Yesterday I drove south to check out the Hayward Regional Shoreline on account of its gargantuan 110 species logged this month. Just upon entering the refuge area, I saw two White-tailed Kites possibly sharing a meal in the canopy.
Adding the pack of peeps I saw on the first mudflat, I knew it would be a fruitful morning. Innumerable Western and Least sandpipers plucked away furiously in the appetizing muck. Don't ask me to tell you the difference between them!
Golden-crowned Sparrow
With the sun beating down I made my way toward the tidal marsh, which greeted me with countless new shorebirds including North America's largest and one I've really been anticipating, the Long-billed Curlew.
Marbled Godwit
Barn Swallows appeared to be preparing for their first brood of the season, taking up residence under wooden bridges that spanned across the brackish water.
Today I went to the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary in Alameda for more shorebirding. I also wanted to practice some basic gull ID which I've been neglecting for too long. This place was heaven-sent. Super close-up views of everything and according to some locals, exceptionally low tide.
Northern pintail
I spent a while with a local birder Paul photographing our mutual favorite Black Skimmer. They were raising hell amongst a massive mixed flock of Dunlin, Willet, American Avocet, Snowy Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, sandpipers, and a variety of gulls. We were thrilled watching their bizarre acrobatics and delicate waddling on the sand. I'm proud of this one:
Paul confessed that he was more of a photographer than a birder, so we had a good time reasoning through Larus identification together. But that was driven aside when droves of Elegant Terns swooped in with their own stunts.
Continuing to a deck down the beach, we bumped into one of Paul's friends who had a Snowy Plover in her scope! She also helped me confirm my gull suspicions, my larophile future begins now. The three of us surveyed the many species that were nesting on the beach until they peeled off back to the skimmers.
Short-billed gull
TO/YESTERDAY: 58
LIFE LIST: 217 -> 235
Sunday, March 23, 2025
~3600 miles and 30 new species later, I am elated to be in Oakland at Noah's lovely home. The biting cold was wearing on me a bit, but oddly seeing the wind farms around Mojave was the first visual that really improved morale. It also reminded me of the bankrupted startup I interned at which was headquartered there.
We are preparing a vat of vegetable stew and I'm recounting to him what's led up to this point. The saga of the Oklahoma dust storm somehow feels like ages ago.
This marks roughly a quarter of the trip complete and it's time the birding ramps up. In the morning I went to a cemetery up the block which was teeming with Bay Area year-round species. Its topography was not dissimilar to Green-Wood Cemetery, and it was charming to see some West Coast relatives behaving in similar ways, like this Black Phoebe which seem to love perching on tombstones.
A very exciting bird to see out here, the idiosyncratic Acorn Woodpecker.
My fourth chickadee so far, Chestnut-Backed!
One of three Violet-green Swallows orbiting a Palm tree:
I saw and heard several other lifers as well. It was beatific.
TODAY: 29
LIFE LIST: 207 -> 217
Friday, March 21, 2025
Been at a state park in the Zion/Bryce Canyon area for a couple of days. I hiked the latter this morning. Only came across two people for a 6 mile stretch and was stuck in a great reverie for the uphill stretch of the return leg. I had many entertaining, useless thoughts about how I could conduct my life.
No service around my campsite, so I'm posting from here:
Here's a quick result from my "wildness study":
Golden pricklypear
Narrowleaf Yucca
Blue Grama Grass
Badlands Mule-ears
Sand ricegrass
Bushtits, white-tailed jackrabbit eluded my camera just trust me. Neat sand duney spot.
CURRENT MINOR BUGBEARS:
Mattress pad has sprung a miniscule leak, cmon.
Not enough birding time.
I'm dirty, most parks have the showers shut off for winter.
Driving generally towards Oakland tomorrow!
Just got Pinyon Jay on top of a Ponderosa <3
LIFE LIST: 204 -> 207
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
I cannot answer as to why I haven't spent two nights in the same location until now. I felt refreshed this morning not scrambling to get on the road and instead sleeping until after sunrise and taking it slow. Light birding around my campsite in the AM yielded some dapper sparrow shots amongst the Russian thistle.
