Date: 6/3/25 2:39 pm From: Bradley Hacker via groups.io <bradley.r.hacker...> Subject: [sbcobirding] Mono area of the Upper Santa Ynez River
One of my first "back-country" bird trips in SBCo was with Jim Greaves
to the Mono area of the upper Santa Ynez River to see Bells Vireo. I
returned there this morning, but did not spend enough effort to find the
vireo (and the last record--Jim's--is from 2004). I did some birding
there, at P-Bar Flats, and at the Santa Ynez River xing below Jamieson.
The only new birds I recorded were a GB Heron at Mono, NRW Swallow,
Nuthatch, Gnatcatcher, Purple Finch, and Lazuli Bunting at P-Bar.
For those interested in that area, here's an update. The road out there
is gated at the Divide Peak turnoff a couple of miles past Romero
Saddle; that road has been closed so many years now (10?), that I assume
it will remain closed--altho it is perfectly driveable down to Jamieson
Lake. The road is significantly damaged by erosion west of Pendola
Station/P-bar Flats--and locally missing entirely due to erosion by the
SY River; almost assuredly this section has been abandoned. Also
abandoned and overgrown is the road that used to go from Pendola past
Monte Nido and Monte Arido to Hwy 33. I remember the old Mono campground
area as a meadow(?); it's all head-high bushes now. The trail that used
to make it possible to explore the pretty-large-for-SBCo bosque around
there is completely overgrown (a few plastic-tape flags remain).
