Date: 10/22/26 8:30 am From: Thomas Benson via groups.io <tbenson...> Subject: [inlandcountybirds] Southeastern CA RBA: October 22, 2026
RBA
* California
* Southeastern
* October 22, 2026
* CASE26.10.22
This is the Southeastern CA weekly RBA summary. We cover Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. California Bird Records Committee review species are denoted by asterisks. To report a bird POST TO INLANDCOUNTYBIRDS (https://groups.io/g/inlandcountybirds). If there is some reason that you cannot post there, please e-mail or call/text Tom Benson at <tbenson...> or (909) 648-0899.
Birds mentioned:
*FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK*
Arctic Tern
Black Storm-Petrel
*WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL*
Least Storm-Petrel
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
Evening Grosbeak
Harris's Sparrow
Northern Waterthrush
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
Two EVENING GROSBEAKS were seen on private property in Running Springs Oct 16-20 (Scott Taylor).
An EVENING GROSBEAK was at Barstow Community College on Oct 16 (Luca Cinus).
RIVERSIDE COUNTY
An EVENING GROSBEAK was at Lake Hemet on Oct 15 (Robin Roberts).
An EVENING GROSBEAK was seen along the PCT near Palm View Peak on Oct 17 (Alan Brelsford).
An EVENING GROSBEAK was at Barker Dam in Joshua Tree NP on Oct 19 (Jesse Pline).
IMPERIAL COUNTY
The *FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK* continued at the Alamo River Wetlands through Oct 19 (Henry Detweiler).
An ARCTIC TERN was seen at the west end of Bowles Road on Oct 20 (Jesse Pline).
Storm-petrel numbers are slowly diminishing at the end of Young Road, with up to four BLACK and three LEAST continuing through 20 Oct and up to three *WEDGE-RUMPED* STORM-PETRELS continuing through 18 Oct (multiple observers).
A WODDHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAY was seen at the west end of Young Road on Oct 17 (Ted Keyel).
A HARRIS'S SPARROW was seen at the Salton Sea NWR headquarters on Oct 18 (Nancy Strohm).
A NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH was at the IID Wetlands in Niland on Oct 19 (Henry Detweiler).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Birds included in this weekly summary are those that are considered casual or of less than annual occurrence in San Bernardino, Riverside, or Imperial Counties, or in some cases regionally within these areas. If you do find or see something of interest, whether it be a geographical or seasonal rarity, evidence of local range expansion, or a novel breeding record, I'd recommend sharing that information with the CBRC, North American Birds subregional editors, or regional listservs as appropriate. Information for contacting these entities is available below.
Please submit your documentation of all California Bird Records Committee review species (denoted by asterisks) to CBRC Secretary Tom Benson at <secretary...> or via the CBRC website: https://www.californiabirds.org/report_sighting.html
CBRC review species and birds of local or seasonal rarity should be reported to the North American Birds (https://www.aba.org/north-american-birds/) county coordinators. They are:
IMPERIAL COUNTY: Chris Dean, <chrisdeanbirder...>
INYO COUNTY: Chris and Rosie Howard, <chris93514...>
KERN COUNTY: Kelli Heindel-Levinson, <kkheindel...>
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: David Rankin, <david.rankin...>
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: Alexander E. Koonce, <sandy_koonce...>
************
Other dying birding listservs that occasionally include reports of birds in southern California are:
A schedule of San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society field trips is available on the SBVAS website at https://www.sbvas.net/field-trips
************
Bird status and distribution references that every southeastern California birder should own:
Birds of southern California: status and distribution (1981), by Kimball L. Garrett and Jon L. Dunn
Birds of the Salton Sea: status, biogeography, and ecology (2003), by Michael A. Patten, Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt (update: https://archive.westernfieldornithologists.org/archive/V56/56(2)-p126-p142.pdf)
Birds of the Lower Colorado River Valley (1991), by Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Robert D. Ohmart, William C. Hunter, and Bertin W. Anderson
