A happy by-product of our second child going to school in California is that Amy and I have the perfect excuse to go visit the Golden State. Not that I would ever do any birding during a family trip, but you know, it’s hard not to see some great birds when you just happen to stop at a wildlife refuge or stumble into a local park that happens to be a bright red eBird hotspot!
I was especially excited to head to California a couple of weeks ago because, as previously reported, I was perilously close to breaking my all-time single year species record of 527 birds. In fact, when Amy and I landed in Sacramento and headed up to Chico, I needed only one bird to hit 528 species for the year. What would my “go ahead bird” be? (And yes, that is an homage to the upcoming World Series, which happens to feature a team named after birds!)
When we arrived, I quickly finagled a couple of birding opportunities, but saw only species I had seen on our last trip to California in August: California Scrub-Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and the like. My biggest discovery was a White-winged Dove at the Panera’s near the hotel! It was a rare bird so far north in California’s Central Valley, but not unheard of. Still, I felt proud to have spotted the distinct white stripe across each wing as it flew—undoubtedly hoping to score one of Panera’s kitchen sink cookies!
The next morning, I headed out to the home of a close childhood friend who just happens to live outside of Chico in an agricultural area. I had almost reached her place, when I noticed birds feeding on a coyote carcass on the side of the road. I saw Turkey Vultures and ravens. Then, I saw something that got my heart racing: magpies!
Not just any magpies. I knew that the Black-billed Magpies we had back home in Montana were unlikely in this part of California. No, these were Yellow-billed Magpies—a bird I had failed to see on our last trip in August! Ka-ching! My record shattered like falling glass! And with a California endemic species no less! Personally, I couldn’t have been happier. YBMAs are some of my favorite birds, and hold an interesting history, too:
“This species was named by John James Audubon in 1837 (as Corvus nutallii, corrected the following year to nuttalli) in honor of the ornithologist Thomas Nuttall, who collected the first specimen near Santa Barbara, California. Nuttall was a prodigious botanical collector and ornithologist who authored a Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada.” —Birds of the World database by Cornell Lab of Ornithology (accessed Oct. 19, 2025)
Later that day, I picked up an “insurance bird” at the Llano Seco refuge just southwest of Chico, where Amy and I delighted in Sandhill Cranes, Black-necked Stilts, and my 529th bird of the year, Greater White-fronted Goose.
But my fall California birding adventures had just begun!
After a few wonderful days with our child, Amy flew home from Sacramento, and my high school buddy Scott (see Scott’s Guest Post about the Morro Bay Bird Festival), picked me up for an additional four days of exploration. As I’ve mentioned, my emphasis lately has not been so much chasing target species, but exploring places I’ve never before birded, and Scott indulged me to the hilt. After he collected me in Sacramento we explored the Sacramento River delta, hitting Cosumnes River Preserve, where we got a little shorebird action—and a LOT more Sandhill Cranes and Greater White-fronted Geese. On the following days, we hit a huge variety of habitats as we hiked through oak woodlands, explored the large abandoned—and very birdy—grounds of the Sonoma Developmental Center, and scoured rocky shores and intertidal areas in American Canyon, Golden Gate National Recreational Area, Bolinas, and Bodega Bay. I loved every location and, not surprisingly, my “insurance bird” list grew.
I picked up Mute Swan in American Canyon as Scott and I gleefully observed thousands of shorebirds including Western and Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits, and Black-bellied Plovers. That afternoon, we saw my FOY (First Of Year) White-tailed Kites at a place called Buchli Station Road.
Our favorite—and most productive—day happened October 15th. With a visit to Rodeo Lagoon, we found one of my favorite California birds, Wrentits, along with Western Gulls, which I had somehow managed not to see the entire year! At the nearby Bolinas Lagoon, we also observed hundreds of Elegant Terns and my trip MVB (Most Valuable Bird), a Whimbrel.
Another bird I had somehow failed to see all year was Red-shouldered Hawk, but as we made our way north toward Point Reyes, Scott suddenly shouted, “Red-shouldered!” We pulled over to look at this handsome creature perched on a power line and even got to see it nab some kind of morsel from roadside weeds. The funny part? We saw four more Red-shouldered Hawks on our drive back to Scott’s house in Glen Ellen! I call that a Grand Slam!
One thing that made the trip so fun was eating lots of great food and kicking back to watch the MLB playoffs with Scott each evening. I hadn’t seriously watched baseball since Amy and I were still childless more than twenty years before, and it was wonderful to lean back, relax, and watch grown adults try to hit balls with sticks. Goooo Ohtani!
For our final day of birding, Scott drove me to Bodega Bay, one of my favorite places in California. While studying at Cal I had taken an ichthyology course here one summer, and now that I was a birder, the place held even more charm. On the rocks below Bodega Head, Scott and I were astonished to see a group of sixteen Surfbirds—far more than I had ever seen in one place! We also got great looks at both Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorants, and spotted a Pigeon Guillemot in the far distance.
