CALIFORNIA 3–19 September 2008 Leaders: James P. Smith and Peter Basterfield

In the USA, California is second only to Texas in the number of species recorded. Early autumn is an excellent time to visit, as many of the summer visitors are still present, migrants from further north are passing through and seabirds are at their most diverse. The scenery is magnificent and we will visit Yosemite NP and many other places to appreciate fully the state's many habitats, from deserts to rocky seashores and from mountains with giant Sequoias to salt lakes.

Day 1 Scheduled flight from London to Los Angeles. Drive to Ventura Beach during which time we will see our first common birds including Turkey Vulture and Mourning Dove. We may have time for some late afternoon birding around Ventura Harbour. Night at Ventura Beach.

Day 2 Today we will take a boat trip to visit Santa Cruz Island, home to the endemic Island Scrub-jay. From the boat we will keep a careful watch for seabirds and we may see Least Storm-petrel and Pink-footed and Black-vented Shearwaters. On the island we may encounter a few migrants along with Pacific-slope Flycatcher and the endemic non-migratory race of Allen's Hummingbird. We will return to shore at 18.00 and make the short drive to Buellton for an overnight stay.

Day 3 We start at Alisal Canyon to look for Yellow-billed Magpie. At Nojoqui Falls CP we will search for Nuttall's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Western Bluebird and California Towhee amongst the many common birds in this picturesque location. Continuing on to Pismo Beach we will look for more migrants as well as Chestnut-backed Chickadee. In the late afternoon we will arrive at Morro Bay where we will visit the spectacular rock, home to Canyon Wrens. The bay and shore here are good for waders and waterbirds. Night at Morro Bay.

Day 4 Today we will start at Morro Bay State Park looking at waders before moving on to Montana de Oro SP, which has a great diversity of habitats. Birds will be numerous here and we may see species ranging from California Quail, California Thrasher and Wrentit to Surfbird, Black Turnstone, Wandering Tattler and Black Oystercatcher. After returning to Morro Bay for lunch we will drive north to Marina for a two-night stay.

Day 5 This is our pelagic boat trip day out of Monterey (alternative arrangements can be made for those who would rather remain ashore!). Species we may encounter include Black-footed Albatross, Buller's, Pink-footed, Short-tailed and Sooty Shearwaters, Ashy, Black and Fork-tailed Storm-petrels, Brandt's, Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants, Sabine's Gull, South Polar Skua, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemot as well as California Sea Lion, Blue and Humpback Whales and Common and Risso's Dolphins. Back on shore we will spend the afternoon at Moonglow Dairy looking at waders, and for Tricolored Blackbird amongst the numerous Red-winged and 'Bi-colored' Blackbirds.

Day 6 Heading north we will first stop at Moss Landing to search for Glaucous-winged Gull in the harbour. Continuing on to Santa Cruz we will look for Marbled Murrelet in spectacular coastal scenery. Now we head east towards Yosemite NP, looking for Swainson's Hawk en-route. It is quite a long drive but we will make several stops. Two nights at Mariposa, on the western edge of Yosemite NP.

Day 7 Starting early in the morning we will spend the whole day exploring Yosemite NP. First we will visit Glacier Point looking for Blue Grouse en-route. At the point there are spectacular views of Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls and the excellent birding includes the possibility of both Red-breasted and Williamson's Sapsuckers, Townsend's Solitaire and Black-throated Gray Warbler. We must keep our eyes to the skies, however, as there may be Black Swift in with the Vaux's and White-throated Swifts. Next we will walk one or two of the trails looking for Cassin's Finch and Pine Grosbeak. Dropping down to the valley floor we will look for American Dipper along the river and, with a great deal of luck, we may find the Northern Pygmy-owl. Other species we will look for include American Robin, Hermit Thrush, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers. We may even encounter a Black Bear or a Coyote! In the evening we will visit a site where Great Gray Owl is fairly regular. Whilst we are waiting there should be plenty of other good birds to look at, including White-headed Woodpecker, Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Chickadee and Lincoln's Sparrow.

Day 8 We will make an early start to drive east over the Sierra Nevada Mountains through Tuolumne Meadows and across the Tioga Pass where we will look for Prairie Falcon, Golden Eagle, Black-backed Woodpecker, Clark's Nutcracker, Brown Creeper, Townsend's Solitaire, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco and Fox (Slate-colored) Sparrow. The scenery can best be described as absolutely stunning! We will descend to Mono Lake, a spectacular soda lake recently saved from the water-consumers of Los Angeles. Here, amongst the spectacular Tufa formations, we will look for numerous Black-necked Grebes, Red-necked and Wilson's Phalaropes, California Gulls and Brewer's Blackbirds. Night at Mammoth Lakes.

Day 9 Before breakfast we will visit a nearby site for Greater Sage-grouse and see a hot spring. Later we will tour a variety of habitats ranging from sage brush to forests where we will look for some of the specialities of the area including Pinyon Jay, Sage Thrasher, Mountain Bluebird, Violet-green Swallow, Green-tailed Towhee and Brewer's, Sage and Vesper Sparrows. Heading south we will divert into the White Mountains to look for Juniper Titmouse, which is right on the edge of its range here. A nearby spring is often good for migrants. Continuing south we drop down into the Mojave Desert with its Joshua trees. There is a totally different avifauna here including Verdin, Black-throated Sparrow and Greater Roadrunner. The Kern River Valley provides excellent birding with its green agricultural areas. Here we will look for Say's Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Bewick's, Cactus, Canyon and Rock Wrens and Lark and Savannah Sparrows. Two nights at Mojave.

