Secret Boobies...The Gull Jedi Speaks...The Reluctant Bank Swallow

The view from the end of McDonald Rd., along the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea. Millet Island hides secret boobies in the distance. Not too long ago you could drive to the end of practically any road west of Davis Rd. and find crippling flocks like this....now everything seems overgrown with tamarisk and the sea has retreated. Life is pain. SoCal birders, do you know if the west ends of any of those roads (i.e. Pound, Hazard, Noffsinger, etc) are still good birding?

The end of July...time to take stock, and to prepare for the onslaught of fall. Now is the time to start reserving your spots for fall pelagics...here in California, it has been a poor year for rarities, unless you were lucky enough to be on one of the increasingly popular "repositioning cruises", which are becoming en vogue with the region's power-birders. I just reserved a spot on a Monterey Bay boat in September....fingers are crossed for facemelt...

Speaking of pelagics...at least in a roundabout way...be sure to check out Steve Howell's post over at the ABA Blog, where he talks a lot of shit about you and me and then somehow changes the subject to just showcasing his crippling photographs of flying fish. I don't know how he managed to combine these 2 disparate subjects...clearly he possesses some kind of blogger magic. If you don't know who Steve is, he ranks high on the Global Birding Ranking Scale, is really good at birding in Mexico, and is a Gull Jedi. He also is one of the few people who thinks Kumlien's Gull is its own species, which many others find embarrassing.

Aside from a few photos, most of my last few birding outings have been pretty lame in terms of photographic spoils or straight up rarities, with the exception of getting my 2012 Black-vented Shearwaters from a seawatch in La Jolla. People have been going nuts out there lately over a Pigeon Guillemot or two out there, which I find amusing for some reason. Anyways, I will continue to hammer you with Salton Sea pictures because that's what I think is best.

Black Skimmers were abundant and easy to see around Morton Bay. Whenever I see them recently I find myself looking at their strange overall shape and flight style, not just the humungo and freakishly disproportional bill.

Great Egrets are hot. Photographed west of Young Road.

I found a couple massive flocks of migrant swallows while I was there. I chose the perfect spot to look for Bank Swallow, a bird I hadn't seen yet in 2012. This one, along the Alamo River near Red Hill, did not look like it was enjoying its stay in the Imperial Valley.

See? It's about to keel over and die. These filthy young Cliff Swallows don't seem to be helping the situation at all.

Wood Stork is one of the Salton Sea's top tier specialty birds. The only way to see this bird west of Texas (north of Mexico, that is) is to come the Salton Sea in summer and sweat yourself to death. These birds, part of a bigger flock, has been dependable at Morton Bay for the last month.

Loggerhead Shrike. Crap lighting, but I like the picture. Look how haggard it is! Who knows how many songbirds it has slayed in its lifespan?

Laughing and California Gulls. So common on the Atlantic Coast that they make birders sick, Laughing Gulls are rare birds out west...except at the Sea of Salton. Did you notice that hideous, small headed mutant on the left?

Small gull. Big mouth.

Unlike the summer-only Laughing Gulls and Wood Storks, thousands of Burrowing Owls inhabit the Imperial Valley year-round. Photographed on Garst Road.

The Curlew Verdict

Cory from See You At Sunrise... has procured the information I was looking for on this Long-billed Curlew, seen at Border Field State Park, CA, in early July. She was banded in Nevada's Ruby Valley in 2006 , and has since been found wintering in coastal southern San Diego County since. Ruby Valley lies south of Elko, at the foot of the legendary Ruby Mountains.

If you're a migratory bird, it must be convenient to be on your wintering grounds by the beginning of July.

The Shorebird With A Heart Of Gold

Gull-billed Terns are no longer as clean cut as they were earlier in the spring. Making babies is rough...at least they aren't going bald yet. Imperial Beach, CA.

