Length of Tour
8-days/7-nights
Brief Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrivals at San Jose Int. Airport (SJC). Night in San Jose.
Day 2 – Don Edwards NWR, Alviso Marina, Shoreline Park, Palo Alto Baylands, and San Francisco area hotspots. Night in Half Moon Bay.
Day 3 – Full-day pelagic boat trip with Alvaro’s Adventures. Night in Half Moon Bay.
Day 4 – Half Moon Bay hotspots, Highway 1 hotspots, Henry Cowell Redwoods, Lighthouse Point. Night in Santa Cruz.
Day 5 – Santa Cruz hotspots, Moonglow Dairy, Jetty Road, Monterey hotspots. Night in Monterey.
Day 6 – La Gloria Road, Pinnacles NP, Monterey hotspots, & Point Pinos. Night in Monterey.
Day 7 – Monterey hotspots, Big Sur Coast. Night in Monterey.
Day 8 – Coyote Valley, Almaden Lake Park, Departures from San Jose Int. Airport (SJC).
Full Itinerary
*Exact daily itinerary subject to change depending on current conditions, and an ever-increasing threat of wildfires which may cause closures to some birding destinations. The departure of the pelagic is also subject to change depending on each year’s schedule.
Day 1 – Arrivals at San Jose Int. Airport (SJC). Night in San Jose.
Please arrive to San Jose Int. Airport (SJC) at your leisure and take the hotel shuttle to our first night’s accommodations. No birding is planned for today, and we will meet as a group on the morning of Day 2. Night in San Jose.
Day 2 – Don Edwards NWR, Alviso Marina, Shoreline Park, Palo Alto Baylands, and San Francisco area hotspots. Night in Half Moon Bay.
We will spend the morning hours birding hotspots along the southwestern shoreline of Francisco Bay. Our first destination will be Don Edwards NWR where wetland impoundments hold huge numbers of shorebirds, waterfowl, terns, and gulls. More than 20 species of shorebirds have been found here in September including rarities like Ruff and Pacific Golden-Plover. Scrub habitat surrounding the bay may hold California Towhee, Anna’s Hummingbird, Bewick’s Wren, “Heermann’s” Song Sparrow, and Black Phoebe. Raptors are abundant including White-tailed Kite and Northern Harrier, and we will check for Burrowing Owls which are rapidly declining in this region.
In just the right habitat, we might be able to hear endangered Black Rails calling! At the Palo Alto Baylands you’ll be blown away by the number of shorebirds gathering to roost in the marshes! There can be hundreds of Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets here and over a dozen other shorebird species! This habitat is also home to the “San Francisco Bay” Ridgway’s Rail!
Based on recent sightings we may detour up to San Francisco to chase any staked-out rarities such as unusual songbirds, flycatchers, or shorebirds that are being reported. Whether or not we venture to San Francisco, we will continue to Half Moon Bay in the early evening in preparation for tomorrow’s pelagic trip! Night in Half Moon Bay.
Day 3 – Full-day pelagic boat trip with Alvaro’s Adventures. Night in Half Moon Bay.
We’ll be departing from Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay and heading out to Pioneer Canyon on a full-day pelagic birding adventure! These excellent pelagics are hosted by Alvaro’s Adventures. Seabird species we can expect include Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed Shearwater, Buller’s Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, and Red Phalarope. Both Ashy Storm-Petrel, Black Storm-Petrel, and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel are possible too – this is one of the best areas of the West Coast to view a variety of storm-petrels! Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers are expected, while Long-tailed is uncommon. Marbled Murrelets are often encountered right outside the harbor, and more sea-faring alcids like Cassin’s Auklet, Common Murre, and Rhinoceros Auklet may be spotted too! If we are lucky maybe even a Tufted Puffin or Scripp’s Murrelet will make an appearance! Western Gulls, California Gulls, and Heermann’s Gulls will be abundant and sometimes we spot migrating Sabine’s Gulls – a very striking species! The more regular terns include Common and Elegant, but we have also spotted migrarnt Arctic Terns on these trips.
Besides the excellent birding, there are many marine mammals out in the deep water. Sometimes Humpback Whales and even Blue Whales can steal the whole show! We have also recorded Orca, Risso’s Dolphin, Pacific White-sided Dolphin, and Harbor Porpoise. California Sea Lions are common, but closer scrutiny may turn up a Northern Fur Seal or Northern Elephant Seal loafing at the surface. The bird and mammal possibilities are seemingly endless, and every day out on the ocean brings new surprises! Night in Half Moon Bay.