Day 10 We return north to Jawbone Canyon where we will search for Le Conte's Thrasher. Next we will navigate a maze of unmarked sandy tracks to find Butterbredt Spring, a literal oasis in this mountainous desert. The spring is a magnet for migrants and there is a good chance of Mountain Quail. Dropping back down into the desert we will drive to California City for breakfast. After looking in the city park for migrants we will visit the migration hotspot of Galileo. Species seen here in the past have included Solitary Sandpiper, Barn Owl, Swainson's Thrush, Olive-sided, Pacific-slope and Willow Flycatchers, Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Wilson's, Black-and-White, MacGillivray's, Nashville and Orange-crowned Warblers, American Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, (Western) Warbling Vireo, Lazuli Bunting and Chipping, Clay-colored, Lincoln's and Song Sparrows.

Day 11 We head east, then turn south, stopping for breakfast en-route, to reach Big Morongo, an area where we have found Anna's, Black-chinned and Rufous Hummingbirds, Vermilion Flycatcher, Summer Tanager and Lawrence's Goldfinch on previous tours. Continuing south, then west, we will check into our hotel before visiting the north end of the Salton Sea for some late afternoon/evening birding. The huge numbers of gulls, terns and waders here have to be seen to be believed! We may encounter our first Yellow-footed Gull here. One night at Indio.

Day 12 We head south along the eastern shore of the sea making several stops to look through the large numbers of gulls for the occasional Franklin's and Laughing Gull. In previous years we have found Reddish Egret and Heermann's Gull here. At the southern end of the Salton Sea is a lake with a superb area of marshes which may contain American White Pelican, Cinnamon Teal, White-faced Ibis, American and Least Bitterns, Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, Common Ground-dove, Yellow-headed Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle and Savannah (Large-billed) Sparrow. Burrowing Owls can be found along the roadside close to the visitor centre where we will also look for Gambel's Quail and Abert's Towhee. Moving on to Brawley, we will visit a small area of semi-desert where Inca and White-winged Doves, Cactus Wren, Gila Woodpecker and Cassin's Kingbird can all be found. We then continue on to El Centro for an overnight stay, looking for Lesser Nighthawk in the fading light.

Day 13 Our first destination today will be Anza-Borrego SP for more desert specialities including Greater Roadrunner, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Costa's Hummingbird, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin and Black-throated Sparrow. The green Cuyamaca Mountains are very pleasing to the eyes after the desert and are good for Wild Turkey, Band-tailed Pigeon, Phainopepla, Cedar Waxwing and Red-shouldered Hawk. We will stop for lunch in the picturesque town of Julian before moving on to Lake Cuyamaca which holds a good variety of waterbirds including Wood Duck. Pygmy Nuthatch and Brewer's Blackbird can also be found around the car park. Dropping down through the beautiful forests we rejoin civilisation on the freeway, working our way through the heart of San Diego to the Mexican border. The next two nights will be spent in San Ygnacio.

Day 14 We begin the day at Otay Lakes to search for California Gnatcatcher, an uncommon and declining species. The ‘Bell’s’ race of Sage Sparrow also occurs here as do White-tailed Kite, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, California Thrasher, California and Spotted Towhees and Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We will then visit a site close to the Mexican border to look for the ‘Light-footed’ race of Clapper Rail. From Tijuana rivermouth we will search through the flocks of waders for Snowy Plover, and through the Caspian, Forster’s, Elegant and Royal Terns for Least Tern. Also here are Savannah (Belding’s) Sparrow and the surely-soon-to-be-split ‘Large-billed’ Savannah Sparrow.

Day 15 We may visit the Border Field SP for migrants before heading north to San Elijo Lagoon for another look for California Gnatcatcher if necessary. There should be numerous other birds in this excellent small area. Cooper's Hawk, Sora, Western Wood-pewee, Ash-throated and Olive-sided Flycatchers, Wrentit and Marsh Wren have all been seen on past tours. En route to Los Angeles we will visit the San Joachim WS where both Sora and Virginia Rails are regular. Our next destination is Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve where we will look for Savannah (Belding's) Sparrow, another potential split. There are also good numbers of shorebirds here. Overnight in Los Angeles.

Day 16 We have the morning only to bird, so we will visit the Palos Verdes Peninsula looking for migrants and seabirds including Black-vented Shearwater at Point Vicente. In 2001 we recorded the first pacific record of Black-capped Petrel here! Our final destination is Averill Park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula where Allen's Hummingbird is resident. It is always difficult, however, to find an adult male in breeding plumage to eliminate the possibility of Rufous Hummingbird. The introduced Spotted Dove can also been found in the area. Late morning we will return to the airport for an afternoon overnight flight to London.

Day 17 Arrival back in London, where the tour ends.

General Information The climate can vary from cold in the mountains to very hot at the Salton Sea. The pace of the tour is moderate but with some early starts. There are no special medical requirements and insects are not a major problem. Visas are not required. Distances are quite long in California but the roads are good and driving is relaxed, with plenty of opportunities to stop for food and drink.

Group size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 8; maximum group size: 9 with 1 leader, 16 with 2 leaders.

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