How you doing birders? Is everything ok? I hope all you bourboners, bastards and birders are keeping your heads up. Its a mad world out there people. I'm really looking forward to taking up my Perpetual Weekend once again...it keeps me sane. I have tried working year round...I don't know how ya'll do it. Seems like a pretty soulless endeavor. But then again, the world is filled with people who are absolutely terrified to be forced to spend time alone, so I suppose its not so shocking.

Whats new on the California birding front? Not much. A couple pelagic trips went out last weekend and were pretty boring. One got a Red-billed Tropicbird (rare, but not unexpected), but happy birders weren't so happy when the boat broke down for several hours. How embarrassing. A White-eyed Vireo at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery arrived at a strange time, and appeared to have been a one day wonder.

Shorebirds continue to make their way down the coast, the best of which is a Little Stint that arrived in Humboldt County yesterday...this is the second in the state this year, and I continue to sacrifice puppies, kittens and small bunnies to the bird gods in hopes that I will be able to pluck one from a flock (with my eyes, not literally) here in San Diego. I'd be happy with a Semipalmated Sandpiper though.

I was able to see the Imperial Beach Curlew Sandpiper one more time this month, and got some considerably better looks at the bird. It's still a bland looking thing, but when it comes to shorebirds you have to get stoked on the subtleties. Here it is communicating telepathically with a dowitcher ("Are you an Asiatic Dowitcher? How the fuck do you get to China from here? I tried to go a few weeks ago but somehow ended up at Sea World. That place is fucked up."). Imperial Beach, CA.

One thing the Curlew Sandpiper did that set it apart from other shorebirds was seek out broken stalks of plants, and then jam its bill down inside of it looking for invertebrate goodness. It did this on the regular...here it is about to take the plunge.

Such a good bird. It should be called the Golden-hearted Sandpiper.

This Willet in summer duds accentuated by a long, flowing, kelp robe, was at Border Field State Park, CA.

We need a token passerine in today's post. This is a Bushtit. They are highly-skilled at fluffing and hate-looks. Famosa Slough, San Diego, CA.

Less well known than fence lizards, Side-blotched Lizards aren't any less common in a lot of habitats in California. I don't know much about their variation in coloration, but I am partial to these turqoise-spotted duders. Border Field State Park, CA.

Pondering Death From Above, aka Gull-billed Terns. Gull-bills love eating these things.

This is what a monstrosity looks like. If it could make noise, it would sound like "blllllleeeeennnngghhhhhh. BLLLLLEEEENNNNGUH. BIGLENGUHHHHH".

This monstrous dead crab washed ashore at Imperial Beach, CA. Nerds of the marine persuasion, feel free to tell us what this is.

Heermann's Gulls are a fixture along west coast shores for much of the year, making amateur seawatchers think they're seeing jaegers from Mexico to British Columbia. When they look like this, it's hard to confuse them with anything else though. Border Field State Park, CA.

Wildlife v. Animal Rights

A Great Blue Heron at California's Salton Sea. Birds that forage here are completely dependent on nonnative fish and invertebrates here for sustenance. If only exotic species were always so beneficial.

The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive asks us to contemplate more serious fare this week. Please go to see his post at 10,000 Birds and deposit your vegan joke there.

White-faced Ibis

The Salton Sea and surrounding Imperial Valley are the best place in California to see many species, widespread or not. Although there are no shortage in the Central Valley, I would say the Sea and environs are the best place to see White-faced Ibis. They are striking birds in spring and early summer, with a strange mix of maroons and rust with an impossible rainbow of iridescent glory stretching from wingtip to wingtip.

White-faced Ibis are abundant, and if you have both the skill and the patience you could find a Glossy Ibis with some luck. In case you didn't know, finding a pure-blooded Glossy Ibis in California is an almost automatic advancement up the ranks of the Global Birder Ranking Scale. You don't need to find a Glossy to enjoy slogging through the ibis flocks though.

A typical scene in the Imperial Valley. Scads of ibis.

