Northbound to Sand-Plover & Half Moon Bay!

Sept 19 

After getting off of the San Diego pelagic, I decided to drive as far north as I could before tiring out, en route to Bakersfield for Spotted Dove and Rose-ringed Parakeet. Lesser Sand-Plover had been reported in Santa Cruz again today, so I decided to abandon my Island Scrub Jay boat plans for the following day, and instead make my way north. I made it about 30 min short of Bakersfield, and found a hotel for the night. All federal lands in south California are closed currently, due to emergency staff fighting wildfires in other parts of the state, so a hotel was my only option on this route. 

Sept 20

In the morning I woke before sunrise, driving the remaining 30 minutes to Bakersfield - or almost. My check engine light came on, and after well over 2k miles on this trip, I needed to check it as soon as possible. 

Stopping in to Auto Zone, I asked for the instrument, and checked my own vehicle (a covid policy they have). It came back as an issue with the coolant thermometer, a minor ongoing issue I've had for years but never fixed. Whew. A few miles later, I was at the target neighborhood. 

The Rose-ringed Parakeets were obvious before even leaving my car, flying about the neighborhood, not staying put in one place for long enough to get a digiscoped video. I abandoned the videography attempt in order to prioritize finding Spotted Dove. 

Spotted Dove also did not take long, just two blocks away from the Rose-ringed Parakeets. Bingo! I   video'd an adult singing in a tree, and enjoyed great looks, while chatting with a few locals and showing them the bird in my scope as well. 

After getting the Spotted Doves, I managed to digiscope the Rose-ringed Parakeets on the walk back to my car.

Next up: Race up to Santa Cruz! After a three hour drive, I arrived to the beach the bird had been seen, hanging with several Snowy Plovers. A couple leaving as I was arriving instructed that the birds had been off to the left as you walk down to the beach. I scanned like crazy, over and over, not finding any shorebirds at all. I spent another thirty minutes scanning the dunes, then walked back to the main beach, where I found seven Snowy Plovers and the Lesser Sand-Plover sitting on the beach, in human footprints by the base of where the trail meets the beach. 

From there, I headed to a small river mouth near Santa Cruz, where the river meets the ocean. It was here I    was told to wait for the Marbled Godwits to come in to the fresh water - with them, a Bar-tailed Godwit. Despite a two hour vigil, only a small flock of Marbleds came in, with a handful of Whimbrel. I  headed over to camp at Sunset Beach State Park. 

Year List: 684

Sept 21

A four hour morning vigil at the same spot provided similar results. A small flock of Marbleds and Wimbrel came in a few times. I  ran into a few local birders doing county big years. Eventually, I  decided to hit the beach and head to Zils Road, where I  parked, walked the path to the beach, and then continued south on the beach for about a mile. Eventually I ran into about 120 Marbled Godwits, and was able to pick out the Bar-tailed Godwit from within the flock. A few birders showed up just as I was initially getting on the bird, and I was able to help them find it as well. 

I headed north to San Francisco, where I'd stay with my friend Dorian - and finally, after many years, meet his wife, Sonia! I  got to there place, was treated to some amazing homemade vegetarian lasagna, we talked birds a while, and went to bed at a decent hour, prepared to wake early for the pelagic. 

Year List: 685 

Sept 22 

We left around 5:30, making the thirty minute trip to Half Moon Bay. I was excited for my first pelagic trip with Alvaro! 

Hoping to pick up all regularly occurring birds between this trip and the Monterey Bay trip I had scheduled with him on the 27th, we set out, bagging Buller's Shearwater, Cassin's Auklet, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Black-footed Albatross, Scripp's Murrelet, and South Polar Skua. We'd seen ALL of the primary targets I had for either trip - PLUS we had two Guadalupe Murrelets, which my friend Ed yelled out as I was standing right next to him, as we were studying yet another pair of murrelets - we'd had 15 Scripp's throughout the day - these were somewhat distant birds, but these two had notably more white on the face. This was the second time that Alvaro has ever had Guadalupe Murrelet on his Half Moon Bay trips. Woot! Great success! 

As we were making our way to shore, I gifted all eleven women birders onboard the She's Birdie personal safety alarms. 

Shortly after getting off the boat, I learned I'd gotten off the waitlist for the September 25th pelagic out of Westport, Washington. I  had been scheduled for the October 3rd boat out of there, and had tons of time to kill in the meantime, plus, I wouldn't be needing to get on the September 27th boat out of Monterey anymore, since I had cleaned up all my targets. This would help me save time, plus hopefully get a spot on the October 2nd pelagic out of Ventura, CA, nearby where Blue-footed Booby was seen on the five day Searcher trip ($1500/ticket and out of my price range), the week prior. Perfect! But this means I   would need to start driving north tomorrow and wouldn't have all the time in the world to find Wandering Tattler, as I had figured I would. Moral of the big year story: Nothing ever goes as planned. 

Making our way to San Francisco, Dorian and I started heading to a spot for Wandering Tattler - which I'd tried for in several locations throughout California in February, but missed. As we made it several minutes passed his place, we realized we didn't have either of our scopes along with us. Oops. Tattler would have to wait for another day. But soon. It was getting later in the season, and they were already migrating through. 

Year List: 693

Sept 23 

I said goodbye to Sonia, and Dorian and I caravanned back to Half Moon Bay in the morning, to look for Wandering Tattler. 

We found two on a jetty by 8 am and then I hit the road northbound, driving nine hours and winding up at Paradise Point State Park, in Washington State just north of the Oregon border, after the first campground I checked in Oregon was full, and the second was a sketchy RV park that didn't feel safe. I set up my tent, laid out my sleeping bag, and passed out. 

Year List: 694