Date: 2/1/26 2:44 pm From: Tom Benson via groups.io <thomasabenson...> Subject: [inlandcountybirds] SBVAS Salton Sea field trip, January 31
Yesterday, January, 31, the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society held its annual winter field trip to the Salton Sea. We started at the Salton Sea SRA at the north end and worked our way south through Niland, Calipatria, and Brawley to the south end of the Salton Sea at Unit 1. We tallied a total of 91 species, seeing most of the regional winter specialties and a few of the rarities. Highlights are noted below and an eBird trip report is available here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/471039.
At the Salton Sea SRA, a female SURF SCOTER was mixed in with a large flock of Redheads offshore. In Niland, we briefly saw the continuing TROPICAL KINGBIRD perched in a tall eucalyptus tree west of Nieto Road, but it flew out of sight before most of the trip participants could see it. At the Earthrise Nutritionals algae farm in Calipatria, we were able to scope three continuing CAVE SWALLOWS perched among the multitudes of Barn Swallows on the utility wires on the east side of the facility. At the west end of Bowles Road, we were scanning through the ducks, shorebirds, and nesting Neotropic Cormorants when a continuing ROSEATE SPOONBILL flew past us to the southwest and then turned around and passed us again as it returned northeast. It was apparently flushed by a bus full of birders getting a private tour of the restoration area that is off limits to the public, so we were very lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see it. And of course, we ended the day at Unit 1 of the Salton Sea NWR watching the hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and thousands of Snow and Ross's Geese going to roost for the evening.
Tom BensonRedlands, CA