Like most wading birds, ibis are getting a bit ragged and are molting out of their facemelty breeding colors this time of year. The adults are still pretty snazzy looking, although they are less prone to cause one's pupils to dilate.

This is a giant night roost next to Finney Lake. Thousands were packed in here. So many grunts and quacks coming from this little pond.

Hella ibis.

This is what a bird looks like when it momentarily forgets how to fly.

Pic Of The Week: You Smell (Like Me)

This Buller's Shearwater was photographed off Half Moon Bay, CA, last fall. Buller's Shearwaters are far and away everyone's favorite shearwater species, although I am partial to Wedge-tailed and Christmas Shearwaters. Getting some crippling shots of this chic shearwater are high on my list of things to do.

On the news front, researchers have found that European Storm-Petrels have the remarkable identify their relatives by scent. The birds seem to actually avoid their relatives, seeking out the scent of unrelated birds. It is thought that this habit serves to prevent inbreeding, which we all know is A) a bad idea and B) gross. I would not be surprised if other tubenose species, who are also gifted with a sensitive sense of smell, do this as well. You can read about it here.

An Update From The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive

Florida is hands-down the best state for big wading birds. This Tricolored Heron was photographed during Seagull's only previous Florida (mis)adventure in 2009, at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL.


In a rare appearance, birding great Felonious Jive has graced BB&B with his presence. If you are unfamiliar with his work, you can learn more about Felonious here and here. - Seagull Steve


Greetings, nerdy humans. Despite appearances, BB&B is not all Seagull Steve all the time. I am indeed the man behind the gull. The world's leading birder. The ornithologist indelible. Two time winner of the Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship. But being a leading tastemaker of birding subculture does not quite come with many accolades though...most birders ignore my advice and continue to be terrible at bird identification, dress heinously and have social skills that would make even a Solitary Sandpiper cringe. So not much improvement on that front, although the recent and welcomed influx of youth into the scene seems to be having a mildly positive effect.

I have been busy of late. I have been helping Seagull plan his Costa Rican birding trip this winter, which is going well, except for the obvious fact that Seagull doesn't know shit about identifying Costa Rican birds. I predict he will see approximately 21 species of life birds on this trip without ever knowing what they are. He's a work in progress.

We will also, as you know, be trying to pull off another infamous not-really-birding-but-secretly-it-really-is-a-birding trip to the Florida Keys, where Seagull is expected to clean house with yearbirds. There will be blood ("I...drink...your...milkshake!") in the water, and the blood belongs to Bostick. Seagull can smell it, and the prophesied leadership change of the Y2K12 Big Year is bound to happen.

I continue to press for full disclosure of the Global Birding Ranking Scale, but for months now my efforts have been fruitless. I apologize to the entire birding community for my apparent impotence on this front. But take it to heart...you all have a right to know.

One of the hundreds of thousands of Laysan Albatross that nest, rest, flirt and cut their dancing chops at Midway Atoll every year. Almost all of them look pretty much like this....almost.

Most recently, I wrote a short post on a certain Laysan Albatross that took a piece of my heart, like I digested it into a highly-concentrated, putrid oil and shot it at high pressure straight into the bird's gullet. You can find that at 10,000 Birds, where I write at least once a month.

That's it for now people...like the miracle of the sun rising yet again, we have come to another weekend. Rage.

Curlew Bling; BB&B Reaches Out

This Long-billed Curlew was at Border Field State Park, CA, just south of the Tijuana River Mouth on July 3, 2012. Whose curlew is this?

She looks like she's wearing a geolocator tag on her right leg.

This curlew is very valuable to the biologists who banded her. Fortunately, she looks like she's in good health.

I submitted her band combos and information to the Patuxent Bird Banding Labratory, but I was hoping that maybe one of you might know how to lead me to where she was banded.

Batting Away Terns/Birding Poe Road

One of Poe's many Forster's Terns. This picture summons up Charley Harper artwork for me. Do you see, Flycatcher Jen? Do you see?

