I’ve gone out birding a few times the last few days around Isla Vista
without anything crazy, but there were a few birds/spots worth mentioning.
On Monday (10/6) I made a quick stop at Camino Corto. Low activity in the
open space itself where the best bird was a BT gray, but right outside the
open space was an adult male *Orchard Oriole* perched on a wire above La
Fortuna Ln (34.4130473, -119.8668383). This seems like a good area for the
species to overwinter with all the ornamentals around. Also, I wonder if
this could be the same male I had two weeks ago at Sueño Orchard, which was
still yellow but with a lot of chestnut on the underparts. I'm not sure
what their molt cycle is like so I don't know if it would make sense to be
the same bird or not. If anyone has insight on this I'd love to hear it!
Yesterday (10/7) I checked Goleta Beach, which I've been doing regularly
after class to monitor the sizable gull flock, but it hasn't held anything
of note yet. The highlight here was a *Large-billed Savannah Sparrow* on
the bluffs above the west end of the beach (34.4153516, -119.8368723). This
is a very distinct subspecies of Savannah Sparrow that used to winter
regularly in most of socal a century ago, but has become much rarer due to
habitat loss and other issues in both its breeding and wintering ranges.
Most records in the county in the last half century have come from Ocean
Park in Lompoc, with only a handful from the South Coast. Some authors
suggest it should be a distinct species called Large-billed Sparrow (P.
rostratus) so I'm glad I've now seen one just in case there is a future
split. Not sure what popular opinion is on it being a distinct species,
that's another thing I'd love insight on!
Two minutes after getting on my bike this morning (10/8) I heard an
interesting chip and stopped to find a nice *Tennessee Warbler*. This bird
was super vocal and seemed to love a white-flowering tree here (34.4118477,
-119.8677137), but also went into the Tipu across the street.
The only other bird of note today was a *Summer Tanager* in the euc grove
between Hollister and Newport Dr. Props to Ryan for mentioning the spot a
week or two ago (34.4291255, -119.8942394).
Shorebird numbers are still good at COPR, but nothing too notable. Dunlins
are arriving, with 4 at Devereux Beach this morning, up from 1 last week.
Water bird diversity continues to be nice at the COPR Dune Pond, which held
a Wilson's Snipe, 9 Long-billed Dowitchers, 2 continuing WF Ibis, 2+
Virginia Rails (one seen), and a good smattering of ducks.
