Cross-posting from Discord: A couple additional notes for anyone thinking
about going to the Banner Grade vismig spot (mostly to please use common
sense for birding and safety)..
The road is very curvy and Chris's viewing spot does not have much room for
parking. Where the Pauls were there's a better pull-off, but still be
careful as a lot of people zoom up and down the canyon. Most pull-offs up
and down the canyon from that pin will also have birds moving.
The flights that I've seen from there have been fairly difficult, as the
lighting is usually challenging, and there isn't much lead-time to see the
birds. Due to lighting and busy background, photos are more challenging
than some other vismig sites like Butterbredt and Bear Divide.
Happy birding,
-Ted Keyel
Oceanside, CA
On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 1:11 PM <lehman.paul...> via groups.io
<lehman.paul...> wrote:
> A number of us have been stewing over the need to explore more of San
> Diego County's desert slope in the mountains to find some good
> morning-flight sites. This spring, a few folks have now given Banner Grade
> a try, and the results are encouraging. Too bad it is so far away for
> almost everyone. There are a number of prospective sites up and down the
> grade, but the one Paul Mulholland and I tried today (Weds) AM was one
> checked earlier this month but later in the AM than optimal by Chris Hinkle
> and then by Ted Keyel and Nick Thorpe. The site is at approx. 33.0694,
> -116.5525--in fact, that is the downhill side of the site, with a large
> gravel pullout just 50 feet before that, where the flight-line actually
> starts. This morning, birds were streaming by uphill already just after
> first light, and already started tailing off by 7:30AM--although perhaps
> every day could well be a bit different as to start and end times and as to
> which exact spot would be best to stand in this 100-foot+ wide corridor.
> The birds came fast and furious for the first hour (up to 100/minute), many
> birds just shot by, and it took both of us all we could muster standing a
> bit apart to try to tally the flight. Clearly multiple observers spread out
> a bit would be much better than just one person. Having a head-wind blowing
> down the valley/grade is very helpful to keep the birds low and likely to
> up the totals. Totals for this morning from 5:50-8:00AM were:
>
>
> Top Species:
>
> W. Warbling-Vireo 430 (a new single-site high count for the county)
>
> N. Yellow Warbler 120 (a new single-site high count for the county)
>
> Wilson's Warbler 200
>
> Western Tanager 225 (a new single-site high count for the county)
>
> Black-headed Grosbeak 130 (a new single-site high count for the county)
>
> passerine sp. 400
>
>
> Others:
>
> Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
>
> Hammond's Flycatcher 1
>
> Western Flycatcher 4
>
> empidonax sp. 5
>
> Cassin's Vireo 1
>
> Barn Swallow 2
>
> Cliff Swallow 2
>
> Swainson's Thrush 1
>
> Phainopepla 17 (two migrant flocks)
>
> Lawrence's Goldfinch 3
>
> Yellow-breasted Chat 1 (in active migration)
>
> Bullock's Oriole 7
>
> MacGillivray's Warbler 1
>
> Orange-crowned Warbler 8 (mostly fairly dull but not particularly gray
> headed)
>
> Nashville Warbler 1
>
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
>
> Bl-thr Gray Warbler 8
>
> Hermit Warbler 5
>
> Townsend's Warbler 17
>
> Lazuli Bunting 27
>
>
> --Paul Mulholland & Paul Lehman, San Diego
>
>
>
>
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