Poe Road is the southernmost access to the Salton Sea, a little bit removed from the heavily-birded area between Bowles Road and the Wister Unit and not as well known as the end of Vendel Road (i.e. Bean Goose town). I'm always impressed with the numbers of birds here, and I don't think it will be long before some ubervagrant shows up on this prime piece of shoreline, although I'm sure plenty have in the past. When I lurked out there last week there was a big flock of terns sitting around, as well as a horde of Brown pelicans, decent numbers of shorebirds and some much sought-after Yellow-footed Gulls.

Since the level of the Salton Sea is always changing (I would say "shrinking" is the general trend), there is now a pretty solid roadway of sorts that goes all the way to the shore now; this is easily driveable by any vehicle (assuming no recent rain or Salton Sea level rise), making it a great place to both bird/photograph from your car and set up a scope in a desperate and probably futile attempt to find a Blue-footed Booby plunge-diving offshore. Make sure you check this spot out if you haven't already.

Forster's Tern. The grayness of the bird has shaken the birding community to its very core, as this field mark is popular for people to use in separating Forster's and Common Terns (only Commons are supposed to be this gray). However, after seeing gray-bellied Forster's Terns in San Diego all spring and summer, I say this field mark is helpful at most, and to solely rely on this makes you a sketchy birder. You heard it here first, Sibley!


Seriously though, if you have any more compelling reasons to tell me why this is a Common Tern, I would love to hear them...especially if your name rhymes with "Benn Baufman". The bird strikes me as too long-tailed and long-billed...but I am no Benn Baufman, who ranks pretty high on the Global Birder Ranking Scale.

Forster's Tern (same bird as in the above photos).

Black and Forster's Terns milling around in the awful heat. It was blood-boilingly hot that afternoon, which adds to the surreal feeling of birding the sea in summer.

Caspian Terns are thick at the Salton Sea; easily one of the commonest birds there this time of year. This one is sharp-looking.

Terns are generally really good looking birds in spring and early summer, but they are cursed with baldness for their youth and for many months of the year.

This is a little tilapia that a Forster's Tern dropped. More like a Falling Fish than a Flying Fish. I wonder what it was thinking when this photo was taken.

The salty bird gods of the Salton Sea allowed me to get a bit closer to Western Sandpipers than I normally do.

Western Sandpipers. I would guess the long-billed bird on the left is a female and the one on the right may be a male, just going by bill length. 

Just a giant pile of dead fish, par for the course at the Salton Sea. Man, what a fucked up place.

All the crap and dead trees that litter the shoreline of the Salton Sea can really add to bird photos. This Snowy Egret shot is 70% better with this dumb post in the foreground than it would be without it.

Pic Of The Week: Brownsville

"I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." - Winston Churchill

Whatever Winston. How many shades of brown do you see? Burrowing Owls wear the perfect plumage for what must surely be their favorite color. Photographed near Westmorland, CA.

Plover Fisticuffs

The Defending Champion stands his* ground; a small patch of mud on the shoreline.

The young and fearless challenger encroaches without hesitation.

The challenger has gone one step too far; and so it begins.

At first the challenger strikes the first blows.

The juvenile seems to have the advantage, despite his inexperience.

A veteran of many battles, the old bird knows it is no time to give up. He regroups, and goes in for the next round.

The Champ has some aerial movies of his own, the likes of which the young plover has never seen.

The champ prepares to deal the finishing uppercut.

Forlorn, the loser juvenile is forced to slum it with the Western Sandpipers. How embarrassing.

Poe Road is the best place at the Salton Sea to see Snowy Plovers, particularly now (although maybe not in the future) that you can drive all the way to the shore of the sea. More on this underbirded spot to come.

* = To be honest this bird looks like a female, but males can be incredibly faded this time of year, particularly at an overexposed place like the Salton Sea.