Kern County and Sequoia National Park

Kern County, California
May 25-29, 2006

Susan picked me up from the MacArthur BART Station right after work and we drove straight through to Red Rock Canyon State Park which lies in the transition zone between the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Kern County. We made it in just six hours. We picked out the very best camp site in the park surrounded on three sides by the unusual rock formations for which the park was named and set up the tent. We were awakened the next morning by the “kikiki” of White-throated Swifts circling overhead and the “kabrick” of an Ash-throated Flycatcher. After a quick breakfast we made a mad dash for the world famous IBA, Butterbredt Springs. As soon as we got there I saw a Cassin’s Vireo in a tree and not far away a Blue-headed Vireo giving an excellent comparison of these two very similar species. There were Wilson’s Warblers, Willow Flycatchers, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, and Western Wood-Pewees on every branch. We ran into noted ornithologist, Scott Terrill, who told us about an American Redstart. Sure enough we soon saw a first year male near the spring. There were a few Swainson’s Thrushes and Western Tanagers and one Nuttall’s Woodpecker. Scott and his wife, Linda, told us about an Ovenbird at this oasis called Galileo and insisted that we had to make a stop there. She even sheepishly suggested that we might camp there (more about that later). When things started to die down at the spring we took the dirt road up Piute Mountain all the way to Kelso Creek. Along the road we tried in vain for any kind of thrasher but saw none. Two immature Golden Eagles flew up from the creosote and sage brush not too far from the car but I wasn’t quick enough on the draw to get any video. A few minutes later a Phainopepla flew by and still later we saw a Chukar fly up the hillside.

We walked along Kelso Creek and saw some of the area’s breeding birds, Spotted Towhee, Western Bluebird, Bushtit, Western Scrub-Jay, Bewick’s Wren, and Oak Titmouse. Next we stopped at one of my favorite birding spots, Kern River Preserve. There were many Black-headed Grosbeaks and Willow Flycatchers. Along the nature trail I spotted a bright singing Summer Tanager. As we walked along the trail a Lesser Nighthawk flew right in front of us. Part of the trail was flooded making it into a big swamp with many birds singing in it. You know what comes with swamps and I had had it with mosquitoes after my Texas trip so we didn’t linger too long even though we heard another Summer Tanager and a Bullock’s Oriole. Back at the visitor center we rested on a bench in front of a hummingbird feeder. A Black-chinned Hummingbird perched right above our heads for about ten minutes giving us an excellent opportunity to compare it with our resident Anna’s Hummingbird. Susan spotted her first ever Lawrence’s Goldfinch which was soon knocked off the feeder by a Lesser Goldfinch. Our next stop was the South Fork area which is a short trail along the Kern River. Susan was on a roll. First she spotted a Rock Wren and then a Blue Grosbeak in the trees. The end of the trail was flooded too so we moved along to Canebrake Ecological Reserve. The wind had picked up considerably putting a damper on this delightful little trail. We saw a Lark Sparrow on the trail and a few more Bullock’s Orioles but then decided to call it a day and returned to our campground for the evening. The sunset was awesome and was punctuated by two Barn Owls that flew in to roost right behind our campsite.

Saturday morning we rose at 5:00 AM to get an early start at Butterbredt. There were already some top notch birders there by the time we arrived including Les and Cindy Leurance and Oscar, the kid who identified one of the Slaty-backed Gulls at Half Moon Bay this winter. The Leurances told us about a Kentucky Warbler they had seen earlier but we never saw it. The American Redstart was still there along with some lingering Townsend’s Warblers. Cindy showed us a Costa’s Hummingbird sitting on her nest and I also saw a Hammond’s Flycatcher and a Dusky Flycatcher fly up the spring. Then a woodpecker flew into the trees overhanging the spring. It had a bright red cap that extended all the way to its bill but it had a lot of black on its face and on its nape—Nuttall’s x Ladder-backed Woodpecker. This was the first time I had seen a hybrid of these two species; they are both known to breed at Butterbredt. After a while we decided to walk up the canyon to warm up. I had checked the weather repeatedly before I left and was assured by every source that it would be a magnificent desert experience with hot days and cool nights. Oh contraire! I had thrown a couple of pairs of shorts, some t-shirts, and a North Face polartec jacket in a bag and as a last thought threw in a little skull cap and thin gloves. The polartec was worthless in the wind and I spent two days thinking ruefully of all my high tech clothing at home. Up stream I found a female MacGillivray’s Warbler and some Sage Sparrows. While we were admiring it Oscar flew past us yelling, “Blackburnian!” We passed on that one and I guess it didn’t stay around very long anyway because we never saw it either. Back at the spring we saw a Scott’s Oriole, a late Hermit Thrush, and some Violet-green Swallows. Right before we left I found a Hermit Warbler in the Cottonwoods.

After Butterbredt thinned out we drove to California City, which I vote the ugliest desert city in the US and yes that includes Las Vegas. The only thing I can say about it is at least it doesn’t pretend to be anything it is not which you cannot say about Las Vegas. We had lunch at Central Park and then walked up to the non-flowing ugly fake waterfall where Susan found a Black-and-white Warbler. She also found another Lawrence’s Goldfinch. The park was full of Great-tailed Grackles! Oh how I missed them from Texas. The fake dry tacky waterfall was interesting in that as you walked around it you were eye level with the tops of the trees giving excellent views of the birds there. We walked around the lake a bit and found a Spotted Sandpiper and Green Heron and a huge flock of Horned Larks.