After a lunch of fish tacos, we headed up to the beaches north of Bodega Bay and were treated to a second Whimbrel sighting and more than 120 Surf Scoters casually ducking the breakers offshore. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the trip, and I am grateful to Scott both for being such a great host and for his patience when I was experiencing a blood sugar meltdown at Bodega Head. Of course, you may be wondering where my year list stands now, and I’m happy to report that I am now at 537 species. Will there be any more? I don’t know, but 550 seems awfully tempting, so stay tuned!
Update: Just before posting this, I picked up bird #538 for the year, Lapland Longspur, in some fields northwest of Billings!
Just for fun, can you name the birds and places above? Answers in the nest—I mean next—post!
Good times and great birding, yay!
550 or bust, amigo!
But Roger, who are you rootin’ for in the Series?
Its karma that you overtook your record with a Yellow-billed Magpie, especially since Mr. Nuttall first observed it near our old childhood town of Santa Barbara. It would be cheating if I partaked in the questions, but no one else is chiming in. Come on peoples. I will say that am proud that I insisted in hiking up that odd canyon above Rodeo Lagoon at Fort Cronkite for the main purpose of finding one of your needed birds, and you got such a great shot of it. Thank you for the kind words, even though I failed at finding you a Snowy Plover, and interesting you in more than one beer the entire trip. Roger, my head hangs low. It was a great trip, even if we didn’t drive to Pinnacles to see Condors.
But dude… (dramatic pause) you really need to watch the movie Listers on YouTube. People here would love to read your review of it. But be sure to give yourself at least a week to serious ponder on how the movie affects your birding, and perhaps your FEEELINGS about your own identity as a birder. People want to hear about your feelings. Everyone is talking about it. They’re asking me, “What does Sneed think about LISTERS?”
It WAS a great trip, and you shouldn’t hang your head low for any reason. Snowy Plovers are always iffy–and we didn’t even including California Condors on our agenda. As for the beer, I know I am a disappointment to you and Roger. I mean, I’ve visited Chico THREE TIMES and still haven’t taken a Sierra Nevada Brewery tour. Then again, don’t you both want me as sharp as I can be for birding each morning? (Okay, don’t answer that.)
AND you will be proud to know that, partly on your urging, I did watch LISTERS with some friends last night. Loved it and thought it was very well done. And it was fun to practice ID’ing the birds. I took special satisfaction in how they basically gave up on shorebird identification, which they had not earned the right to tackle anyway. Also have to say I agree with them about the extreme listing community, which is fairly silly and burns up way too much of our planet’s resources. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see how my lists are going, but as I’ve mentioned, I am a fairly opportunistic and laid back birder/lister and much less inclined to chase rarities across the state than I used to. I am fortunate to have a lot of travel work opportunities come my way, which affords me a chance to bird in a lot of places–and to have great friends such as you and Roger who invite me on wonderful birding excursions. Maybe I’ll write more about this in another blog.
Oh, I forgot to add that I’m rooting for the Bluebirds, even though I’m an American and the Dodgers are from Cali and its Jackie Robinson’s team. It’s mostly because they embody teamwork. And LA won last year.
Okay, if you think the BlueBIRDS are playing, I question if you even know what baseball IS! Was that an autocorrect error? And I’m appalled that you as a Californian use the word “Cali”. That said, I would be happy with either team winning. They are both fun and exciting to watch, but I feel like the Blue Jays have just a bit more hitting talent overall, so am thinking that’s how it will go.
Bluejays all the way, baby! First of all, how can we not root for a team named after a bird species?! While I have a little residual Bay Area dislike of the Dodgers, I don’t actually hate this team. They have incredible players. And as a Red Sox fan, manager Dave Roberts will always have a place in my heart for his theft of second base in the 9th inning of game 4 of the 2004 ALCS vs the damn Yankees. (Pro tip: the 4-part Netflix series “The Comeback” about the 2003-4 Red Sox is a gem!) But the Dodgers have too much money, and are verging on a dynasty, and we can’t have that. And of course in these horrible times, it’s easy to root for Oh Canada, to stick it to the lunatics ruling us right now.
Sneed and beer? Pretty much a lost cause. I hear that the Vegas odds of Sneed visiting Sierra Nevada in Chico during Tessa’s college years are opening at 20:1. I wouldn’t take those odds. Sneed, you need to enroll in my one-week beer appreciation crash course. It’ll only costa ya one week of birding in Montana next year. 😉
Ah, thanks for your insights on this hot topic. Having grown up in Southern California, I naturally have to root for the Dodgy-Wodgys, but would not at all be disappointed if the Jays win, too. As far as the college visit beer odds? Well, you’re probably in the right, ahem, ballpark there. It’s not that I don’t LIKE a good brew. it’s more about not feeling fuzzy the next morning, which of course is the birdiest time of day! We’ll see . . .