San Diego - March 2023 - Tecolote Canyon

[Randy]

Hi everyone,

My family and I went to San Diego over March break. This was not a birding trip but I found a few hours on a couple occasions to get out and make use of the camera that I dragged down there .

I had to stay relatively close so I went to a place about 10 minutes away for a couple hours on two morning. It was called Tecolote Canyon Natural Park. It was a trail that proceeded through some coastal scrub where a lot of effort seems to have been made to maintain or replant native species. On my two visits there I had 30 and 40 species respectively.

The default hummingbirds are Anna's and Allen's, both of which are very common.

Anna's:

Anna's Hummingbird at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


California towhees and Northern Mockingbirds are also very common:


Northern Mockingbird at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


California Towhee at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


California Towhee at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


California Towhee at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


I came across a group of three scaly-breasted munias (an introduced species) on my first day there:


Scaly-breasted Munia at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Both Cassin's and Western Kingbirds were found here:

Cassin's:

Cassin's Kingbird at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Cassin's Kingbird at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Western:

Western Kingbird at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Black Phoebes were fairly common overall in the San Diego area:


Black Phoebe at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


There are a couple species of parrots/parakeets that have made San Diego their home. Red-masked Parakeet is one of these. Here's a poor photo of a flyover:


Red-masked Parakeet at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


On my second day I came across a Northern Waterthrush, which seems to be a rarity for the area:


Northern Waterthrush at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


California Thrashers are supposedly abundant but I only came across one:


California Thrasher at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Acorn Woodpeckers are a pleasure to see, even if from a distance:


Acorn Woodpecker at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


Wrentits are very loud and common but don't often come out for a good view:


Wrentit at Tecolote Canyon Natural Park by Randy Walker


More photos to come...

[canadianwarbler]

A really cool collection of photos. I've yet to bird that part of the USA. Just love the Wrentit and Towhee shots. They would be Lifers for me.