We drove from California City through the lovely denuded OHV area to Galileo Hill where someone had the brilliant idea to build a fake oasis. This place was so tacky, tasteless, and repulsive that I cannot imagine ever looking for a bird there but there we were so what were we to do? Right smack in the middle of the creosote and sage desert is this stupid resort offering golf (you know there is all that extra water in the desert), putt-putt, fishing in a fake lake, archery, range shooting, horse riding, and oh yeah the petting zoo. We did not find the Ovenbird reported by Scott but Susan found a Vermillion Flycatcher. We walked around and soon found the campground such as it were. Tents were thrown in big bunches rather haphazardly and it looked like a hurricane refuge camp frankly. While in Kern County I was unable to get an NPR station and so I was sure that while we were on vacation Bush had passed a law interning all the illegal aliens in California in this so-called campground. We drove back to camp and tried to read some but the wind steadily increased until we were driven inside our tent. A wicked wind storm descended on Red Rock Canyon that night blowing gusts up to 75 MPH. It blew with such intensity that the two sides of the tent frequently touched each other. We were sure that it would soon pick us and the tent all up and carry us Dorothys away out of Kansas. During the night most of the other campers had given up and gone home but we rode out the storm and woke to a frisky 47 degrees which is no fun when you thought you were in the desert. We drove back to Butterbredt but spent most of the morning on the hillside so the sun could warm our backs. Susan found a Nashville Warbler and I found a Black-throated Gray Warbler but we didn’t see any more vagrants so we went out to the trees across the street, some sort of locust tree or walnut and there I did a hat trick with the vireos, finding a Plumbeous Vireo. I tried to chase it but it kept moving further and further up canyon until it was gone. We returned to the spring and took a leisurely walk up the canyon with every article of clothing we had brought, on our bodies but the sun started bearing down on us and we had to leave. We decided to explore the nature trails back at Red Rock Canyon for the rest of the day. We took the Desert View trail and saw some more Black-headed Grosbeaks two Loggerhead Shrikes, and many Say’s Phoebes, Black-throated Sparrows, and Cactus Wrens. We took the trail up a ridge with expansive views of the desert and the gorgeous sandstone formations. We then dropped into a wide wash and Susan spotted a Prairie Falcon. We followed it until we found its nest high on the canyon walls. That evening we cradled our camp chairs into the canyon wall to protect us from the wind. We read until our friends the Barn Owls came to let us know it was time for bed. That evening we decided we could not tolerate the wind any more and would leave Red Rock in the morning.

Monday morning we made one last loop around the campground looking for a thrasher of any sort but again there was none. We drove back out to Highway 99 north to Bakinginafield (Bakersfield) and made a short detour east to the southern entrance to Sequoia National Park. Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead there on a holiday but this was an exception caused by the unusually cold windy desert conditions. Susan had never seen this part of the park before and I hadn’t been there for ten years. It had changed a lot but you still have to take 48 curves to get up Highway 198 along the Kaweah River to enter the park. We parked at the Potwisha Campground and took the Marble Falls Trail up1300 feet 3.9 miles to a gorgeous cascading waterfall. The southern end of Sequoia NP at 4000 feet is chaparral country dominated by chemise and oak. We saw birds typical of this type of habitat, Acorn Woodpecker, Spotted Towhee, Wrentit, Bewick’s Wren, Hutton’s Vireo, Bullock’s Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak. But as we gained elevation the terrain and the birds changed. The trail was dotted with common madia, flowering fremontia, and mariposa lilies. The chaparral gave way to shaded areas of mountain misery, mountain pennyroyal, California pink plant, different types of ferns, and we even were surprised to see a cynoglossum grande. We started to see some Lazuli Buntings and one Black-throated Gray Warbler. Then when we finally reached the falls we were treated not only to a bursting waterfall but also to an American Dipper. The dipper is an amazing bird. We watched as she dove from a rock into the frothing water and then burst from it with food in mouth and up river to her nest in the rocks above. This trail was utterly fanstastic and spectacular in every way from the beautiful wildflowers and birds to the gorgeous waterfall and outstanding views. On our way up the incredibly curvy mountain road our trip was marred by a purblind man that passed us on a double yellow line on a blind curve because I wouldn’t exceed the speed limit and then he tried to drive us off the road into the Kaweah River. We stopped briefly to run down the brand new trail to the General Sherman Tree (largest living thing) so I could show Susan the gigantic limb that was knocked off in the storms in January. We heard many Golden-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers as we ran down the trail and back up again and those were our last birds of this incredible Memorial weekend.
Mallard
Ruddy Duck
Chukar
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
American Coot
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
White-throated Swift
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird
Costa’s Hummingbird
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall’s x Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Plumbeous Vireo
Cassin’s Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Hutton’s Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Rock Wren
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Phainopepla
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson’s Warbler
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock’s Oriole
Scott’s Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Lawrence’s Goldfinch
House Sparrow