Monterey - One of my favorite birding locations in the USA - wide variety of species & habitats, amazingly scenic with most birding locations from 0 to 20 mins. away from the lodging.My goal was to bird the top birding hotspots in Monterey County from Sept 18 - 23, find 170+ species, spend all 5 nights in 1 nice hotel versus changing hotels, and travel with a talented flexible team of birding friends [Leslie, Dan, Lisa & Bill & Violeta].What is v= ery convenient is being able to fly [only 1 stop] to the Monterey Airport -only mins from our lodging [Holiday Inn Express at Monterey Bay] - located= on the edge of 1 of the top birding locations - Laguna Grande Park with a pond, a trail around the pond with good cover. When we checked into the room, we enjoyed instantly Summer Tanagers, Blk Phoebes, Anna's Humm, Calif-Scrub Jays, Kingfisher, Ruddy Ducks, Pied-b Grebes, Calif & Western Gulls, Yellow Warblers by looking down over the railing. Other walks around the pond we enjoyed several other species like Nashville & Orange-cr & Wilson's W, Warbling Vireo, Sora, Virginia Rails, Tropical Kingbirds, Peregrine Falcon & W Screech Owls. Day 1 - Check-in & head off after lunch to Fort Ord NM grasslands hoping for Burrowing Owls - missed but many Bushtits, Wrentits, Ca-Scrub Jays, Anna's & 1 Blk-chinned Humm, Red-s Hawks, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eurasian Collared Doves, N Ravens, Bewick Wrens, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Oak Titmouse, Western Bluebirds, Spotted Towhees, Brewer's BlackbirdsClose by is Jack's Peak Park where you drive up a windy road to a peak overlooking Monterey - great habitat along the road for owls, woodpeckers, passerines, esp late in the afternoon when these species get active - many Acorn Wood, a few Nuttall's W & Flickers, Pygmy Nuthatches, Pacific Wren, Steller's Jays, Calif Thrashers, Calif Towhees, many Slate-c Juncos [Oregon race], several Townsend's W, Hutton's Vireo, Band-tailed Pigeons along with many Bushtits, Chickadees, Wrentits, Scrub Jays, Towhees, etcAt the base of the road, there is a field that was very productive for flocks of Calif Quail, Am Kestrels, Wht-tailed Kites, Say's Phoebes, Gt Horned Owl, Wht-cr Sp, Western Bluebirds plus all the Juncos, jays, etcDinner & crash after a long day Day 2 - After breakfast at hotel, off to the Salinas River NWR that includes Jetty Rd & Moonglow Dairy wetlands for shorebirds. We caught the incoming tide early pushing thousands of shorebirds in front of us - what a sight just below our viewing area were hundreds of Whimbrels, Marbled Godwits, Long-b Curlews mixed among hundreds of Long-b Dowitchers, Willets, Least & Western Sand, Blk-b & 1 Pacific Golden Plover, Blk-n Stilts, few Baird's & Semipalmated S, 1 Red-necked Phalarope, few Gt Yellowlegs, 2 Wht-tailed Kites, Gt & Snowy Egrets, 1 Short-billed Gull, flocks of Br & Wht Pelicans flyingby - it was hard to move from that spotShort distance up the dirt road along the channel were roosting Elegant [50] & Forster's Terns surrounded by Semipal & Snowy Plovers. Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings plus Stilts, Willets, etcIn the channel were Western & Clark's & Eared Grebes - road edge were Savannah & Wht-cr & Golden-cr Sparrows - along the beach by/on the breakwater were hundreds of Brandt's & D-c Cormorants, pelicans plus many gulls including Heermann's - along the beach were many godwits plus 1 flock [500?] ofSanderlings that would fly up looking like a cloud - Parasitic Jaegers were harassing the gulls over the ocean, a Peregrine Falcon shot over our heads, several Humpback Whales were spouting a short distance out from the breakwater, 1 C Murre was off the beach, Dolphins