April 25, 2016
It was a beautiful "fresh" (cool) day today in the mountains around here and at the ocean the wind was blowing from the east pushing the waves in the ocean away from shore. This wind is unusual and it was really brisk. We had to hold on to our scopes when we were birding at Ventura Beach. In the mountains it was too windy to hear the birds. But it was bright and sunny and lovely for us nevertheless.
This was our first day with Wes and he picked us up at 7 am and we stopped at a Danish bakery in nearby Solvant which is the Danish style town. Of course if one is in a Danish town, one must have a Danish in the Danish bakery. Connie and I did and the pastries were great. Salvang is really beautiful and looks like a town in Europe. We did some birding here and then off we went into the foothills and up into the hill country. On the way we had lovely views of a pair of California Quail and Western Kingbirds. We stopped at a private ranch which belongs to friends of Wes where we saw had the great view of over 50 Band-tailed Pigeons flying around the front yard of the ranch house. We saw many birds here and two lifers for us; the Lawrence's Goldfinch and the Yellow-billed Magpie! We had great looks at these birds and many photos were taken. We also had the Acorn Woodpecker again and its markings are such that the bird looks comical. Something a child would draw. We also met the ranch's dogs which included a Black Lab-type dog, an Australian Sheepdog and a small 17 year-old terrier. They were all friendly. There were also horses on this ranch.
From here we drove up Mount Figueroa to 5,000 feet and part of the San Rafael Mountain Range. It was windy so it was hard to hear the birds but we did manage to get great views of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow. up the mountain. Wes tried for the Mountain Quail but were not successful at the top of the mountain. The view from the top was spectacular and the photo was taken at the summit.
You can tell we were thrilled by mid-morning. We drove down the mountain making a couple of stops and ended up at the gates of Michael Jackson's Never Neverland Ranch. People have written messages on the stone walls. Apparently it has been emptied but the ownership may still be with the estate of MJ.
We had lunch at a nice grocery store/delie gourmet store. This area in the hill country is where many famous people have ranches and this is probably where they shop, there was all kinds of expensive food items like $400 olive oil and $200 bottles of wine on the shelves. But it was a good lunch.
Then we drove to the Stow House in Santa Barbara where we tried again for the Scale-breasted Munia with no luck. From here we drove to Ventura to the lake estuary where we had many nice ducks and wading birds and the Savannah (Beldings form). Then we went in the very strong winds to the Surfers Cove and Channel Island Visitor Center/Marina Park. Here we saw the Surf Bird, the Wandering Tatler, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone and Marbled Godwit. These were lifers for some of us. So in the sand whipped wind we viewed these in our scopes. None of us took photos because of the sand winds. It would be too hard to get the sand out of our cameras, so no photos. The above photo is a poor one from my Iphone. It is the Wanderting Tatler on a rock if you can find it. If we talked we got sand in our mouth! We had to hold on to our scopes and our hats. It was wild and the surf was wild, there was one windsurfer fellow out in the cove. It was really brisk and it was great.
When we got back to Buellton, we felt sand in our hair and clothes. We enjoyed the birds that Wes showed us and we really enjoyed Wes' humour and stories. Another great day to add to the list. It is almost midnight and we have to get up in five hours to start our day at 6 am
This group of Band-tailed Pigeons had an interesting resting stop.
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The photos below are from this day`s birding. The stunning California Quail, Western Kingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon and the Yellow-billed Magpie. The Acorn Woodpecker is spectacular even the female in the photo below. The two yellow birds are the Altamira Oriole and the Lawrence's Goldfinch both spectacular birds!
This was our first day with Wes and he picked us up at 7 am and we stopped at a Danish bakery in nearby Solvant which is the Danish style town. Of course if one is in a Danish town, one must have a Danish in the Danish bakery. Connie and I did and the pastries were great. Salvang is really beautiful and looks like a town in Europe. We did some birding here and then off we went into the foothills and up into the hill country. On the way we had lovely views of a pair of California Quail and Western Kingbirds. We stopped at a private ranch which belongs to friends of Wes where we saw had the great view of over 50 Band-tailed Pigeons flying around the front yard of the ranch house. We saw many birds here and two lifers for us; the Lawrence's Goldfinch and the Yellow-billed Magpie! We had great looks at these birds and many photos were taken. We also had the Acorn Woodpecker again and its markings are such that the bird looks comical. Something a child would draw. We also met the ranch's dogs which included a Black Lab-type dog, an Australian Sheepdog and a small 17 year-old terrier. They were all friendly. There were also horses on this ranch.
From here we drove up Mount Figueroa to 5,000 feet and part of the San Rafael Mountain Range. It was windy so it was hard to hear the birds but we did manage to get great views of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow. up the mountain. Wes tried for the Mountain Quail but were not successful at the top of the mountain. The view from the top was spectacular and the photo was taken at the summit.
You can tell we were thrilled by mid-morning. We drove down the mountain making a couple of stops and ended up at the gates of Michael Jackson's Never Neverland Ranch. People have written messages on the stone walls. Apparently it has been emptied but the ownership may still be with the estate of MJ.
We had lunch at a nice grocery store/delie gourmet store. This area in the hill country is where many famous people have ranches and this is probably where they shop, there was all kinds of expensive food items like $400 olive oil and $200 bottles of wine on the shelves. But it was a good lunch.
Then we drove to the Stow House in Santa Barbara where we tried again for the Scale-breasted Munia with no luck. From here we drove to Ventura to the lake estuary where we had many nice ducks and wading birds and the Savannah (Beldings form). Then we went in the very strong winds to the Surfers Cove and Channel Island Visitor Center/Marina Park. Here we saw the Surf Bird, the Wandering Tatler, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone and Marbled Godwit. These were lifers for some of us. So in the sand whipped wind we viewed these in our scopes. None of us took photos because of the sand winds. It would be too hard to get the sand out of our cameras, so no photos. The above photo is a poor one from my Iphone. It is the Wanderting Tatler on a rock if you can find it. If we talked we got sand in our mouth! We had to hold on to our scopes and our hats. It was wild and the surf was wild, there was one windsurfer fellow out in the cove. It was really brisk and it was great.
When we got back to Buellton, we felt sand in our hair and clothes. We enjoyed the birds that Wes showed us and we really enjoyed Wes' humour and stories. Another great day to add to the list. It is almost midnight and we have to get up in five hours to start our day at 6 am
This group of Band-tailed Pigeons had an interesting resting stop.
The photos below are from this day`s birding. The stunning California Quail, Western Kingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon and the Yellow-billed Magpie. The Acorn Woodpecker is spectacular even the female in the photo below. The two yellow birds are the Altamira Oriole and the Lawrence's Goldfinch both spectacular birds!
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