My family vacations are well known for their whirlwind itineraries usually with an undercurrent of bird planning sneaked in. I don't get many vacations, so I want to see it all. This time I decided to just enjoy a family trip based purely on great locations for my family and hoped the birding would be ok. The good news is birding in California is always good no matter where you go. Some of the locations I selected were based on things I remembered from a long time ago when we used to live in California and I wanted to rekindle.
We flew into SFO and stayed at a Hilton near the airport on the bay incidentally right next to the Meta campus in San Mateo. It seemed all the major companies have buildings in this area. We arrived very late and crashed basically as soon as we dropped our bags. In the morning Luke had to go for a run so Melissa, George and I took a nice walk along the bay bike path near Anza Lagoon that seems to wind all along the bay.
Clark's Grebe - sometimes these are tricky because of the prospect of hybrids, but I think this one was good for a Clark's based on the white completely around the eye.
Most of the Scaup seemed to be Greaters.
California Towhees
Spotted Sandpiper
I kept walking around the lagoon while George and Melissa went up to shower and get ready for the day. They called me and told me to look up...
But then I looked down....
An Anna's Hummingbird was collecting moss for her nest. So cute...
After an awesome breakfast we checked out and headed across San Francisco Bay to our friend's house in Danville, CA. It had been over 10 years since we last saw them so we spent a good amount of time catching up. My good buddy Piko celebrated the occasion by breaking out a huge slab of Tri Tip Steak and slapping it on the grill. Even Melissa tried it and asked for seconds. She has been making an effort to eat meat based on advice from her doctor and amazingly it seems to be working, she has been in good health lately (/knock on wood). My philosophy with meat has always been to eat it in moderation and only go for the good stuff.
California Scrub-Jay in Meg and Piko's yard.
The boys decided to go for a run with their unofficial cousins and the grownups went for a walk in the hills around Danville, but first we had to take a picture.
Kala and Luke were competing for best washboard abs.
California Ground Squirrels
The oak trees that dot the hillsides here are gorgeous. I think they are called Interior Live Oaks. Also note the green hills. The atmospheric rivers of late in California greened up all the hills which normally would be pretty parched looking.
It's hard to bird when spending time with friends you haven't seen in ages. This Chipping Sparrow was one of the only a few pics I came away within this walk! But it's also hard not to bird when you are in California.
Meg and Melissa all smiles.
It would be nice to have walks like this in your back yard.
Western Bluebird - note the blue throat.
On the west coast, Red-Tailed Hawks take the dark petagials (leading edge of wing) to a new level.
Lesser Goldfinch male
Female
Nuttal's WP
Acorn WPs were everywhere but it is hard to not to love them. Little clowns.
We stayed at a local hotel in the Danville area and went hiking again in the morning at a local park while Luke did his long run.
Dark-eyed Junco
Oak Titmouse
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Bewick's Wren
Black Phoebe
Another Junco
Anna's Hummingbird
Later in the afternoon we took a hike at Mount Diablo, this pic was from the trailhead.
California Poppies were sprouting up everywhere.
My scenery pics always are underwhelming compared to reality.
Some kind of Indian Paintbrush...
I need to ID these later, so many flowers so I won't post them all.
After the hike we met up at Jamba Juice and had a smoothie before saying our goodbyes and heading to San Rafael north of the Golden Gate so we could be strategically located for a day trip to Point Reyes in the morning. After checking into the hotel, we had barely enough time to jet down to the Golden Gate for a walk out on the bridge for sunset.
The drive out to Point Reyes in the morning was gorgeous but I forgot to take pics. Once out there we did the Chimney Rock trail out to the point.
White-crowned Sparrow
Elephant Seals!
There was some fog as we got out towards the point but luckily it lifted while we did the hike.
Belted Kingfisher
Some kind of wild iris.
Common Loon
Turkey Vulture
Another White-crowned Sparrow.
Black-tailed Deer are a subspecies of Mule Deer found on the west coast of North America.
Pacific Loons in breeding condition were too far out to crush properly.
Pigeon Guillemot coming in for a landing.
I believe this is what is called an Olympic Gull which is a Western x Glaucous-winged Hybrid.
Surf Scoters were plentiful but kept off-shore.
The waves on the pacific side of the point were huge.
A few random Common Murres were flying with Brandt's Cormorants or other mixed flocks.
Another impure looking gull.
Some kind of little mole or mouse kept poking his head out of a small hole.
Red-necked Grebe
A distant Glaucous-winged Gull
An interesting red colored Lichen was "blooming" on the seaside rocks.
I highly recommend Point Reyes for a day trip if you are birder or just in general, a cool place.
On the drive east from Point Reyes I stopped at some farm fields looking for Tricolored Blackbirds but only found Red-winged and some Brewer's Blackbirds.
We ate in Point Reyes Station and then spent the afternoon heading east towards our next destination of Yosemite. It was already getting late once we got back over to the east side of San Francisco Bay so we shacked up in a hotel in Pleasanton which is just on the west side of the Diablo Range. In the morning we would only have a couple hours of driving to get into the Yosemite area.
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