appeared by the whales, Sea Otters were lounging in the channel - a good start to the morning.Lunch & onto Point Pinos Sea watch location - constant sea birds moving plus we enjoyed several Blk Oystercatchers & Blk Turnstones, many Pelagic Cormorants, 1 Pigeon Guillemot, C Murres & our last day a Marbled Murrelet, Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, many Sea Lions plus Rizzo's Dolphins just off the rocks - made a few other stops Day 3 - Had an early start as we headed to the Pinnacles NP on the west side - on the way into the Park, spotted a Bobcat, Coyotes, Jack Rabbits, deer, Lark Sp & W Meadowlarks, flocks of Calif Quail in the road - then a Gt Roadrunner. Once at the parking area to start the hike up into the mountains, we spotted 2 Peregrines along the cliff edges, more W Bluebirds, Bushtits, Wrentits, Bewick's Wrens, many Acorn Wood - loads of TV but at 11 am, 3 Calif Condors sailed over our heads plus Wht-thr Swifts - Condor being our main target birdHowever, we were still missing 2 other target species - Yellow-b Magpie & Lawrence's Goldfinches. We drove around to the east side of the mts up windy dirt roads - total wilderness until we arrived in cattle country with fields. There we found several Yellow-b Magpies, mixed flocks of Lawrences & Lesser Goldfinches - all is good!Then out in total wilderness, a total shocker happen - my old friend Debi Shearwater pulls up, we chat for a while & she volunteers to lead us to some of her favorite birding spots - 1st spot had several Bell's Sparrows plus Fox Sp, many Lawrence's Goldfinches, Calif Quail, Yellow-r Warblers, Wild Turkey - from there we went to some expansive rolling grasslands where we enjoyed several Golden & Bald Eagles, Ferruginous Hawk, N Harrier, many Am Kestrels & Loggerhead Shrikes, dark morph Red-tailed Hawks, 1Phainopepla - as we gave Debi our many thanks & left, we came to a corner & on a post next to the car was a Short-eared Owl! Day 4 - our pelagic boat trip experience from 7:30 am to 4 pm on semi-rolling seas making for challenging viewing - highlights were several Blk-footed Albatross, Pomarine Jaegers, Brown Booby, South Polar Skua, Cassin's Auklets, Black Storm & Ashy Storm-Petrels, Red-necked & Red Phalaropes, hundreds of Sooty Shearwater plus many Buller's & a few Pink-footed Shearwaters, several Sabine's Gulls feeding over all the Humpbacked Whales - given the challenging seas, time to end the day after dinner Day 5 - After breakfast, back to Jack's Peak Rd & the fields - the key target in the afternoon was driving up into the Los Padres Nat. Forest to Chew's Ridge & China Camp to the high elevations along more curvy dirt roads to see/hear Mt Quail. Once we got near the fire tower, we worked that area getting many W Bluebirds, some Purple Finches, Brown Creeper & Red-b & Wht B & Pygmy Nuthatches, Acorn W, many jays, Hutton's Vireos, Band-tailed Pigeons, Golden-cr Sparrows Bewick's Wrens - finally a Mountain Quail started calling to our relief. Day 6 - After breakfast, we returned to Jetty Rd in thick fog to check out the shorebirds, drove north slightly to Zmudowski SP marsh & pond - before we got to the pond, we found a shallow pond with hundreds of Red-necked, Red & Wilson's Phalaropes swirling around - further up by the pond were Shovelers, Gadwalls, Blk-c Night Heron, Caspian Terns, Marsh Wrens, Wht Pelicans- made 1 quick drive-by at Elkhorn Slough to view Avocets, many Blk-n Stilts & other shorebirdsThen on to the plane for the long trip home. Final tally for the trip was 172 species with many highlights, had pretty ideal weather & tides, great eating & a bottle of wine at the end to celebrate a great adventure Strickland Wheelock Uxbridge Ma
