Southern California mountain birding

female Western Bluebird, digiscoped near Cuyamaca SP, CA 6 Feb 2007

One advantage to travelling is the ability to see new sites, meet new people, etc. For a wildlife enthusiast though this also offers the opportunity to get into different habitats which equates to seeing different wildlife than you see on "home turf". I certainly wanted to take advantage of this when I visited southern California for the San Diego Bird Festival. So on my first morning, I decided to get into the hills a bit. Something I don't get enough of in Florida obviously!

I drove to nearby Cuyamaca State Park first, stopping as I climbed through the foothills to soak up the local birds and wildlife. Western Bluebirds, Western Scrub Jays, Band-tailed Pigeons were obvious as they liked to perch on the dead branches of the Oaks. The loudest sounds came from the ubiquitous Acorn Woodpeckers, who gave "Woody Woodpecker-esque" calls and chased each other around.

male Acorn Woodpecker, Cuyamaca SP, CA digiscoped 6 Feb 2007

Abundant White-crowned & Golden-crowned Sparrows were joined in the understory by Spotted and California Towhees. Bushtits, Lesser Goldfinches, Oak Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatches predominated in the oaks. I was reminded of how extremely different the West coast White-breasted Nuthatches sound from those in the East. California Quail sat atop nearby rocks and gave their, "Chi-CA-go!" calls.

Acorn Woodpeckers drill holes in trees and cache acorns in these to get through adverse weather periods and times when food may be scarce.

I continued to climb eventually reaching areas where oaks were replaced by pine forests. I searched here for one West Coast specialty I had really hoped to see, White-headed Woodpecker. I saw lots of great birds here: Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Steller's Jays, and others.

Steller's Jay digiscoped at Cuyamaca State Park, CA 6 Feb 2007

It was great birding in this habitat once again and seeing many of the species that inhabit the area, but White-headed Woodpecker had once again eluded me. Over the past 20+ years of birding around the country, time and time again I had missed opportunities to see this very attractive bird. It is a higher elevation bird, fond of areas predominated by Ponderosa Pines along the West coast. I'd been in proper habitat only infrequently prior to this and typically at the wrong time of year. Despite this, I'd made noble attempts traipsing through snow packs in search of this little bird. It had clearly become a nemesis though, being the only regularly occurring woodpecker in the United States that I had never seen. I'd hoped for success this morning but it looked as though it wasn't going to happen here.

After thoroughly checking the area and adding many great sightings and memories to the trip list, the beautiful White-headed remained unseen. I returned to the rental car and checked through some notes I'd collected from knowledgeable birders in the area. I found a tip for a "NO MISS" spot for White-headed Woodpecker.

Those two words are always dangerous when describing the ability to see a dynamic living creature, but still, I was having fun, had time and was up for the adventure. So I left Cuyamaca and headed north through Julian, toward Idyllwild... land of the "NO MISS" White-headed Woodpecker. It was afternoon by the time I arrived and I'd been birding long enough to remain a fair deal of skepticism of a "NO MISS" or "Guaranteed" bird. None the less, before I even parked the car at the Idyllwild Nature Center lot, the first of 6-7 White-headed Woodpeckers was in view. I was able to digiscope a female bird to commemorate the event. They really do exist and they are every bit as stunning as I had imagined!

female White-headed Woodpecker, Idyllwild Nature Center, CA 6 Feb 2007

digiscoped with Leica D-Lux3 camera through Leica APO Televid spotting scope