The Goleta Birder

  I was originally scheduled for a weeklong trip out on Santa Barbara Island to look for migrant birds but the government shutdown put paid to that. As an antidote to this disappointment, I decided to make a quick 3.5 day to northern Baja California (BCN). The main motive was to try to add a Blackpoll Warbler to my Mexico list, as there had been a few moving through southern California in recent days. I was also expecting to make a few additions to my BCN list, depending on which migrants or vagrants showed up. Kurt and Cindy Radamaker generously allowed me to stay with them at Bajamar and I arrived there on Saturday evening. The next morning, we headed down to Parque Riviera in Ensenada where a Blackpoll Warbler had been reported a couple of days previously, along with a Virginia’s (a BCN tick). Needless to say, a thorough check of the park, assisted by Carrizo Plains birder Russ Namitz, drew a blank. A Merlin was the highlight. Ironically, Russ was also in Baja as a result of t...

 After my relatively successful visit on September 23, a check of the weather revealed that heavy overcast would continue through the weekend. I was able to get pretty much the last place on the boat to Scorpion on Sunday September 28. After a typically uneventful crossing, other than the mandatory dolphin pods, I arrived on the island around 9:45. I started birding in the kayak storage area on the north side of the creek bed by the beach as I could hear a Yellow Warbler-like chip there. I eventually located the bird and confirmed it as a Yellow Warbler, while also seeing a few sparrows in the area. In an attempt to miss the crowds, I headed up the north side of the creek bed before cutting over into the campground. As I reached the edge of the campground I noticed a Merlin dashing around over the tops of the eucalyptus trees and also heard an oriole chattering that transpired to be a Bullock’s. I made my way through the campground, seeing very little there. The second fig patch ...