Central California: Seabirds & Specialties - September 2026
Dates: September 12 - 20, 2026
Leaders: Barry Lyon & Brennan Mulrooney
E-bird
Total Species: 171 birds
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Overall Summary
This was the inaugural running of VENT’s Central California: Seabirds and Specialties tour, and it was a smashing success. We enjoyed seven days of excellent weather, fantastic birding, spectacular scenery, and wonderful restaurants. Our pelagic trip out of Monterey Bay was a highlight, and we found an impressive variety of California and western specialty birds during our land birding.
We began our journey in San Jose, spending our first morning birding the estuaries of the South San Francisco Bay. Highlights included a California Ridgway’s Rail, a flock of “Bicolored” Red-winged Blackbirds, “Alameda” Song Sparrows, and views of the ever-skulky Marsh Wren. We also encountered a variety of waterbirds, including American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, Marbled Godwits, Long-billed Curlews, Western Sandpipers, Willets, California Gulls, and several duck species.
After lunch, we hiked through oak woodland and magnificent redwood forest at Wunderlich County Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We found several forest birds, including Band-tailed Pigeon, Acorn Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pacific Wren, and the “Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco.
High winds and heavy seas forced the cancellation of our pelagic trip out of Half Moon Bay, so we spent the day birding the San Francisco Peninsula instead. Chaparral habitat produced California Scrub-Jay, Wrentit, California Thrasher, Spotted Towhee, and Western Tanager. Along the coast, we added Heermann’s and Western gulls, Elegant Tern, Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone, and several cormorant species. We also spotted a long-staying, very lost Northern Gannet.
Continuing south toward Monterey, we stopped at Pigeon Point, where hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters passed offshore. We also spotted Common Murres, Surfbirds, and Parasitic Jaegers. Then, we noticed a young booby perched on a nearby building! Initially identified as belonging to the Masked/Nazca species pair, the bird was later confirmed as a Nazca Booby after it left the roof and revealed key plumage features. This was a life bird for most of the group and attracted many local birders.
Near Moss Landing, we visited Año Nuevo State Park, adding Pygmy Nuthatch and Townsend’s Warbler. We saw our first Sea Otters and our only Pigeon Guillemot of the trip from the restaurant. At nearby Zmudowski Beach, we discovered a vagrant Prothonotary Warbler in a beachside willow thicket and later found more than 20 Snowy Plovers roosting along the shore.
Our pelagic trip out of Monterey was a spectacular success. Favorable conditions allowed us to travel farther offshore than most Monterey trips, producing an impressive list of seabirds, including Rhinoceros and Cassin’s auklets; Black-vented, Pink-footed, Buller’s, and Manx shearwaters; Sabine’s Gull; Arctic and Common terns; 24 Black-footed Albatrosses; and a Cocos Booby. Marine mammals were equally exciting, with Steller’s Sea Lion, Guadalupe Fur Seal, a pod of rarely seen Baird’s Beaked Whales, and a Humpback Whale that breached repeatedly right beside our boat.
The following day, we explored Big Sur, famous for its towering redwoods and dramatic sea cliffs. We were especially excited to search for California Condors, which have been reintroduced to the area through ongoing conservation efforts. Joined by Jan Loomis, a Ventana Wildlife Society volunteer, we watched an adult condor preening at its roost before taking flight alongside Turkey Vultures. We enjoyed excellent scope views, observed its diagnostic white wing linings, and read its identification tags. Throughout the day, we spotted at least five individual condors. Other highlights included Oak Titmouse, White-throated Swift, Black-throated Gray Warbler, a surprise Blackpoll Warbler, California Quail, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, and our first Tricolored Blackbirds.
Our sixth day took us inland to search for Yellow-billed Magpie, one of California’s two endemic bird species. Following a significant population decline caused by West Nile virus in the mid-2000s, the species has been slowly recovering. Fortunately, we found a flock almost immediately and spent a relaxed morning watching the birds forage, perch, and fly overhead. We also enjoyed Hutton’s Vireo, Western Bluebirds, Lark Sparrows, and additional Tricolored Blackbirds. A nearby stop produced Rufous-crowned Sparrow before a pair of Golden Eagles suddenly appeared over the road, giving us an unforgettable close-up view.
Back along the coast, we birded a local cemetery hotspot, where we encountered Mule Deer, Pine Siskins, Western Flycatcher, Merlin, several warbler species, and another unexpected visitor: a Dickcissel! We continued around the Monterey Peninsula, seawatching and scanning rocky shorelines for gulls, terns, Sooty Shearwaters, Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, and Black Oystercatchers. We also located a summering Harlequin Duck before enjoying the scenery along the famous 17-Mile Drive.
With our main target birds accounted for, we spent our final birding day searching for Bell’s Sparrow following recent reports. Our destination was a small pond surrounded by mixed coniferous forest and chamise chaparral, the preferred habitat of this elusive species. The waterhole proved irresistible to local birds, and we spent nearly three hours enjoying a steady stream of visitors coming to drink and bathe. Multiple Bell’s Sparrows appeared along the pond’s edge, followed by Lawrence’s Goldfinches. We also picked out Sooty Fox Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, and Purple Finches among the activity.
That evening, we celebrated a wonderful week of birding over another delicious dinner. The combination of exceptional seabird encounters, California specialties, rare vagrants, spectacular scenery, and memorable wildlife experiences made this inaugural Central California: Seabirds and Specialties tour a tremendous success. I can’t wait to do it again next year!
Day-by-Day Summary
September 12 – Meeting and introductory dinner.
September 13 – Morning birding at Bixby Park, Palo Alto Baylands, and Charleston Slough; lunch in Palo Alto, afternoon birding at Wunderlich County Park, then on to Half Moon Bay.
September 14 – (Pelagic trip cancelled due to weather) Morning birding at Candlestick SRA and Pillar Point Bluffs, lunch in Half Moon Bay, afternoon birding at Half Moon Bay State Beach and Pillar Point Harbor.
September 15 – Morning drive to at Pigeon Point (Nazca Booby!), followed by birding at Ano Nuevo State Park, lunch at Moss Landing, then birding at Zmudowski Beach and Moss Landing.
September 16 – All day pelagic trip out of Monterey.
September 17 – All day birding Big Sur with stops at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, lunch at Nepenthe, and birding at Andrew Molera State Park.
September 18 – Morning birding in Corral De Tierra, lunch in Pacific Grove, afternoon birding around the Monterey peninsula.
September 19 – Morning birding along La Gloria Rd, lunch in Salinas, afternoon birding at Sunnyvale Baylands Park and Alviso Marina County Park.
September 20 – Departure day.
Wildlife Seen:
Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)
Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani)
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) (Introduced)
Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus griseus)
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) (Introduced)
California Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi)
Guadalupe Fur Seal (Arctophoca townsendi)
Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)
California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus)
Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)
Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina)
Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Baird's Beaked Whale (Berardius bairdii)
Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)
Yellow-faced Bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii)