2026 California – Southern California Specialties

We’ll concentrate on the coastal areas around San Diego. Stops will include Tijuana Slough where one of our targets is Ridgeway’s Rail, the estuary of the Tijuana River for ‘Large-billed’ Savannah Sparrow and possibly Pacific Golden-Plover, and the south end of San Diego Bay where we might find a Eurasian Wigeon or Reddish Egret. Later in the day we’ll continue north along the coast to La Jolla Cove for Black Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, and possibly Surfbird. If time permits, we’ll proceed to Torrey Pines State Park and look for California Gnatcatcher.

Overnight: San Diego

Moving inland, we’ll bird in the foothills, stopping at locations such as Lake Hodges and Mission Gorge. We should be seeing many of the ‘California’ birds by this point of the tour: California Gnatcatcher, California Towhee, California Thrasher, California Quail, and California Gull. Bell’s Sparrow, Wrentit, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and Oak Titmouse are several other California specialties that we will search for.

Overnight: San Diego

Today we’ll make the drive from San Diego to the Salton Sea. Along the way, we’ll be passing over the mountains, where we’ll stop to bird the higher elevation chaparral habitat. Fox Sparrow and Lawrence’s Goldfinch are likely additions to the trip list. We’ll attempt to be at the world-famous Salton Sea for the spectacular sight as the sun sets behind the mountains.

Overnight: Calipatria

The Salton Sea and surrounding areas offer incredible birding, and we’ll take the entire day to explore the many possibilities. Desert birding will be the focus early in the day. Many birds of the coast are locally replaced by their desert counterparts.

Instead of California Quail, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, California Gnatcatcher, and California Thrasher, our targets will be Gambel’s Quail, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, and Crissal Thrasher, among others. Ruddy Ground-Dove is a good possibility. We’ll be looking for longspurs, Mountain Plover, Long-billed Curlew, and Burrowing Owls in the agricultural fields that are near the southern portion of the Salton Sea.

Heading back to The Sea itself, shorebirds and other aquatic species will round out our list for the day. Yellow-footed Gulls, while common in the summer, are rare at this time of year, but we’ll definitely be looking for this local specialty.

Overnight: Calipatria

Much of the day will be spent in the Anza-Borrego Desert. We’ll stop at Clark’s Dry Lake to look for LeConte’s Thrasher, where we also hope to see Black-throated and Brewer’s Sparrows. Barn and Long-eared Owls often roost at the Tamarisk Grove Campground. Costa’s Hummingbird, Rock Wren, and Verdin are just a few of the other species we may see.

Overnight: Calipatria

We’ll drive west today and visit the higher elevation habitats of the Laguna and Cuyamaca Mountains. In the mountaintop pine forests we should see Acorn Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, and Pygmy Nuthatch. We’ll also return to some nice chaparral habitat. This is the home of Mountain Quail, a species that can be very difficult to observe. Spending some extra time in this region will increase our chances of finding this elusive bird.

Overnight: San Diego

This will be an ‘open’ day to look for anything that may have eluded us. We may want to have an early start in the chaparral to try for Mountain Quail or Lawrence’s Goldfinch, or maybe we’ll visit a rocky coastal area to look for Surfbird and Black Oystercatcher. There is always the chance for a hotline bird or two for us to pursue.

Overnight: San Diego

If time permits, we will do some morning birding before heading to the San Diego International Airport to catch our departing flights, the end a wonderful nine days of birding in Southern California.

YES! – This tour will depart Tucson at noon. One of our first targets is only a few minutes from from the airport.

Check the weather for the destination as close to your departure date as possible, and dress accordingly for your comfort level. You can also review our What to Bring page for more information.

There are many items the will be useful to you while on a Bird Treks tour. We have put together our list of recommendations on the What to Bring page.

Our tours are all conducted in English, but we do have some experience working with client that don’t speak English well – Some English would be needed for safety reasons. In locations where another language is predominately spoken, a native guide may accompany the tour.

Yes, we will always try our best to help with anything at all! We’re here to serve you. However, it is usually easier if you book your flight through your own travel agent as we can’t always get the best deals from your particular country. But we will help whenever needed!

While Day 1 is usually a travel (arrival) day, and the last day of the tour is usually also a travel day (departure), many people do like to arrive early and/or leave late. We can indeed book extra nights before and after the trip, and we in fact recommend you let us book them, as it avoids confusion and allows us to book the accommodation that is most convenient for the tour.

NOTE: Most often it is the same hotel or lodge that you use on the first night of the tour, but in some instances, it could be an airport hotel or an accommodation establishment where the guide is staying.

No, we do not. We find that it is better for trip participants to purchase their own medical, trip cancellation, and baggage insurance through their own insurance provider in the country they reside in. We expect all tour participants to have comprehensive insurance, and we encourage everyone to send us a copy of their insurance documents.

For most tours, meals are included in the tour price. This may include a hotel-provided breakfast, or guide-provided box lunches. For dinners, we strive to find interesting and delicious local restaurants – this allows us to give back to the local economy, and find exciting new place to eat.