Twenty PASers took the challenge of a long day, and explored the route to Idyllwild for birds. We found 66 species on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday. It was a convivial group, with many busy conversations over breakfast. The countryside varied from desert, to wetlands, to alpine, with each area making interesting contributions to our total count. Our thanks to Heidi Betts, a resident of Riverside Lake Estates, who kindly escorted us through her gated community and past its very productive lake. We thought we were going to be skunked with the white-headed woodpecker. However, after lunch, for the six of us who had energy enough to travel to the Black & Decker Meadow, we were blessed with a five minute show, and did not have to get out of our cars to enjoy it! From his car window, Tony spotted this little guy as I was babbling to him about the lay of the land, etc.
Here is our list:
1 specie at Boulder Pile Hill @ 7:20 AM (three miles before the Stagecoach Inn)
rock wrens (5 in total, each with their own private boulder)
11 species at Stagecoach Inn in Aguanga @ 7:30 AM
Bullock’s oriole
Eurasian collared dove
mourning dove
Cassin’s kingbird
red tailed hawk
scrub jay
house finch
black-headed grosbeak
California quail
American crow
mockingbird
20 new species at Riverside Lake Estates @ 9:15 AM
great-tailed grackle
Western grebe
Clark’s grebe
pied-billed grebe
eared grebe
American coot
ruddy duck
turkey vulture
killdeer
red-winged blackbird
tri-colored blackbird
cliff swallow
Ross’s goose
Canada geese
mallard
northern shoveler
common yellowthroat
cinnamon teal
European starling
sharp-shinned hawk
Cahuilla Gambling Casino @ 10:30
Roadrunner (plastic)
13 new species at Hemet Lake @ 10:45
bald eagle
osprey
great-blue heron
western bluebird
Nuttall’s woodpecker
bushtit
black phoebe
cliff swallow
Caifornia towhee
spotted towhee
phainopepla
pygmy nuthatch
Anna’s hummingbird
17 new species at the Idyllwild Nature Center @12:00 PM
Stellar’s jay (both the Interior West and the Pacific)
common raven
band-tailed pigeon
white-breasted nuthatch
mountain chickadee
oak titmouse
Lawrence’s goldfinch
lesser goldfinch
pine siskin
American robin
Allen’s hummingbird
Brewer’s blackbird
olive-sided flycatcher
black-eyed junco
acorn woodpecker
Cooper’s hawk
Clark’s nutcracker (thank you Bill & Robin)
4 new species at Black & Decker Meadow @ 2:30 PM
white-headed woodpecker
hairy woodpecker
northern flicker
violet-green swallow
3 additional species at Black & Decker Meadow, seen on subsequent days
red-breasted sapsucker
red-shouldered hawk
house wren
(and three more appearances of white-headed woodpeckers)
Trip Leader: Doug Walkley