Dark-eyed junco (Oregon form)
White-crowned Sparrow
I did the Arches ordeal. No news to report on that really. So I'll just give you my top three rock formations
I think I'm about ready to see a familiar human face.
TODAY: uhhh 15 maybe
LIFE LIST: 202 -> 204
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
What, where?
The car overnighter was just OK. Tossing and turning but plenty warm. After waking and still blurry-eyed, a disheveled man called to me from about 5 feet away in this otherwise deserted campground asking if I'd seen his escaped dog, and that his tent was attacked last night by some animal. I thought he would axe-murder me.
The slapdash car sleeping cavern
I was pretty sleep deprived but thankfully the drive to the sand dunes was only a couple of hours away. I stopped in a few mountain towns to kill some time before checking in.
Arriving there I walked some of the non-dune trails off in the mountains.
The dunes are really something else. I started my hike right at sunrise and set off aimlessly toward the tallest dune as there are no defined trails. Another damn day with high wind warnings, but I pushed for as long as I could.
Heading to Durango via I-160, I got caught in a snowstorm on Wolf Creek Pass and nearly stalled out in a bluff. My 2WD was no match. what the hell man. I'm sure people saw my Georgia plates and smirked.
So now I'm in Moab, wind continues to assail me but it's divine.
New Birds?
Yea a few! Mountain Bluebird and Townsend's Solitaire at the dunes visitor center. Admittedly I've not been birding quite as heavily for the last few days.
Dinner tonight?
You're looking at it bud. There's still red flag warnings everywhere so no fires.
Anything else?
I adore setting up my tent now. I'm staking at a blistering pace. Nothing better than a simple, repeatable action to ground you.
I picked up a new mallet from 2 Mormon teens in town.
Sunday, March 16, 2025
I felt grateful when after my last bout of sleep I finally saw the sun beginning to rise. To nix my freezing doldrums and allow my tent to dry out, I headed on a quick walk, getting a nice view of a Say's Phoebe perched on a cane cholla.
Simply overjoyed to be sitting in upholstery, I didn't exactly have a target for the next stop so I just quickly looked for any refuges nearby, settling on Maxwell NWR 45 minutes west in New Mexico. What a chance find it was. "Lake Thirteen" held Common Goldeneye, Northern Pintail, Sandhill Cranes, and hundreds upon hundreds of other waterfowl.
Goldeneye
That took me to mid-afternoon, where a couple of inexplicable decisions has put me in Cimarron Canyon State Park. 100% the most isolated campground of the trip so far, no other tenants in the 60-site lot. Beautiful scenery though I'll concede. It turns out no one camps in March out here, except for the Cinnamon Teal that's been chilling in the pond right behind my car (and Mountain Chickadee and Stellar's Jay).
Seeing that it is freezing again tonight I'll live out what most people thought I meant by "car camping". It already feels much better than the tent. The plan is to drift off to the 1931 best picture winner Cimarron.
TODAY: 29
LIFE LIST: 194 -> 200
YESTERDAY
Putting the duststorm behind me, I shoved off from Guymon but not before stopping at the local park during sunrise and getting some great scenes of a Bald Eagle soaring low over the water towards this strange Blue Heron-infested island.
Several Snow and Greylag Geese (and weird domestic hybrids) were launching a honking assault at the herons as they landed in the trees. Turning to the other side of the islet, I think I saw their casus belli. A mother goose sat on a bank with perhaps a couple too many eggs to care for.
I also picked up the abundant Eurasian Collared-Dove. This was the first location I could really sense the quotidian species shifting from the familiar Eastern set I'm used to.
Despite having no expectation of driving the entire Oklahoma panhandle, Black Mesa State Park was up next. I started at Lake Carl Etling, walking along the shoreline and not experiencing much by way of birding, but mostly just appreciating the absolute dead calm of the air. Moving around to the north end, I came across what I think was a Lincoln's Sparrow and what I know was a lovely Canyon Towhee, a species that showed itself to be surprisingly cooperative and curious.
