The Palomar Audubon Society Travel Committee is pleased to offer our members a birding trip to Morro Bay, California! We will depart San Diego on January 6th and return home January 9th. The driving time is approximately 5 ½ hours, excluding any stops. We are in the process of hiring a local guide to lead our birding excursions on January 7th and 8th. A deposit of $75 is required to confirm your registration which will go towards the yet to be determined fee for the guide.
You will be responsible for booking your accommodation and paying for your own meals. Those choosing a hotel vs camping, will be staying at the Morro Crest Inn, Hotel in Morro Bay California – (Book Online) with daily rates ranging from $97 to $130. It has an ideal location: in downtown yet close to the bay’s restaurants and touristy shops. Campers will be at a wonderful state campground at the edge of town Morro Bay SP with a famous seaside seafood restaurant right across the road. This campground is always one of the many spots of the Big Day Birding Group. Beware of owl pellets falling on your tent. There are currently fifty tenting spots available during our timeframe at prices from $35 to $50. Please make your reservations for your accommodations ASAP: Morro Bay State Park campground
In case there are people interested in bussing, we have tentatively rented a 14-passenger bus, in San Diego, to take birders to Morro Bay and back. Those choosing this option would share the rental cost plus the gas. This cost, of course, is over and above the $75 guide deposit. Seats on the bus will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. You may sign up to ride the bus now, but the cost will be determined at a future date. The other option is to provide your own transportation or carpool with friends. Those not traveling in the bus will not share in the cost of the bus.
Our Big Day will be Saturday. We will travel to about ten different locations, mainly on the ocean, where we may see well over one hundred species. Some of the more interesting species for us Southern California Birders may include: the Peregrine Falcons on Morro Rock; forty-plus Black-crowned Night Herons in the Cyprus trees opposite a probable dinner spot; and a huge rookery of Egrets either side of the seaside information center, four types of terns as well as four types of Cormorants (and these may be standing together so one can learn the distinguishing features of each), Black Oystercatchers, Golden Eagles, Red Crossbills and maybe a look at the secretive Pacific Wren.
Our second day is as yet unstructured; however, amongst other destinations, we may go further North to see as many as a hundred Elephants Seals basking on a beach. Perhaps some would consider venturing into the recently reopened Hurst Castle. Upon our return, if there have been recent sightings, we might detour inland to get a glimpse of a California Condor where we are also probably guaranteed a Yellow-billed Magpie.
Send your registration form, along with a check for $75.00, to Dianne Benham, 15946 Cumberland Drive, Poway, CA 92064. Text 858-243-9665 with any questions. Please make your check out to PAS, (not to Dianne Benham).
Registration Form
Name(s):_______________________________________________________________________________
Address (for each):____________________________________________________________________
Cell Phone (for each):_________________________________________________________________
Email address (for each)______________________________________________________________
I (we) would like to ride in the bus: _____
I (we) will be driving our own vehicle: _____
