A couple of days ago, I checked out the row of Tamarisk Trees in Carpinteria that separate the driving range from the skate park parking lot. The driving range is almost non-functional these days, so there was little risk of getting hit by golf balls. There have sometimes been good birds there in the past. Best bird was a Willow Flycatcher; otherwise Yellow-rumps, a Warbling Vireo, and a few other common birds were all I could turn up.
I have been checking the pond NE of Mesa and Los Carneros Roads but have yet to turn up the elusive Gallinule; however, a Sora has been in plain view a couple of times and this morning, I heard a Marsh Wren.
This morning, I also checked out the UCSB Organic Garden across from the Storke field Parking lot. I used to bird this place regularly when I worked on campus, and sometimes got interesting birds there. No such luck this morning, just common species. However, I noted that the Walnut Trees had lots of Sapsucker holes and that two persimmon trees at the rear of the garden have ripening fruit. If not harvested right away, persimmons are very attractive to a lot of birds.
I had a lot of activity from common birds along the creek at the Camino Corto open space this morning, but no sign of the American Redstart.
The Hollister Avenue Tech Park Has not had much of interest for the past couple of days.
Florence Sanchez