Day 4 – Half Moon Bay hotspots, Highway 1 hotspots, Henry Cowell Redwoods, Lighthouse Point. Night in Santa Cruz.
Today we are back on dry land and will hit the ground running, with a visit to some nearby Half Moon Bay hotspots in search of migrants, shorebirds, and any staked-out rarities. Fairly common West Coast specialties like Band-tailed Pigeon, California Quail, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, and other exciting birds should be encountered along the way! We will bounce from spot to spot, heading down Highway 1. This drive showcases incredible vistas and classic California scenes straight out of the movies. Rocky outcroppings often hold thousands of loafing gulls and cormorants including Pelagic Cormorant. Scanning out onto the ocean we may see Pacific Loons and sometimes hundreds to thousands of Sooty Shearwaters flying by! Western Gull, California Gull, and the sleek Heermann’s Gull will be abundant. Surf Scoters are often the most common duck species, but Red-breasted Merganser is possible too. Black Oystercatchers blend in well with the dark rocks, and small flocks of Black Turnstones may be gathered along the coast. A careful scan may find a Wandering Tattler or a Surfbird hiding in the rocks! California Ground Squirrels are common (and very friendly) at the overlooks.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is an incredible place to explore for a few hours in the afternoon and can seem like a completely different world to those who aren’t used to standing below truly massive trees! Songbirds like Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, and Pacific Wren can be numerous, and we often encounter migrant warblers including “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped, Wilson’s, Townsend’s, Hermit, and Black-throated Gray! Western Gray Squirrel, Merriam’s Chipmunk, Douglas Squirrel, and Mule Deer are abundant in these forests. Steller’s Jays fill the forests with their raucous calls, and brushy hillsides hold California Scrub-Jays.
In the seaside city of Santa Cruz, we’ll visit Natural Bridges State Beach and Lighthouse Point. These seaside overlooks are great places to watch surfers riding the waves, and for spotting tiny Marbled Murrelets and Pigeon Guillemots foraging in the kelp beds. Sometimes migrant flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes gather on the small lagoons, and Black Oystercatchers often nest on the natural arch formation. This is also a great site to watch Parasitic Jaegers harassing Elegant Terns! Night in Santa Cruz.
Day 5 – Santa Cruz hotspots, Moonglow Dairy, Jetty Road, Monterey hotspots. Night in Monterey.
The Aptos Creekmouth is a great spot to check loafing gulls and terns, and sometimes we have watched epic jaeger versus tern battles happen just off the beach! Any staked-out rarities will be searched for, as time allows. From there we will venture further south, toward Half Moon Bay. A visit to the privately owned dairy farm, Moonglow Dairy, is famous for its flock of Tricolored Blackbirds. This endangered species is a close relative of Red-winged Blackbird and looks very similar. The dairy cattle attract huge numbers of blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds and has been open for birders since the 1970s. The endemic subspecies of Red-winged Blackbird known as “California Bicolored Blackbird” is also abundant here, and lacks the yellow portion to their epaulets. Shorebirds also congregate on a few impoundments between the dairy and the slough and have often produced sightings of Wilson’s Phalarope and Pectoral Sandpiper. A small patch of eucalyptus trees can hold songbirds like Townsend’s Warbler, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, and Downy Woodpecker.
Watsonville Slough is one of the largest remaining freshwater marshes along the Central Coast of California and can be a great place to spot herons, egrets, terns, and shorebirds. Zmudowski Beach is great for congregations of gulls, and we often find Whimbrel here. Next, we will wind our way along Elkhorn Slough, which opens to the Pacific Ocean at Moss Landing. This is where Monterey Bay’s massive underwater canyon begins. The deep water attracts three species of cormorants, Brown Pelicans, and Parasitic Jaegers close to shore. Huge numbers of shorebirds gather in the saltmarshes here, highlighted by the possibility for Snowy Plover and Red Knot! More abundant shorebirds include Marbled Godwit, “Western” Willet, Long-billed Curlew, and Short-billed Dowitchers will be present by the hundreds. The photo opportunities here are often very good. California Sea Lions, “Pacific” Harbor Seals, and Northern Sea Otters are abundant in the marina. Brush Rabbits (endemic to the immediate coastline) are common.
Heading into downtown Monterey we will bounce around to multiple small parks and ponds in search of Western Grebe, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and Virginia Rail. Great-tailed Grackles are just beginning to colonize this area while Brewer’s Blackbirds are native and abundant. Hutton’s Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Nuttall’s Woodpecker will be top targets as well. We will visit flowering shrubs and try to pick out a Rufous or Allen’s Hummingbird among the more abundant Anna’s Hummingbirds. Sometimes we have been able to find Costa’s Hummingbird too, but they are quite rare in this region. Night in Monterey.
