Southern California - update one

I arrived in Los Angeles late on 27th December, and after enduring a day around Hollywood and Beverly Hills yesterday (where the birding highlights were limited to a load of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brewer's Blackbirds, Lesser Goldinches and American Robins), I hit Wilson Canyon Park early morning. The Los Angeles RBA and Andy H combined to give out some good gen on Lewis' Woodpecker, a really tricky species to see and one I'd dipped on previous trips. I managed to find one in trees immediately north of the dam car park early morning, along with a load of other regular stuff like Acorn Woodpecker, Bushtit, Townsend's Warbler, California Quail, White-crowned Sparrow and California Towhee.

Lewis' Woodpecker Wilson Canyon Park 29th December 2013

Heading south through LA, traffic was pretty slow and a couple of uneventful stops at Manhatten and Redondo beaches produced the usual gulls (Ring-billed and Western, with a few Heermann's too) and Brown Pelicans, including a couple of ringed birds. Once through the sprawl, we stopped off at the beautiful Crystal Cove State Park - lovely pristine coastal sage scrub fronted by a typically decent Californian beach. Three California Gnatcatchers were seen, all quite easily, by the Parking Lot 1. California Thrasher, Western Bluebird and Common Yellowthroat were seen here too while the beach held a load of gulls including a Glaucous-winged, California and a couple of Heermann's as well as showy Western Willets and Marbled Godwits. All good stuff, and nice to be back.

California Gnatcatcher Crystal Cove 29th December 2013

Western Bluebirds Crystal Cove 29th December 2013

Marbled Godwit Crystal Cove 29th December 2013

Heermann's Gull Crystal Cove 29th December 2013