Birding Big Day in Morro Bay

Cindy and I decided to spend last Saturday morning in the area of Morro Rock,  so we could also turn in checklists for global big day. I ended up going back the following two days, in order to get decent pictures. And of course, there were lots of stuff I HAD to look at. And take pictures of.


I have been trying to take this picture of Morro Rock since I first saw it from the south. I finally got the early morning light to take it from the town of Morro Bay's marina.

Morro Rock

Singing canyon wren male (Click here for audio)

Dark-eyed juncos are very common  

White crowned sparrow are the most common

California lesser goldfinches have green backs but still sound like the Texas ones

California towees are super common

I got this bushtit at Morro Bay State Park...

...but we watched a pair working on the nest - actually mostly just saw movement and
zooming birds at Morro Rock - it looks like a dirty sock

Non-nesting brown pelicans were feeding at the breakwater at Morro Rock 

All these pelicans are under three years old and still in juvenile plumage

The California quail have paired up and we always see the male and female together. Haven't seen any with babies yet. This pair was in the camping area of Moro Bay State Park.  The male was on a little house doing sentry duty while the female grazed. Then she jumped on the picnic to wipe her bill.

California quail male

And his female

Just inside Morro Bay State Park is a Heron/Cormorant rookery.  It is supposed to have breeding Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Black-crowned night herons, and cormorants.  I didn't find any night herons there but there were plenty of the other three species. 

Turkey vultures use the rookery as a roost

Female cormorants were sitting on eggs while the males came back and forth

Condo's are in short supply

I think copulation was in progress at this nest

I think this one of those California red tailed hawks

A great egret and three snowy egrets were feeding on the incoming tide  - I missed the other two but love seeing the differences between them. 

Then I got distracted by the surfers - but one had to wait WAY longer on them than on the birds

I am STILL trying to take good pictures of the sea otters.

Still trying to photograph sea lions

I've been hearing harbor seals barking. I finally found them - all in one place. 

This was about half of the seals - guess they haven't gotten the social distancing message

I'm always on the hunt for native bees. This is the ONLY bumblebee I've seen in California.  And it isn't all that common.  I seldom see more than one at a time.

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii)

We found forty species over two sites and two days. Not much by Texas standards, but the most birds I've seen far. 

Hope you too are getting to get out into nature, but staying out away from people.