2009 The (Birding) year that was

The year 2009 started with a big bang for us. My wife and I celebrated new year's day at Salton Sea and boy were we so happy to have made that trip. Racking up three lifers on that day alone sort of set the trend for what will happen on the following 364 days.

Also, for the first time in my relatively short birding experience, I decided to keep a year list inasmuch as this will be my last full year in the United States. In 2010, Cynthia and I will retire in the Philippines.

New Year's Eve and we were travelling to Benicia in Northern California to visit some friends. I told my wife that I hoped that we would see a Yellow-billed Magpie which I thought would be a fitting final bird for my yearlist. A few miles after we entered Hwy 580, Cynthia excitedly pointed to a long-tailed bird perched on a roadside tree. Then two more flew across the highway and I knew without a doubt that I got my final species for the year bringing my total to 341; 306 in the United States and 35 from the Philippines. Of these, 61 were lifers, 43 American and 18 Philippines. Not a bad tally considering we confined our birding to California in 2009, except for a two-week visit to the Philippines and a 4 day trip to Florida.

Of those lifers, most memorable was the California Condor we saw at Big Sur.

The others were surprisingly easy: Common Goldeneye and Black Scoter at Playa del Rey,

Common Goldeneye

Black Scoter

White-winged Scoter at Bolsa Chica,

King Eider at Cabrillo Beach

and Williamson's Sapsucker at Sylmar

and Bobolink at Bonelli.

Cynthia and I are hoping that 2010 will be another great birding year for us, especially since we will do most part of it in our native country.

The Beast

The monster stood there facing us. Fierce eyes glared at us with a frightening confidence that it had us trapped. My wife and I shivered not just because of the biting cold that was brought upon by an enveloping fog that was rising from the sea a hundred feet beneath us, but because we are staring at the ugly bare-skinned countenance of the thing in front of us.

Although a deep ravenous cliff separated us from this huge unkempt creature, we dared not move. Behind us the roar of hurtling vehicles warned us of a most gruesome fate should we backtrack even by a mere foot or so. We held our collective breaths as the beast shifted its position and spread its gigantic wings. It leered at us once again then suddenly made a couple of flaps and vanished into the misty air.

The place was at the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) near Big Sur and we had just had an encounter with one of America’s rarest birds – the California Condor! Seeing this magnificent, albeit unattractive bird is an unforgettable experience of a lifetime. It is not unlike seeing Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” in person (or maybe, Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”?). And to be able to take pictures of the Condor, would be, shall I say, icing on the cake. Which is rather appropriate inasmuch as it was my wife’s birthday…so we had our cake and ate it too, metaphorically speaking.







Here I was in my precarious position between a cliff and onrushing traffic trying to photograph the condor.


To know more about this magnificent bird (#438 - the bar at the bottom of the tag indicates 400), please visit http://www.mycondor.org/
Please help support the condors - take a moment to visit the website dedicated to them:
http://www.ventanaws.org/species_condors/adopt_a_condor.htm

For more (less frightening?) birding blogs and pictures, please visit: