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

This morning as I was walking past the Divine Inspiration gallery at 1534 State st. as the return part of my daily walk dog walk I was very surprised to see a Townsend's Warbler foraging in the rose b

Teresa Rounds led the group that birded LLC Park in Goleta (her 30th time as leader). Gage and George Ricard found two Long-eared Owls (of which I only saw and photographed one) through the leaves and

Mid-afternoon I did not find Red-necked Grebe, though a Pacific Loon came within 10 ft of the shore. It swam around for about 10 minutes, mostly preening, then swam out again. There were a total of 8

This afternoon there were 7 females and 1 male Hooded Merganser among the many Mallards. Also nice views of a Say's Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Snowy Egret. Flocks of crows, as well as Brewer's

After scouting Gobernador Canyon with Rob Denholtz and John ? this morning I checked out the nature park and was rewarded with wonderful views of 7 Yellow-crowned Night Herons, (3 adults and 4 juvenil

It was a joy to find a group of 8 males and 2 female Redheads swimming in Lake Los Carneros yesterday late morning. They swam as a group from the north end of the lake toward the dam and then hid in t

I was very happy to get a few views of this county first (I'm told by Wes Fritz) near the 8th st. bridge over Carpinteria creek - which has no water in it. All the other birders were in the creek bed

After reading Steve's email yesterday I decided to go out in the late afternoon. Little Blue was at first barely visible from east end of parking lot (about 4:30) so I walked down onto the beach and a

Having an errand in Goleta this morning I birded both eastern and western portions of Goleta Beach. Did not find the Little Blue Heron. The 5 Black Turnstones were interesting to watch. List is at: ht