192 Species on this Custom List
To upload the attached Custom list and Quiz yourself on birds that may be seen on this VENT Tour, right-click HERE and select "Save Target As.." (You may want to rename the file Winter_SoCA.xml)
Jan. 21-Jan. 26, 2008
Pygmy Nuthatch.
Photo: Brian Gibbons
Exceptional mid-winter birding in a wide variety of habitats from rocky shoreline to chaparral to pine forests. Generally wonderful weather combined with a trip list that may reach 200 species. California specialties, abundant waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors, and the possibility of a Mexican stray. Can be taken in combination with Winter Southern Arizona.
Southern California offers some of the best winter birding to be found in the United States, and is a pleasant getaway from the cold weather blanketing most of the country at this time. A wide range of habitats, including rocky shorelines, coastal estuaries, chaparral, pine-oak woodlands, and desert, combine for an amazingly diverse list of birds. Most of the California specialties are present and readily found at this season including the endangered California Gnatcatcher, the skulking Wrentit, California Thrasher, California Towhee, and Tricolored Blackbird.
Along the coast we will seek out Western and Clark's grebes, Pelagic and Brandt's cormorants, Eurasian Wigeon, Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone, and Surfbird. Foothills and mountains could yield California Quail, Nuttall's and White-headed woodpeckers, Pygmy Nuthatch, Oak Titmouse, and Lawrence's Goldfinch (sporadic). Finally, we will bird the famed Salton Sea where Yellow-footed Gull (found nowhere else in the United States), Mountain Plover, and Ross's Goose are among the many possibilities.
An abundance of wintering birds (especially waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors), excellent potential for rarities, and great weather combine for a superb birding experience.
Good accommodations; easy to moderate terrain with roadside birding and some short hikes; generally pleasant weather conditions.
This trip may be combined with the Winter Southern Arizona Trip.
To Get (upload) a Custom List from this Forum and add it to your computer:
1. Open the Posting of the Custom List you want to upload to your computer.
2. Right-click on the word "Attachment" at the bottom of the post -- it will be a hyperlink and underlined.
3. Select "Save Target As..." and save to your desktop. (You may want to rename the file - but do not change the .xml file extension)
4. Open your Thayer Birding Software birding program version 3.5 or 3.9.
5. Click the Custom List icon
6. In the upper left corner of the Custom List screen, click on the word File.
7. Click Import. Select the file you just uploaded to your desktop. Click Open.
8. The Custom List will now appear on your computer with your other Custom Lists. (You may rename the Custom List if you like.) |