California Trip ~ January 13, 2011

We flew from Los Angeles to San Francisco, got our rental car and headed north across the Golden Gate Bridge and up Highway 101 toward McKinleyville. Along the way, we spotted Western Grebe, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mew, Western, and Glaucous-winged Gull, and Western Scrub-Jay.

We arrived at the Vista Point Overlook in the early afternoon and walked down the trail in light rain and drizzle towards two ponds below the bluff along the beach.

The view from the Vista Point Overlook along Highway 101 north of McKinleyville, looking southwest towards the area where the Brown Shrike was found. The shrike was seen near the left edge of this pond and another that is just out of view.

After a few minutes of searching the area between the two ponds, Devich spotted the Brown Shrike, another life bird for Devich and I. It stayed low in the bushes most of the time. Despite the dreary weather conditions, I got a mediocre photo of it.

Brown Shrike near McKinleyville, California. Note the dark mask with white border, the overall brownish color on the head and the back, and the bi-colored bill. The barred sides were present but are not visible in this photo.

Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, and Bufflehead were in the nearby pond. Along the trail were White-tailed Kite, Anna's Hummingbird, 'Red-shafted' Flicker, the coastal form of Bushtit, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit and Varied Thrush, American Robin, Wrentit, "Audubon's" Warbler, 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow. Satisfied with the looks we had at the shrike, we drove to nearby Trinidad Head. There, we saw Pelagic Cormorant, Canada Goose, California Quail, Hermit Thrush, Song Sparrow, and 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow.

We headed back south on 'the 101' and stayed at a Motel 6 in Ukiah.

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