I was thankful for the dense fog that rolled in yesterday evening, but it made seeing birds more challenging. The shapes of the islands were vaguely distinguishable. I did see a bit to my surprise two

I promised a post of some of this morning's birds at East Beach, including the sole Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage. It was mostly foraging in bits of kelp and not near the water. It's always fun

I was down at the end of Garden Street from about 10 until 11:30 this morning. I was fascinated by the black bellied plovers still showing their black bellies. Then a bird showed up that I had never s

Last night I took a leisurely walk out to the 3rd viewing platform and sat there for a while. I observed 5 Snow Egrets, 5 Black Skimmers skimming and one resting on the small island, a Mallard with he

I found the bright red bird a bit after noon in the location previously described by David Levashff.. Lori Gaskin was already there as was a young UCSB worker named Chris who was monitoring vegetation

At 8 a.m. this morning there was a pair of hooded mergansers swimming in the pond. They were alone until the Mallards entered after which I could not refind the mergansers. There seems to be a residen

I walk through Alice Keck Park at least once a day with my lab but today I returned to bird a bit. I observed a dark-eyed Junco female, Song Sparrow, and two Yellow-rumped Warblers in the area around

They seem to return to Anisq'Oyo Park in Isla Vista around the time the students leave (and it is possible to park on the streets). They are not members of the Merga genus - as the biological name is

Late this morning I birded a small area immediately surrounding the upper parking lot and children's playground. It was quiet with no other people around. First off I saw a Townsend's Warbler, then a

I posted earlier about Snowy Plovers at East Beach. I just got a response from Mark Holmgren that my photo from the same date and location was a Mountain Plover. It's a species I've only seen once bef

Strolling along the beach just below Chase Palm Park I counted at least 20 Western Snowy Plovers, first foraging along waterline then resting in dry sand. I don't remember having seen them at this par

I spent about 30 minutes yesterday evening observing birds from the 3rd platform. I briefly saw a Sora poke out from reeds, also a Common Yellowthroat. There were 3 Killdeer, 3 Dowitchers (I think sho

I have seen what appears to be an all white Eurasian collared dove along with a regular Eurasian collared dove on East Valerio Street above the 400 block. I'm wondering if it's a pet bird that has esc

In my post this morning I incorrectly stated that the Marbled Godwit had a downcurved bill - which was a mistake on my part. It's bill was upcurved and two-toned whereas the Whimbrels had downcurved b

Yesterday evening I made my first summertime visit to the now quite attractive channel stretching from about Stearns wharf to the end of Garden st. Just below parking lot I first saw a fairly large gr

This morning 33 Santa Barbara birders joined Rob Lindsey in a 3-hour field trip to this lovely Santa Ynez ranch bordering Lake Cachuma much of the way. Some of the most experienced area birders partic

I birded the whole perimeter of lake hoping to find the common merganser reported yesterday - but didn't. There were lots of birds including 4 Ring-necked ducks, Mallards, Ruddy, Shovelers, two Pied-b

I spent an hour or so in the harbor this afternoon hoping to find the Red-throated Loons reported yesterday. I did indeed find one and watched it come into view near the entrance to Marina 4 and the p

This morning Dolores Pollock and David Levashev led a rather large group around the park, with Guy Tingos lending his expertise as well. We had a nice assortment of birds, noted the paucity of ducks -

On Sunday 1/20 a walk around Lake Los Carneros was encouraging to see so much water. A White-tailed Kite perched obligingly. Tuesday the 22nd I was entertained by the 4 noisy Helmeted Guineafowl, nati