16 February 2022
In a moment of pandemic optimism last November I signed up to visit the second Birdiest County(*) in the U.S. for the San Diego Bird Festival, 16-20 February 2022. Today I’m on my way.
The last time I visited San Diego was for the same event in 2013. Back then I saw 29 Life Birds, a feat I will not be able to match because I’ve already seen them, but I look forward to better views.
My favorites nine years ago included the Heerman’s gull (Larus heermanni), above, so dapper in his gray and white, the red-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) who’s brighter than a yellow-bellied, and …
… the Townsend’s warbler (Setophaga townsendi) who looks like someone put a bunch of eastern warblers in a bag and shook them up. He’s the color of a black-throated green or magnolia warbler with field marks of other Setophaga‘s.
This time I hope for a better view of the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). In 2013 he was backlit and more distant on the pelagic tour than in this Wikimedia photo but I could see the silhouette of his rhino “horn.” Amazingly, he’s related to puffins.
(*) Why is San Diego the second Birdiest County? When they ran these contests a decade ago Los Angeles County usually beat San Diego by a few species. Both have very diverse habitat. Find out in this vintage article.
(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click the captions to see the originals)