Camp was set up in the creek grounds and there were actually some other tent campers around! I headed off a hiking trail and found a White-Crowned Sparrow, a Bushtit, and heard a Canyon Wren singing its incredible descending song just behind a fence. Oh and I got a nice close-up of a Prairie Lizard:
The main attraction of the park is its dark sky, rated a Bortle 1. I didn't know this going in, but it was truly absurd and a necessary distraction to a really frigid night in the tent. I swear I'll never settle in and try to brave a deep freeze like that again on this trip, it honestly made me depressed. It's OK the lifers are worth it.
This is being typed during my first night attempting to sleep in the back of my car, may I be warm, secure, and un-depressed like this Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (sorry for anthropomorphizing you).
TODAY: 19
LIFE LIST: 182 -> 194
Friday, March 14, 2025
~60 miles out from the Great Salt Plains I kind of knew things were going south. The gusts really picked up and and I tuned into the radio. Evacuation orders were in place for several counties across central and northeastern Oklahoma due to wildfires, including the one I'd left that morning. I went ahead and at least tried the Sandpiper Nature Trail at the north edge of the lake. I could hardly stand let alone set up my scope, so I brusquely left there with a formidable count of 2 killdeer and 8 duck sp. Before this I got a brief but ID-able look at a ferruginous hawk (lifer) diving on (probably) a meadowlark!
It was simply too windy to try camping in the state park, so I tried to find a motel in the surrounding town of Cherokee. No one was in the lot, no one answered the office door or phone. Next up was another inn just south of the selenite dig site. For Sale sign in the window, looking improbable. No one answered the office door or phone.
I sat there planning my next move and a car pulled up in front of me. An open-carrying man came up to my window to ask what my deal was, he had been told of my presence by someone around the motel. Maybe he was an off-duty cop or just a community watchman, either way after explaining myself he informed me through teary eyes that the couple who owned the motel had just passed away within weeks of each other and one of their funerals was earlier in the day.
I've carried on the Guymon. My fuel economy suffered a 1.5 mph average loss due to the buffeting crosswinds. There are scores of Great-Tailed Grackles all around (lifer).
TODAY: 8?
LIFE LIST: 182
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Heading to Oklahoma City, I stopped at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge which for the day had sadly closed all of the bottom lands for a helicopter feral hog hunt. But it wasn't a total bust, I came across two older Oklahoman birders who put me on to a Spotted Towhee (lifer)! There was a short stretch of trail open where I was not likely to be gunned down like swine, and on the forest floor I found the bird double-scratching.
Inspired, I went to pursue smoked bologna. One thing led to another and I ended up in the Shawnee Mall, a surprisingly busting place for a Thursday afternoon where a BBQ joint supposedly sat next to a cinema with the prized dish. Now this was actually a bust, it had already been replaced by a coffee stand despite recent Google Reviews. Though the mall itself was worth the visit:
No quarters on me regrettably
I pivoted to grabbing a "super smoked spud" from a nearby derelict-seeming smokehouse which was fantastic.
I checked out a museum in town founded by a Benedictine Priest which held the only human mummy in Oklahoma and a vast amount of Baroque and Medieval art.
Camp is set up in Thunderbird Lake State Park. Red flag high wind warnings have been issued all across the state for tomorrow, but I think I'll follow the Sequoyah duo's tip and head to the Salt Plains NWR and see if camping is feasible (right near the Twister the Movie Museum...)
TODAY: 18
LIFE LIST: 181
Bonus frog calls from last night in Arkansas:
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
I think I have a general schematic of how to carry out most of my westbound leg:
Wake up 30-45 minutes before sunrise
Laboriously break down camp (there is no method to my car packing arrangement yet)
Utilize the blurry first 45 minutes of driving to reach some wildlife refuge or another and bird there
Drive another 1-2 hours and get lunch
Reach the next state park, ideally around a body of water, around 3-4PM
Laboriously set up camp (RV-ready rocky sediment is kicking my ass re: stakes)
Bird the surrounding area for about an hour
Cook dinner
Do what-I-will and sleep around 9
Today that looked like departing Fort Pillow State Park (what a ridiculous name) around 7 and stopping by Village Creek State Park, where in the parking lot I immediately encountered a Red-Headed Woodpecker in peak crimson plumage.
