Gualala Birds

The wife and I returned to the Bay Area during the Christmas break.

We enjoyed time with our families are are thankful for all our blessings.

The weather has vacillated between clear and torrid – clear and cold days, I got out a few times.

I had the most fun birding with my step-daughter at a couple of locations in Contra Costa county. We were hoping to find any species of Rail in a nearby marsh – but that was a miss.

We had a decent bird count, and I added a two new life birds:

Lifer #139 – American Wigeon

and

Lifer #140 – Hooded Merganser

The very next morning, we decided to do a quick birding escapade much closer to home at Newhall Park.

Wow, what a surprise – one of my biggest single-day counts… in our backyard.

We worked together identifying 33 species, including two new lifers for me.

Lifer #143 – Sora

and

Lifer #144 – Green Heron

The Sora is the first bird I’m adding to my life-list that I could not see. It’s sound is unmistakable – and we both agreed if we heard it twice, we’d count it – and it called out exactly twice. 🙂

I’m hoping to have a big-day on New Years day… but the weather looks challenging. Let’s see how it goes.