South of Monterey

The 20th was the day on which we did the most driving - starting early along Mines Road south of Livermore, we later journeyed south to Monterey via San Jose. Heading for the Big Sur region (to the south of Monterey) as the sun began to drop in the late afternoon, we located a single immature and later a further group of at least ten California Condors soaring high over the coastal ridges towards the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Here are a couple of adults:

As we pulled over for some dudey landscape photography as the sun sunk towards the horizon of the Pacific out to our west, I located a handful of rather showy Golden-crowned Sparrows scrotting around by the viewpoint. A common bird across Northern California in winter, but we rarely enjoyed such prolonged views during our week. The low sunlight was very warm on the birds hence the exposure might look a bit strange.

And the post wouldn't be complete without a shot of the magnificent Californian coastline...

Burrowing Owl

Ever since I was a small child I have wanted to see Burrowing Owl. This individual, seen along Robinson Road to the south of Davis was our only bird of the trip. It was quite amusing watching it crouching down in fields to avoid detection - something that worked effectively, as it was pretty difficult to pick up

We also had a flock of 50 Lark Sparrows along the road, along with Prairie Falcon, Tricoloured Blackbirds and Ferruginous Hawks.

Bufflehead

I was quick to learn that Buffleheads are 'trash' birds in California - just about every waterbody (both fresh and salt water) had them. However, they rarely showed well and I spent a bit of time stalking a handful of birds close inshore at Bodega Bay on 18th. Decent light and a high shutter speed meant that I could also freeze the birds as they launched themselves in to a dive.