The lake trail turned out to be full of jellycoats. Here's a recording of a group of them calling out from pines overhead along with an obligatory Carolina Wren duet.
Carrying on across I-40 and navigating through far too many oversize load tiny home vehicles, I had lunch at a trucker stop, where every patron sat solo facing strategically away from one another so as to not make eye contact, some had to compromise with a 90 degree view.
I've arrived at Lake Dardanelle State Park and cooked a meal that I don't want to disclose. Lots of dainty Pied-Billed Grebes dot the water and the bathhouse is in impeccable shape. An argument between two kids is the only noise on the campground.
Monday, March 10, 2025
I lost my father in Buc-ees in the mass of hundreds of people browsing the apex of gas station fare. Uniting back at the CR-V we were fooled by the astoundingly low gas prices that are only valid with the purchase of a car wash.
I saw a guy from high school with his wife exiting the complex with beef jerky and a brisket sandwich. On my side, a fruit cup was consumed while one Red-winged Blackbird and a dozen Turkey Vultures were observed.
We got to Huntsville and hung out with my dad's friend from his nuclear power plant days. His house is massive but pretty much not a single room is fully finished. Door knobs are missing, adult children's rooms are stripped bare except for movie posters on the floor of one (Pulp Fiction, The Big Lewbowski, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and the Hello Kitty shower curtain + teddy bears of another. There are car seats in multiple odd locations throughout the ground floor.
They exchanged stories about bygone coworkers and friends, explaining the nicknames of people like Joe "Floor Drain" Meher (had to move plants after being reported peeing outside of a control room during a grueling shift) and Gus "Wrong Way" Poole (attached a pump backwards causing significant damage to a cooling system).
We ate delicious gumbo and watched two episodes of Sanford and Son before playing hours of pool. Off to Memphis next.
Today: 8
Sunday, March 9, 2025
A brief recording of the dawn chorus from my backyard:
Starting at the Newman Wetlands Center I joined a Birds Georgia walk led by John, your ideal jolly bird-guy chaperone (but in his words, distinctly "not an ornithologist") who grew up learning about birds from his biologist mother. His favorite bird is the Tree Swallow, of which we saw several fluttering about amongst power-lines challenging groups of Eastern Bluebirds.
A slow meander along the boardwalk was mostly occupied chatting with Sally, a relative newcomer to the hobby who is nonetheless already on her way to completing her Master Birding certification from Birds Georgia. She is a keen naturalist who informed me all about the Clayton County Water Authority (a "Top Water Wise Community" per one source) and the intricacies of wastewater treatment. I delivered a long-winded summary of The Big Year to her and another prospective master birder Chris when a reference to the movie fell on deaf ears.
The wetlands contained mostly typical species for this time of year as the wave of spring migrants have yet to arrive. We got views of some departing birds such as Dark-Eyed Junco, Swamp Sparrow, and Winter Wren before they head north for the summer.
House finch near the feeders
Next we caravaned to one of the hottest locations in Clayton County, birding or otherwise, the E.L. Huie Ponds. These retention basins might be designed for stormwater runoff? I'm not sure, I should've asked Sally. Anyways they are arranged in a 2x3 grid and each contained startlingly different classes of waterfowl and shorebirds. "Miss Melanie", a woman who John informed us is found at the ponds most weekends without fail, had scoped up some Lesser Yellowlegs, Green-winged Teal, and Wilson's Snipe (lifer).
A look at the well-camoed Wilson's Snipe
A conversation emerged surrounding one attendee, Matthew, and his grab-bag of hobbies highlighted by trainchasing and RC plane flying. He sported a bucket hat/baseball cap stacked combo while his lifted F-150 rocked an array of antennae for railfanning.
The 2nd pond held hundreds of ducks: Green and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Bufflehead, and a lone American Wigeon. A Rusty Blackbird (lifer) emerged at the water's edge to everyone's excitement as a kestrel sallied over the surface grabbing something indescribable.
As the motorcade wrapped up at the 6th basin, we had a distant glance at two personally long-awaited Pied Billed Grebe (lifer) and Sally gifted me a complimentary Birds Georgia membership.
