California - Day 9 - 20/1/16

What an amazing day. The below totals from around the Salton Sea/Brawley area will give some insight of just how many birds we saw today. This was mainly due to teaming up with California's biggest lister (Guy McCaskie) for the day who was able to get into unauthorised areas, and as always local knowledge is very helpful. Ticks came thick and fast and after an exhilarating day, it ended with a superb sunset with thousands of Cormorants, Gulls and Pelicans all going to roost at the south end of the Salton Sea. There is always a downside though, we didn't get Yellow-footed Gull. Not much else to say about today, just brilliant!!

Night again in Brawley. 

Gambel's Quail - 14

Vermilion Flycatcher - 4

White-winged Dove - 5

Cooper's Hawk - 1

Great Tailed Grackle - 25

White-faced Ibis - 100

Gila Woodpecker - 2 Cattle Call Park

Common Ground Dove - 7

Great Horned Owl - 1

Albert's Towhee - 1

Northern Mockingbird - 15

Yellow-headed Blackbird - 7

Burrowing Owl - 2

Killdeer - 40

Inca Dove - 5

Greater Roadrunner - 7

Cattle Egret - 200

Great Blue Heron - 30

Cedar Waxwing - 25

Red-winged Blackbird - 3000

Brown-headed Cowbird - 500

Ridgeway's Rail - 1

Wilson's Snipe - 2

Long-billed Dowitcher - 75

Least Sandpiper - 150

Greater Yellowlegs - 3

Willet - 2

Western Sandpiper - 4

Stilt Sandpiper - 4

Clark's Grebe - 2

Spotted Sandpiper - 3

Common Gallinule - 1

Cinnamon Teal - 3

Snow Geese - 5000

Ross's Geese - 75 but many not counted

Neotropic Cormorant - 2

Double-crested Cormorant - 2500

Sandhill Crane - 37

American Herring Gull - 200

California Gull - 200

Ring-billed Gull - 2000

Thayer's Gull - 1 

Glaucous-winged Gull - 5

Ruddy Duck - 1500

Shoveler - 750

Merlin - 3

Anna's Hummingbird - 15

American White Pelican - 750

Brown Pelican - 500

Buff-bellied Pipit - 150

 White-winged Dove in Brawley

 the very smart Gila Woodpecker at Cattle Call Park, Brawley

 Great Horned Owl at Cattle Call Park, Brawley

 Burrowing Owl that had just been disturbed from it's roost site - a tyre

 Anna's Hummingbird showing off

 Cedar Waxwings

 first-winter Ring-billed Gull

 Least Sandpiper

 Neotropic Cormorant at Salton Sea - a great spot by Guy and one we certainly would have missed  as this wasn't even on our radar for the whole trip, let alone here!

 a few Geese present, with probably 95% being Snow Geese, with the others being Ross's Geese, that are both just about visible in this image

 Snow Geese and a single Ross's Goose in the bottom right of the photo

 Sandhill Cranes at Salton Sea

 first-winter American Herring Gull at the Salton Sea

American White Pelicans going to roost. We witnessed a superb roost of Cormorants, Pelicans, Gulls and Geese numbering thousands upon thousands of birds. A memorable sight.