Friday Bird Festival Events

Date

Friday, March 5, 5:30 am to 6 pm

Description   

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park contains all the rugged characteristics that most people associate with a desert environment. Even so, it is home to a variety of bird species. This full-day trip will leave early and arrive in the desert as the sun rises. Likely birding locations include the sand dunes at Old Springs Road, Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert SP visitor's center, Borrego Sink, and Tamarisk Grove. Focus species include Long-eared Owl, Greater Roadrunner, Costa's Hummingbird, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Crissal and LeConte's thrashers, Phainopepla, and Black-throated Sparrow. There may be a few stops in the mountains on the return trip. Bob Miller was born and raised in the desert southwest and is knowledgeable on the life, history, and geology of the area. Jeff Coker often leads trips for us with Southwest Birders.

Cost

Leader

Bob Miller and Jeff Coker

Date

Friday, March 5, 6 am to 4 pm

Description   

Palomar Mountain was named for the Band-tailed Pigeons that abound there. Expect to see all three nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Mountain Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Quail, Western Bluebird, and many other mountain denizens. At Lake Henshaw, look for both Bald and Golden eagles as well as gulls, terns, ducks, and American White Pelicans. This trip generally occurs under good weather but goes to slightly over 4,000-feet elevation and is occasionally subject to cold with light snow accumulation. Participants should bring adequate clothing for cold temperatures and footwear adequate for walking in several inches of snow in case needed. Trail hiking over fairly level wooded terrain up to 2 miles is offered. A lunch stop will be made at Bailey's Palomar Resort. John Walters is a retired biology instructor who has been birding in San Diego County off and on for over twenty years. He edits The Skimmer, the newsletter of the San Diego Field Ornithologists. Geoff Rogers is a wildlife biologist who birded casually in his youth but has been at it seriously for over 20 years.  

Cost

Leaders

John Walters and Geoff Rogers

Date

Friday, March 5, 6 am to 3 pm

Description   

This trip into the Tijuana River Valley along the Mexican border will explore fabled birding hotspots like Dairy Mart Pond, Border Field State Park, Bird and Butterfly Garden, Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, and the Imperial Beach Pier. Every border trip sees 85 to 100 species including shorebirds, raptors, and other winter visitors. Special efforts are made to find local specialties such as Wrentit, California Gnatcatcher, California Thrasher, and California Towhee. Other possibilities include Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, eight species of raptors, many species of ducks, and if we're lucky, our on-again, off-again Crested Caracara and Black-throated Magpie Jay. Bill Thompson is the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and author of many books about nature and birds. Robert Patton is a long-time birder in our area and biologist working with the Least Tern recovery program. Tom Blackman is a long time San Diegan and a birder since junior high. He has worked as a photographer for several San Diego State University departments.

Cost

Leaders

Bill Thompson, Robert Patton, and Tom Blackman

Date

Friday, March 5, 6:30 am to 6 pm

Description   

This is one of our most popular and productive birding trips. Participants will visit sage scrub and grasslands areas in the vicinity of the Sierra Juarez Mountains and Laguna Hansen in Mexico. Trip participants can expect to see Pinyon Jay, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Western Grebe, Reddish Egret, Cinnamon Teal, White-tailed Kite, Black Oystercatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, and several "California" birds, such as California Gull, California Quail, California Thrasher, California Towhee, and California Gnatcatcher. Kurt and Cindy Radamaker lead many trips throughout the Southwest and Mexico and are authors of the Field Checklist of the Birds of Baja California. PLEASE NOTE: You will need a passport valid 6 months after the date of this trip. Consider how much gear you are bringing—you will have to carry it across the border on your return.

Cost

Leaders

Kurt and Cindy Radamaker

Date

Friday, March 5, 6:30 am to 4 pm

Description   

This behind-the-scenes trip will highlight local avian conservation efforts at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. The visit will start at Condor Ridge with an overview of the Wild Animal Park's contribution to recovery programs for the California Condor, San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike, and Light-footed Clapper Rail. There will be inside information on avian propagation techniques, disease risk assessments, and mortality investigations, and possible nest-cam videos of nesting condors. We will get a chance to see the condor breeding pens from a short distance, followed by safari ride out to an off-exhibit area to see Cactus Wren habitat restoration. Based on available time, guests will be able to roam other areas of the park. Minimum age is 10 years old; ages 10 to 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Participants must weigh no more than 230 pounds and wear close-toed shoes. Note that food cannot be brought into the park, but concession stands are available. Bruce Rideout is the Director of the Wildlife Disease Laboratories at the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research. He will be joined by park birdkeepers. Karen Straus is a bird photographer who frequents the Zoo and Wild Animal Park looking for volunteer birds. She works with the San Diego Audubon Society. Participation is limited to 15 guests.

Cost

Leaders

Bruce Rideout, Tiana Skrivseth, Kim Roth, and Karen Straus

Date

Description   

North San Diego County boasts several important coastal wetlands. The wetlands encompass habitats as diverse as tidal salt marshes and mudflats, riparian woodlands, and sage scrub that support a wide range of species. Among the many possibilities to be spotted are Green Heron, Light-footed Clapper Rail, Western Snowy Plover, Black-necked Stilt, Royal and Forster's terns, White-tailed Kite, California Quail, White-throated Swift, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Bushtit, California Thrasher, California Gnatcatcher, Belding's Savannah Sparrow, and Lesser Goldfinch. Co-leaders Maryanne Bache and Andy Mauro bring a broad scope of experience to this trip. Maryanne is a field biologist focused on endangered species and is the former education and outreach director of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy. Andy is president of the San Diego Field Ornithologists and a board member of San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy and Buena Vista Audubon.

Cost

Leaders

Maryanne Bache and Andy Mauro

Date

Friday, March 5, 7 am to 3:30 pm

Description   

Portions of San Diego's scenic Pacific coastline feature natural rocky cliffs, as well as rock jetties and breakwaters. These areas are inhabited by a select variety of birds. Trip participants will visit examples of these rocky coastal areas to observe birds such as Brandt's and Pelagic cormorants, Wandering Tattler, Ruddy and Black turnstones, Surfbird, Black Oystercatcher, and even Black-vented Shearwater, Pacific Loon, Brown Pelican, Surf Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Whimbrel, and Heermann's Gull. Stan Walens spends many hours scanning the ocean off La Jolla, amassing an extensive knowledge of these birds.

Cost

Leader

Stan Walens

Date

Friday, March 5, 7:30 am to 3:30 pm

Description   

Old Mission Dam and Santee and Lindo Lakes in the east county are birding jewels surrounded by busy suburbs. Look for Downy and Nuttall's woodpeckers, Wood and Ring-necked ducks, Western Bluebird, Vermilion and Gray flycatchers, Osprey, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned warblers, and maybe even Red-crowned Parrot. Jack Friery is an active member of the San Diego and Palomar Audubon chapters. He has led the Audubon Christmas Bird Count in several areas of San Diego over the recent years. Jim Kerr is an experienced birder and Audubon field trip leader.

Cost

Leaders

Jack Friery and Jim Kerr

Date

Friday, March 5, 8:30 am to 2 pm

Description   

Digiscoping—the marriage of a spotting scope and a digital camera to document wildlife sightings—is the hottest topic in the birding world. Clay Taylor of Swarovski Optik, who has been avidly digiscoping since 2001, will present a 9-hour hands-on seminar on digiscoping. After the indoor session, plan on a field trip to several of San Diego's best birding locations to practice you new skills. Then return to Marina Village to evaluate your results. Topics will include choosing the best camera and scope combination for digiscoping, camera-mounting options, and shooting tips and techniques in the field. Tips on using a digital SLR behind the scope eyepiece will be included. Participants are encouraged to bring their spotting scopes, digital still cameras, camcorders, and scope adaptors.

Cost

Presenter

Clay Taylor

Date

Friday, March 5, 9:30 am to 11 am

Description 

Enjoy this humorous look at developing bird ID skills and what we are REALLY doing out there in the field. Steve Ingraham started writing about optics for birding in the pages of WildBird magazine over 20 years ago. He soon founded Better View Desired, a newsletter to present hands-on, comparative reviews of birding optics. BVD went to the web as betterviewdesired.com in the mid-90s, and Steve also took over the "Tools of the Trade" section of Birding magazine, which he edited for 10 years. He has personally tested just about every binocular and spotting scope to come on the market in the last 20 years, and has played a role in the design of products for several companies. Steve has been with Carl Zeiss Sports Optics since 2002.

Cost

Presenter

Steve Ingraham

Date

Friday, March 5, 9:30 am to 11 am

Description   

The successful birder will have at hand optical equipment that is suited to his or her needs and pocketbook. Explore the options and find how to make objective decisions in the selection of binoculars and scopes. Ben Lizdas of Eagle Optics have years of experience with birding hardware and will guide participants through the many available choices.

