The best laid plans for the year were mislaid... All of the cool places I was gonna go (well, I did get to a few of them), all of the cool birds I hoped to see (well, I did see a few of them), all of the nice native plants I was going to put in for the birds (well, a few of them got planted and some even survived the gophers and drought). Oh, and the bird book I worked for five years finally came out. Okay, so not so bad after all.
Mountain Bluebird - because we're all happy to see more blue this year!
Swainson's Hawks rising in a kettle, Anza-Borrego
No place really exotic on the itinerary this year - I never left the state, not even for a family visit. Luckily, I live in California and there's a lot to see without ever crossing our borders. In late March, I finally visited Anza-Borrego to see the wildflower bloom and migrating hawks, with a side trip to the Salton Sea (long overdue). In mid-May, I took a workshop on passerine molt which included a segment in Big Sur. I haven't spent significant time there in years, and the timing was perfect - a month later, much of the area was burned by severe fires.
California Condor, perched on rock face in Big Sur.
I made it to Yosemite twice this year - once in June (for the Raptors of Yosemite class, my annual pilgrimage) and again in late July to Tuolumne Meadows with a side trip to Mono Lake. Didn't see any goshawks or Blue Grouse this year, but had the best looks yet with a Great Grey Owl who hung out for nearly an hour while we sat in rapt silence.
Great Grey Owl, Westfall Meadow, Yosemite
A few day trips to favorite spots like Solano County, Panoche Valley, Mines Road and Point Reyes filled out the "travel" schedule. Again, can't complain - I'm very lucky to be within a day's drive of so many wonderful spots.
Golden Eagles, Tres Pinos (near Panoche Valley)
It's getting harder to see new species within California but I had a few lifers this year: Yellow-footed Gull and Gull-billed Tern at the Salton Sea; California Condors at Big Sur (at long last!); Red-Throated Pipit at Crissy Field in San Francisco; and my early gift - a Worm-eating Warbler in downtown San Francisco on Christmas Eve.
Worm-eating Warbler, San Francisco (by Walter Kitundu, used with permission)
For the sixteenth year, I banded hawks with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. Not huge numbers this year, but it's such a privilege to see these amazing creatures up close.
Northern Harrier, one of the nicer birds to visit my banding blinds.
Big Thanks to everyone who hosted a Dawn Chorus this past year:
Dcoronata on the real dawn chorus
tgypsy on ANWR and spring in Sacramento Valley
juliewolf wrote about hawk migration at Putney Mountain
ivorybill told us about birding in Iraqi Kurdistan
pattyp gave us Florida scrub jays
Land of Enchantment did her annual piece on Christmas Bird Counts
blue jersey mom told us about birds and archaeology
So what were the high point of your birding year?