2022 California – Complete California
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Reviews 0 Reviews0/5
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Vacation Style Holiday Type
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Beach
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Binoculars
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Boat-trip
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Hiking
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Pelagic
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Whales
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Activity Level Challenging
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Group Size Medium Group
California conjures up visions of sun-drenched landscapes, scenic mountain vistas, the blue Pacific, and expansive deserts. The birds are no less spectacular, with everything from Black-footed Albatross to Lawrence’s Goldfinch. We’ll start in the San Francisco Bay area and journey to Bodega Bay for a day of shorebirds and migrants. Some of the specialties of this rich area include Surfbird, Black Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, and Black Oystercatcher.
Our songbird searches may yield views of Townsend’s Warbler, California Towhee, Wrentit, and Cassin’s Vireo. Next on our route are the Sierras to look for Swainson’s Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, and the endemic Yellow-billed Magpie. Sooty Grouse, Mountain Quail, Great Gray Owl, Black-backed and White-headed Woodpeckers, Williamson’s and Red-breasted Sapsuckers, Pine Grosbeak, and Hermit Warbler are just a few of the species that we will seek in Yosemite National Park.
The Mono Lake region may yield Greater Sage-Grouse, Sage Thrasher, Gray Flycatcher, American Dipper, Pinyon Jay, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Mountain Bluebird. We will look for Greater Roadrunner, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, and California Thrasher in the arid lands near Monterey. Our next adventures will be TWO pelagic trips. First is a trip into world-famous Monterey Bay that is bisected by a huge submarine canyon twice the size of the Grand Canyon. We will cruise the bay and the adjacent offshore waters in search of shearwaters, Ashy and Black Storm-Petrels, and Humpback Whales. We will hope for a rarity such as Tufted Puffin or Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, then scan the coastline for Marbled Murrelet.
Our next trip takes us further offshore to the Albacore Grounds. Some of the many species that we will search for are Scripps’s Murrelet, Sabine’s Gull, Arctic Tern, Blue Whale, and Bairds’ Beaked Whale, plus Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaegers. We may also see Black-vented Shearwater, South Polar Skua, Northern Fur Seal, and the intriguing Ocean Sunfish. Our continued journey south will put us in California Condor country, and we will spend time looking for this spectacular species brought back from the brink of extinction. Our targets near Los Angeles will be California Gnatcatcher, Allen’s Hummingbird, and Black-vented Shearwater.
We’ll take a boat trip to Santa Cruz Island for the endemic Island Scrub-Jay and the Santa Cruz Island races of Bewick’s Wren, Allen’s Hummingbird, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Turning our sights inland, we’ll search the deserts for LeConte’s Thrasher and other residents. The tour begins in San Jose and concludes in Los Angeles.
We will take a maximum of seven participants. On rare occasion we may extend the maximum to ten participants.
See the separate itinerary for full details about the Salton Sea Extension.
Duration: 15 days
Group Size Limit: 3 – 7
Date: 03 September – 17 September 2022
Start: San Jose, CA
End: Los Angeles, CA
Price:
US$6014 per person sharing assuming 4 – 7 participants
Deposit: US$1000
Single supplement: US$950
We can run the same trip at a price similar to the larger group price for 2 tour participants, if they rent their own vehicle and pay for fuel – please e-mail [email protected] for details.
- Meals
- Accommodation
- Guiding fees
- Entrance fees
- All transport while on tour
- Tolls
- Domestic and International flights
- Items of a personal nature, e.g. gifts
- Alcoholic drinks
- Personal insurance
- Laundry Service
- Gratuities
- Day 1 Arrive in San Jose
- Day 2 Point Reyes and Bodega Bay
- Day 3 Marin Headlands Hawk Watch
- Day 4 Central Valley, Sierra foothills, and Yosemite National Park
- Day 5 Yosemite National Park
- Day 6 Birding the Sierras
- Day 7 Yosemite to Monterey Bay
- Day 8 Ano Nuevo and Monterey Bay
- Day 9 Monterey Bay Pelagic
- Day 10 Albacore Grounds Pelagic
- Day 11 More Birding around Monterey Bay
- Day 12 Searching for Condors
- Day 13 Boat to Santa Cruz Island
- Day 14 San Joaquin County and the Los Angeles Basin
- Day 15 Heading Home
COMPLETE CALIFORNIA TOUR
7-20 September 2012
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of each tour.
1 – Northern Pygmy-Owl – this bird was seen well at Mount Pinos, for a nice long period of time. Good looks at owls are hard to beat.
2 – Laysan Albatross – a single bird was observed numerous times during the second pelagic trip into Monterey Bay, along with several Black-footed Albatrosses.
3 – Island Scrub-Jay – a California endemic, found only on Santa Cruz Island. Several were seen.
4 – Spotted Owl – an after dinner owling trip produced a pair in Los Padres National Forest. One of the owls was seen exceedingly well.
5 – Yellow-billed Magpie – another California endemic. “We watched two Yellow-billed Magpies harass an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk and chase it off. After a couple of minutes the hawk returned and made several attempts to kill one of the magpies.” What a show!
6 – Mountain Quail – this elusive species was seen and heard several times on the tour. They were seen very well at Los Padres National Forest, picking grit from the roadside.
7 – California Condor – Big Sur yielded SEVEN Condors, soaring along scenic cliffs that overlook the Pacific.
8 – LeConte’s Thrasher – great looks at a species that is often difficult to find, especially outside of its breeding season.
9 – Ridgeway’s Rail – an adult with two young was observed at the Palo Alto Wetlands.
10 – Great Gray Owl – one was found in Yosemite National Park after searching several locations. This is always an exciting bird to see.
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Will we do any birding the first day?
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Besides clothes, what do I need to bring?
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What language are tours conducted in?
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Can you help me book flights?
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Can you book accommodation for us the night before the tour starts or the night the tour ends?
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Can I take the Extension Tour without doing the main tour?
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Black-footed Albatross
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Black Oystercatcher
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Black Turnstone
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Wandering Tattler
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Townsend's Warbler
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California Towhee
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Wrentit
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Mountain Quail
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Acorn Woodpecker
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Lewis's Woodpecker
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Williamson's Sapsucker
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White-headed Woodpecker
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Yellow-billed Magpie
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Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
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Pine Grosbeak
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Greater Sage-Grouse
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Gray Flycatcher
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Greater Roadrunner
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Tufted Puffin
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Parasitic Jaeger
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Bewick's Wren
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Western Sandpiper
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Semipalmated Plover
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Peregrine Falcon
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Pygmy Nuthatch
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Mountain Chickadee
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Cassin's Finch
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Red-necked Phalarope
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Sora
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Bell's Sparrow
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Green-tailed Towhee
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Violet-green Swallow
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Pink-footed Shearwater
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Marbled Godwit
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Long-billed Curlew
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Black-necked Stilt
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Hutton's Vireo