California (September 1997)
I was in San Diego for business during Sept. 3-7 and got in
some birding. I ticked off two of the four targets (Rufous Hummingbird, Hermit
Warbler, Le Conte’s Thrasher, Elegant Tern) mentioned in an RFI that was posted
last month. Many thanks to each of the respondents! Due to a change in plans (I
added a pelagic trip to my itinerary) and some luck, I did much better than
expected on this trip. Part of the story involves the rescue of an injured
gull.
I arrived in LA late in the morning on 9/3 and drove to Huntington Central
Park. Since it was hot, there was not much activity, but it was interesting to
see several Nutmeg Manikins. I moved on to Bolsa Chica Reserve and saw *Elegant
Tern, *Red-necked Phalarope, and Belding’s Sparrow (I was surprised at how
different it is from the other races of Savannah Sparrow). I met Dharm
Pelegrini and Jim Pike, who told me where to see Baird’s Sandpiper and informed
me of a pelagic trip going out from San Diego on 9/7. I finished the day at San
Joaquin Marsh, where I saw *Baird’s Sandpiper and got a great view of a
Peregrine Falcon that flew over.
I spent the morning of 9/4 in the Laguna Mountains. I was surprised by the
abundance of Western Bluebirds (which I had great difficulty locating on
previous trips to the West) and Pygmy Nuthatches in this area. The powerline
cut east of the Meadow Information Station provided several nice birds,
including Olive-sided Flycatcher, *Cassin’s Vireo, and *Hermit Warbler. On the
way down Kitchen Creek Road, I saw a *Mountain Quail near the gate above
Cibbet’s Flat Campground, where I was surprised to find a Painted Redstart.
After completing some business in the afternoon, I drove down to Imperial Beach
to look for the Belcher’s Gull (which hadn’t been seen for several days). After
scanning the flocks and turning up nothing more interesting than a Reddish
Egret, I turned around to see an injured Western Gull standing right behind me.
It seemed to be asking for help. It came up to me again later. I wanted to
help, but I was not sure how to capture it without injuring it further. That
evening, I tried to find a rehabilitator but had no success. I had a hard time
getting to sleep thinking about that poor helpless bird slowly starving to
death.
I had business on 9/5 but got up very early to go feed the gull. It was not in
the same location, but I thought I saw it across the Tijuana River in an
off-limits area. After completing my business, I went back late in the
afternoon and still could not find it. I was about to give up when two idiots
(who in this case were useful) waded across the river and flushed the
gulls--all but one of them. I crossed the river, but the gull seemed to be more
wary than it was the previous day. It walked away from me until I threw some
food in its direction. It then came charging toward me and devoured the food.
I had business early on 9/6 but was able to contact a rehabilitator (Meryl
Faulkner) during a break. She told me how to safely (for me and the bird!)
capture the gull. In the afternoon, I once again made the tedious trip to the
Tijuana River and was relieved to find the gull on the north side of the river.
I fed it to get close and then sprang after it with a towel. It disgorged the
food and made a valiant effort to get away. I made several attempts to throw
the towel over it and finally got it to stop. When I picked it up, it tried to
bite me with its formidable beak. I carried it back to the car wrapped in the
towel. Since I was not able to obtain a box, I placed the gull on the floor on
the passenger’s side. I talked gently to it while driving, and it was very well
behaved. It learned about F = ma when the car accelerated
but managed to avoid
tipping over. I was worried that the bird could not be saved. Meryl found that
the wing had been broken but had healed (it’s a tribute to the toughness of
this species that the bird survived long enough for this to happen) and that it
should be able to fly after its primaries grow back (they were partially
sheared off). Meryl gave me a tour of her facilities. She is doing a wonderful
job with an amazing range of birds (gulls, terns, herons, swifts, mockingbirds,
meadowlarks, kingbirds, phalaropes, phoebes, jays, doves, orioles, and even
starlings).
On 9/7, I went on a pelagic trip led by Pete Ginsburg, Guy McCaskie, and Stan
Walens. I was lucky to get a spot when someone cancelled their reservation. I
was very excited because it was my first pelagic trip. We saw *Pink-footed and
Black-vented Shearwater, *Leach’s, *Ashy, *Black, and *Least Storm-Petrel,
*Pomarine, *Parasitic, and *Long-tailed Jaeger, *Cassin’s and *Rhinoceros
Auklet, Elegant, Common, Forster’s, and *Arctic Tern, and *Sabine’s Gull. We
got great looks at several of these birds. The Rhinoceros Auklet was sitting on
the water within about 100 feet. The Cassin’s Auklets were flying but were
close enough to see details. A Leach’s Storm-Petrel flew very close and gave a
great look at the white patch. We were fortunate to see Black and Least
Storm-Petrels flying together for size comparison. It was easy to see details
on the relatively large Pink-footed Shearwater. We got great looks at several
Pomarine Jaegers, including one that still had its tail. We saw one highly
unexpected bird about 20 miles or so out — a Mourning Dove! On the way in, we
saw several *Surfbirds on the jetties.