Day 6 – La Gloria Road, Pinnacles NP, Monterey hotspots, & Point Pinos. Night in Monterey.
La Gloria Road, which winds up through Bickmore Canyon, can host Lesser Goldfinch, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Bell’s Sparrow, California Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Western Bluebird, Bewick’s Wren, California Thrasher, Spotted Towhee, and Bushtit. Scattered cattle troughs along this road lure in birds looking for a sip of fresh water in the otherwise hot, dry landscape.
Much of the afternoon will be spent in Pinnacles National Park. Pinnacles is tucked into the dry forested hills and mountains. This area is more arid than our other destinations, and the rocky spires filling the steep mountain slopes have an eclectic beauty. The wide-open spaces and limited access make this region ground zero for the northern-most population of California Condors, and the massive birds can often be spotted soaring along the tall ridgelines surrounding the park. Golden Eagles, “Western” Red-tailed Hawk, White-tailed Kite, and other raptors can also be found in the area. Much of the vegetation here is oak-scrub, and mammals like Bobcat, Gray Fox, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, California Ground Squirrel, and Mule Deer can be found. Rock Wren and Canyon Wren may be heard singing from the walls of narrow canyons. Other desert specialties like Phainopepla, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Greater Roadrunner are uncommon but regular. Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Steller’s Jay, California Scrub-Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and Pacific-slope Flycatcher will also be top targets during our time in the park.
For the evening we will head back to Monterey and make a slow loop of Pacific Grove and Point Pinos. There is incredibly deep water just offshore from Point Pinos, and so this site is famous for pelagic birds like Black-vented Shearwater and even Black-footed Albatross cutting in quite close to shore! It has also lured in some mega-rarities like Red-footed and Nazca Boobies! Wandering Tattler and Surfbird hide in the rocks, and sometimes flocks of Whimbrel can be seen migrating by. Patches of trees near the point and at the nearby cemetery often hold migrant songbirds and residents like Western Bluebird. By carefully working the flocks of songbirds we have turned up some crazy eastern strays like Blackburnian Warbler and Yellow-green Vireo! You never know what might be hiding in Monterey! Eastern Fox Squirrels (introduced) and “Columbian Black-tailed” Mule Deer are abundant. Night in Monterey, CA.
Day 7 – Monterey hotspots, Big Sur Coast. Night in Monterey.
This morning our primary objective will be to cruise down US1 through the incredible Big Sur region and search for California Condors! These massive vultures were reintroduced to this vast, wild portion of the California coast and subsist on dead whales and sea lions that wash up along the shore. They nest in hollowed-out stumps and massive cavities in the huge redwoods and cedars that line the steep, coastal canyons. Sometimes the mornings can be very fogged in, but as the fog lifts condors take wing and soar along the seaside cliffs! Acorn Woodpecker, Band-tailed Pigeon, and singing Rufous-crowned Sparrows are also possible. At Point Lobos and Garrapata we will admire the beautiful plants and butterflies specially evolved for this Mediterranean climate and take some time to see a few waterfalls and other stunning natural sights! White-throated Swifts and Peregrine Falcon can be seen ripping past the overlooks!
After tracking down a condor or two, we will head back through Monterey and spend the afternoon visiting hotspots around town for new trip-birds and other species we need better views of. A visit to the wharf often allows for great photo opportunities of Northern Sea Otter and Pigeon Guillemot. We might make another stop at Moss Landing or nearby Watsonville hotspots depending on recent sightings. Night in Monterey, CA.
Day 8 – Coyote Valley, Almaden Lake Park, Departures from San Jose Int. Airport (SJC).
We will depart Monterey in the early morning and visit Coyote Valley on our way toward the San Jose Airport. The endemic and handsome-looking Yellow-billed Magpie can be found in the cattle ranches and oak savannah in this area! While searching for the magpies we may also encounter Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, the “California” subspecies of Common Raven, Eurasian Collared-Dove, and perhaps Golden Eagles!
As time allows, we may make one more stop near the airport, to Almaden Lake Park, just to squeeze in a few more minutes of birding in sunny California! Introduced (but countable!) Scaly-breasted Munia can be found here in addition to Oak Titmouse, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and sometimes California Thrasher.
Please plan for departures no earlier than 11:00am from San Jose Int. Airport (SJC). If you are planning to continue on to our Washington: Olympic Peninsula tour, please coordinate flights with our guides. There are often direct flights from San Jose to Seattle with Alaska Airlines around 1:30pm.
