2023 California – Complete California

We will spend the morning around Bodega Bay and then head southward, with perhaps a stop at the Marin Headlands Hawk Watch. Here we may see a variety of raptors including Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, Red-tailed, and Red-shouldered Hawks, White-tailed Kite, Prairie and Peregrine Falcons, and hopefully a Golden Eagle.

Overnight: Petaluma

This will be a travel day. We will start by heading toward the Central Valley to look for Swainson’s Hawk and Yellow-billed Magpie, which is a California endemic. Western Bluebird and the comical Acorn Woodpecker are a couple of likely candidates in the Sierra foothills. Late afternoon and evening birding will be near the entrance to Yosemite National Park for owls and montane species such as Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-headed Woodpecker, and possibly American Dipper. We’ll do a dusk search for Great Gray Owl.

Overnight: Oakhurst.

The entire day will be spent birding in Yosemite looking for species including Sooty Grouse, Northern Goshawk, Mountain Quail, Black-backed, White-headed, Pileated, and Hairy Woodpeckers, Williamson’s and Red-breasted Sapsuckers, Hermit, Nashville, and MacGillivray’s Warblers, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, and Cassin’s Finch. It may be difficult to keep our eyes on the birds, as the scenery is truly spectacular.

Evening birding will be at Mono County Park looking for Yellow-headed Blackbird, Sora, Virginia Rail, Eared Grebe, and Red-necked Phalarope.

Overnight: Lee Vining

Our day will be spent in the sage and woodlands east of the Sierras. We will start early with a visit to Crowley Lake for Greater Sage-Grouse, Prairie Falcon, Sage Thrasher, Bell’s Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, and Gray Flycatcher. A special visit will be made to Aspendell to look for Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch.

Birding in the woodlands and other areas around Lee Vining can produce Lewis’s Woodpecker, the beautiful Mountain Bluebird, Townsend’s Solitaire, Calliope and Rufous Hummingbirds, Green-tailed Towhee, and Pygmy Nuthatch. We’ll go out in the evening to search for owls and Common Poorwill.

Overnight: Lee Vining

Morning birding in Yosemite will be for any species that we may have missed yesterday. Then we head westward toward Monterey Bay, with a stop en route to look for Spotted Dove and any rarities that may be on the hotline.

Overnight: Watsonville

We will start on the coast north of Santa Cruz with a visit to Ano Nuevo to look for Black Swifts that nest in shoreline caves. We then turn our attention to searching for passerines that may include a variety of warblers such as Wilson’s, MacGillivray’s, Townsend’s, and possibly Hermit.

We’ll return to the habitat that fringes Monterey Bay to look for Snowy Plover, Baird’s Sandpiper, and rock-loving shorebirds including Black Oystercatcher, Surfbird, Wandering Tattler, and Black Turnstone. Additional opportunities include migrating flocks that may contain Violet-green Swallow and Vaux’s (pronounced VOX’ iz) Swift.

Overnight: Watsonville

The first of our two scheduled pelagic trips will take us into world-famous Monterey Bay. Monterey Bay is bisected by a huge submarine canyon twice the size of the Grand Canyon. This geography allows for rich and diverse wildlife to be viewed within a short distance of land. Potential species include Pink-footed, Buller’s, Sooty, and Black-vented Shearwaters, Black and Ashy Storm-Petrels, all three jaegers, South Polar Skua, Arctic Tern, Cassin’s and Rhinoceros Auklets, and Marbled and Scripps’s Murrelets.

We will hope for a rarity such as Tufted Puffin, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Streaked, Wedge-tailed, and Manx Shearwaters, Laysan Albatross, or a tropicbird. Blue and Humpback Whales are a distinct possibility, as are four additional species of cetaceans.

For the full species list of this and the next day’s pelagic trip, click on the following: www.shearwaterjourneys.com.

We’ll do some evening birding on shore looking for species not seen on the previous day.

Overnight: Watsonville

Today we will again join Shearwater Journeys for our second pelagic trip, this time to the Albacore Grounds. This trip typically goes further offshore than yesterday’s Monterey Bay trip, giving us chances for additional species. The albacore trip is a specialty trip, being 12 hours long, as compared to yesterday’s 7.5-hour trip.

Here are some highlights from a previous mid-September trip: “Monterey seabirds and marine mammals delighted and thrilled folks on the Shearwater Journeys’ offshore albacore trip. Some of the more exciting birds of the day include Brown Booby, Manx Shearwater, Scripps’s Murrelets, Sabine’s Gulls, Arctic Terns, Blue Whales, and Bairds’ Beaked Whales, with Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaegers putting on an amazing show to the delight of all! A few more highlights were Black-vented Shearwater, South Polar Skua, Cassin’s Auklet, Northern Fur Seal, Humpback Whale, and the spectacular Ocean Sunfish”.

Overnight: Watsonville

We will bird the Watsonville area on the edge of Monterey Bay with our sights set on some of the common birds of this area, including Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Wilson’s Phalarope, Short-billed Dowitcher, Black-necked Stilt, and American Avocet. A stop in the oak woodland could yield California Quail, Wrentit, Anna’s Hummingbird, California Towhee, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Hutton’s and Cassin’s Vireos, and Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Overnight: Watsonville

Today we journey southward along Highway 1 in search of California Condors that inhabit the area. We will spend ample time searching the sky for this spectacular species brought back from the brink of extinction, although we are not guaranteed of seeing them. Our afternoon drive will take us to Ventura, with additional birding stops for migrants en route.

Overnight: Ventura

Departure for a full-day trip to Santa Cruz Island for the California endemic Island Scrub-Jay and the Santa Cruz Island races of Bewick’s Wren and Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Royal Tern and Black-vented Shearwater are possible on the boat trip to the island, as are Blue and Humpback Whales.

Overnight: Ventura

We will head east to southern San Joaquin County in search of LeConte’s Thrasher. Dependent upon our previous sightings during the tour, we may also bird Mount Pinos in search of Calliope Hummingbird, Mountain Quail, and Black-chinned Sparrow. If this is not necessary, we will continue to the Los Angeles Basin where we will look for Spotted Dove, Allen’s Hummingbird and, time permitting, California Gnatcatcher.

Overnight: Long Beach or Redondo Beach

For those participating in just the Complete California Tour, we’ll arrive in Los Angeles for departing flights from Los Angeles International Airport, where the tour ends. Or, you can continue on with the Salton Sea Extension for some additional exceptional birding.

Yes! We have birding planned if time allows and everything is on schedule.

Check the weather for the destination as close to your departure date as possible, and dress accordingly for your comfort level. You can also review our What to Bring page for more information.

There are many items the will be useful to you while on a Bird Treks tour. We have put together our list of recommendations on the What to Bring page.

Our tours are all conducted in English, but we do have some experience working with client that don’t speak English well – Some English would be needed for safety reasons. In locations where another language is predominately spoken, a native guide may accompany the tour.

Yes, we will always try our best to help with anything at all! We’re here to serve you. However, it is usually easier if you book your flight through your own travel agent as we can’t always get the best deals from your particular country. But we will help whenever needed!

While Day 1 is usually a travel (arrival) day, and the last day of the tour is usually also a travel day (departure), many people do like to arrive early and/or leave late. We can indeed book extra nights before and after the trip, and we in fact recommend you let us book them, as it avoids confusion and allows us to book the accommodation that is most convenient for the tour.

NOTE: Most often it is the same hotel or lodge that you use on the first night of the tour, but in some instances, it could be an airport hotel or an accommodation establishment where the guide is staying.

No, we do not. We find that it is better for trip participants to purchase their own medical, trip cancellation, and baggage insurance through their own insurance provider in the country they reside in. We expect all tour participants to have comprehensive insurance, and we encourage everyone to send us a copy of their insurance documents.

For most tours, meals are included in the tour price. This may include a hotel-provided breakfast, or guide-provided box lunches. For dinners, we strive to find interesting and delicious local restaurants – this allows us to give back to the local economy, and find exciting new place to eat.

Most people will not get sick, although you should take precautions if you are prone to motion sickness, as the weather can dictate how rough the ride will be. There are various remedies sold at local pharmacies which can help relieve motion sickness and will make your trip more enjoyable.

You may participate in the 5-day extension with the regular 15-day tour or take either tour separately. Simply tell us your preference: 5 days, 15 days, or the full 19 days.