were now 4 Snow Geese and 1 Ross's Goose on the fairway opposite the Club, and late in the day my son and I went out but could only find 2 Snow Geese! But I went out in the rain on Friday 16th and found the Ross's Goose, reaching my 500 species target for the year!

Cottonwood and Sedona

On Saturday December 10th I decided to go down to Cottonwood and Sedona to hit a couple of spots to try to reach 500 species in 2016, including 300 in North America.

I had looked on eBird for some likely spots and my son and I went to Ogden Ranch Road hoping for sparrows. Alas the only such species found were White-crowneds. However we got lucky with a Prairie Falcon harassing a raven overhead. The falcon took we one nearer to my targets.

Further stops at Chuckwalla Road and in a Sedona Neighborhood failed to deliver hoped-for White-winged Dove or Canyon Towhee.

On Wednesday December 14th Barbara and I spent 4 hours in Sedona on the CBC where we saw many expected species, but again no Canyon Towhee

Vancouver, day three

On Saturday November 26th I started the day with another visit to the Lost Lagoon, seeing many of the species from the day before but also a Pacific Wren and a River Otter! Although it was drizzling I went a little further than the previous day and made it to Second Beach where the water held Bufflehead, both Common and Barrow's Goldeneye, a solitary Surf Scoter and my target: a Harlequin Duck. This was the first one I had seen since a wintering bird in San Diego around 1990. I then returned to the hotel.

Harlequin Duck

We spent the morning driving around Stanley Park in the rain adding a number of birds to the trip list including Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Horned Grebe and Wood Ducks.

Our last stop was to Jericho Park where a group of 8 White-winged Scoters added the eleventh and final year bird to my trip list

Vancouver, day two

I was up and about early on Friday for a visit to the Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park where I stayed for about an hour. This was a successful trip for my target birds starting with a small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets immediately when I reached the lake. I then began walking anticlockwise around the lake and had 5 Cackling Geese and 7 Hooded Mergansers just as I started off.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hooded Merganser

Soon after I ran into a flock of Black-capped Chickadees, and in the same place, a Fox Sparrow. I returned to our hotel at 9:00.

After wandering around Canada Place, where there were 1500 Surf Scoter but no other sea ducks among them, and Gastown we took the ferry across to North Vancouver where 100 Barrow's Goldeneye - the most I had ever seen in one place - were just off Lonsdale Quay.

Vancouver, day one

On Thursday November 24th I flew to Vancouver, British Columbia to meet up with my wife and son. While waiting for them at the airport I saw the two expected year birds - Northwestern Crow and Glaucous-winged Gull.

Together, we drove to the nearby Iona Island and found a large flock of Snow Geese in and around a parking lot! We then walked a short way onto the south jetty where we saw few birds including a cooperative Northern Shrike. The only ducks in the water were a few Bufflehead. Three Lincoln Sparrows were in the bushes as we walked back to the car.

Northern Shrike

At a stop along the road we saw three Hooded Mergansers, but the highlight of the day was a Short-eared Owl - an ABA bird for me, and the first I had seen since I had one in Rainham in 1982! This was being harassed by a crow forcing it to fly
high in the sky.

Hooded Merganser (female)

My wife and son had seen Trumpeter Swans and Brant on their drive from Seattle to Vancouver. These were hoped-for year birds for me, but alas I did not see these on my trip.

Trumpeter Swans