Cost

Presenter

Ben Lizdas

Date

Friday, March 5, 11:30 am to 1 pm

Description   

Wintering shorebirds can be difficult, we all know that. When we try to ID them using a field guide our eyes are immediately drawn to the illustrations with the bright breeding plumages. Jim Danzenbaker has co-led over 250 pelagic trips for Shearwater Journeys and has led more than 15 neotropical birding tours to Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador.  He will be leading the 2009 Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris tour to Panama.  Jim has served as a naturalist and leader on seven Antarctic tours. He currently lives in Washington State where he is the Sales Manager for Kowa Optics.

Cost

Presenter

Jim Danzenbaker

Date

Friday, March 5, 11:30 am to 1 pm

Description   

Finding ways to bring birds, butterflies, and other creatures into our own backyards is becoming a popular way to get better acquainted with nature. Native landscape expert Greg Rubin of California's Own Native Landscape Design will provide the tools and ideas to plan your own little piece of nature that will also serve to benefit neighboring wildlife.

Cost

Presenter

Greg Rubin

Date

Friday, March 5, 1:30 pm to 3 pm

Description   

This workshop begins outside with some brief birding on the Marina Village Conference Center grounds to gather bird data and demonstrate use of a GPS unit. Once indoors, the leader will provide an overview and demonstration of eBird, show you how Cornell and Audubon have specialized eBird for California birders, and convince you that eBird is easy, fun, and rewarding. See results immediately when we enter the data on the birds we have just seen outdoors. Brian helped create eBird at Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Cost

Presenter

Brian Sullivan

Date

Friday, March 5, 1:30 pm to 3 pm

Description   

Jeff will explore the finer points of raptor identification, looking at the subtleties beyond the obvious (e.g. square tail, round tail) including wing-flap differences, typical flight profiles in soaring and gliding birds, age and sex characteristics and how these can be beneficial in identification. Several species will be covered with special emphasis on similar species such as Sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks and American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. Jeff will cover various ranges of plumages in the buteos. The Red-tailed Hawk has at least five different, named subspecies, can be either light or dark morph in many of these, and then can be either immature or adult, leaving the average person's head spinning. Jeff will point out the differences between Swainson's, Red-tailed, Ferruginous and Rough-legged hawks in their various plumages and will cover Broad-winged, Short-tailed, and Red-shouldered hawks as well as Osprey and Crested Caracara. Jeff Bouton is the Leica Sports Optics Product Specialist for Birding/Naturalist Markets.

Cost

Presenter

Jeff Bouton

Date

Friday, March 5, 1:30 pm to 3 pm

Description   

birdJam created a revolution in bird song identification by making bird songs and photos fast and easy to access on Apple iPods. Birders have been freed from tape and CD players and can quickly finding birds of North America, Costa Rica, and Sonora , Mexico . Bring your birdJam to this hands-on workshop to learn how to really make your iPod sing. If you don't have a birdJam iPod, come learn what this easy-to-use yet innovative bird identification tool is all about. We'll start with the basics to take your birding to a whole new level with birding-by-ear techniques for learning at home and using birdJam in the field. Denese Van Dyne was active in the design of birdJam while a board member of Atlanta Audubon.

Cost

Presenter

Denese Van Dyne

Date

Friday, March 5, 3:30 pm to 5 pm

Description   

The World War II airforce acronym GISS for "General Impression of Size and Shape” (of an aircraft) has been adopted by birders as a fundamental method of bird identification. Join long-time birding instructor and San Diego Audubon field trip organizer Barbara Moore in learning the basics of beginning birding.  Poring over a field guide is useful, but there are many other factors that can help you quickly know what that mystery bird is. This workshop will cover shore birds and raptors as well as songbirds.  Handouts will be provided.

Cost

Presenter

Barbara Moore

Date

Friday, March 5, 4 pm to 5:15 pm

Description   

Join our leaders for a birding walk along the San Diego River Estuary, just across from the Marina Village Conference Center. Expect to see wintering shorebirds and waterfowl. Barbara Moore is the San Diego Audubon field trip chair and leads dozens of bird walks each year.

Cost

Leader

Barbara Moore and others

Date

Friday, March 5, 5 pm to 8 pm

Description   

Meet fellow birders, compare the day's experiences, and explore the newest in optical equipment while enjoying some refreshing libations and delicious finger foods. At 7 pm the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will screen bird videos from its extensive library collections, highlighting California specialties. Learn about the Lab's Expedition program to capture the sights and sounds of every North American bird species with bonus information on the latest expedition to New Guinea to record Birds of Paradise.  And one more thing...door prizes throughout the evening!

Cost

Presenter

Cornell Lab of Ornithology