Date: 9/18/26 10:03 pm From: Thomas Slater via groups.io <tomslaterphotography...> Subject: [slocobirding] Clark's Nutcrackers
I was originally going to ride my mtn bike at the Pismo Preserve, but they have more hikers than nutcrackers so I headed up to East Cuesta Ridge after Jay Carroll posted about some nutcrackers. I passed a hiker birder who said go up 3.9 miles. Then two mtn biker birders said they found one lower down (about 3 miles up) so I stopped there. For the first 15 minutes... nada. I got ready to move on. Then I heard two short calls and decided to stick around. Then 5 minutes later one Clark's Nutcracker showed up on the road south of me. It started about 50 yards away and worked its way to within 20' of me. After some dodgy phone photos I decided to finish the ride and go up to the Black Butte Repeater. On the ride back down I saw two more Clark's Nutcrackers near a 20' dead snag just off the road. So I know there were at least 3 up along the east ridge, but there were probably more. No Pinyon Jays. Just one Jay Carrol. Thanks Jay.
Clark's Nutcracker #398 county
Tom Slater
Slater Photography
(805)-441-6945
@surfinslater on Instagram
