I'm very sad to report the death of Santa Barbara birding legend Karen Bridgers. She died this afternoon in Utah with her family at her side. She's flying with the Red-headed Woodpeckers... Hugh Ranso

Here are a couple more photos. My feeling is it's a Tundra Swan. You can click on the photos to get a closer look. https://www.flickr.com/photos/zonetail/ Hugh Ranson Santa Barbara Quoting "Dave Compt

A good number of Caspian Terns roosted at Devereux this afternoon. Through binoculars I counted 62. I took a photo and carefully counted them at home, and there were actually 82! The Avocet was also s

Did not see Tufted Duck or Eurasian Wigeon at Devereux this afternoon. An Avocet and Bonaparte's Gull were present. Hugh Ranson Santa Barbara

The Laughing Gull continues in Goleta. It was at Goleta Beach, by the pilings in the slough behind the restaurant. The hood is almost complete, and the bill has reddish cast from certain angles. There

This afternoon the male Tufted Duck and male Eurasian Wigeon continued at the slough, seen from the second pullout, albeit distantly. The wigeon was swimming alone and calling constantly; the female h

There's a male at Lake Los Carneros in the SE corner. Not much else on the lake. Hugh Ranson SB

The Tufted Duck and the pair of Eurasian Wigeon continue at Devereux Slough today , 4/1, best viewed from the second pullout. Hugh Ranson SB

Nico and I walked around Devereux Slough today. The Tufted Duck continues, best seen from the second pullout. The Tropical Kingbird was vocalizing and flycatching from the green fence the borders the

This morning/early afternoon (3/18) I took a walk around Devereux Slough. Lots of birds. Highlights were the continuing pair of Eurasian Wigeon, by the road between the two pull outs; 3 Short-billed D

A White-throated Sparrow made an appearance this morning (3/12) in my Santa Barbara Westside yard. Other recent Westside birds include Hooded Oriole on March 8th and Pacific-slope Flycatcher on March

A non-birder friend of mine just posted a photo on Facebook, taken at Goleta Beach yesterday afternoon. It's a photo of the islands and ocean, with a few gulls resting on the beach in the foreground.

The Bohnett Park Warbling Vireo was seen on count day, despite being missed on my last four visits to the park--phew! A Swamp Sparrow was fairly easily observed in tules, and on the ground, from the C

I could not find the Elings Park Sage Thrasher today, and I will be unable to look for it for the next couple of days. If you get a chance to go to the park, please post results, positive or negative.

The Elings Park thrasher was easily seen late this afternoon--until 4:45--in the previously described location. It was feeding voraciously, which makes me fear it's about to scarper... . Let's hope no

This morning there was a Sage Thrasher at Elings Park, Santa Barbara, between where the paragliders take off and the green water tank. It comes out onto the ground with a flock of White-crowned Sparro

At 11:20 I saw one Summer Tanager across from Vieja Valley School, in the same fruiting tree where there were three tanagers yesterday. No oriole today. I walked up to Vieja Drive and turned left. Her

Opposite the entrance to Vieja Valley School on Nogal Drive, Santa Barbara, are a couple of trees loaded with reddish-purple fruit. As I approached this area, I briefly saw a distant green wingbarless

This morning I took a walk around the Wilcox property. It was pretty quiet bird wise, apart from a Peregrine eating prey in a euc on the bluffs. I didn't pay much attention to the prey until I got hom

Three White Pelicans flew in to Lake Los Carneros at 2:50 p.m. They circled for a long time, so long that I lost patience with them and didn't see if they landed. One apparent Thayer's Gull at the dam