The last time I wore my parrot-patterned Patagonia baggies while birding was last June when Mum and Dad visited Del Mar and we walked down to the San Dieguito Lagoon to photograph the Ospreys and Barn Swallows in their respective nests.
Those shorts brought us some luck today in Rancho Penasquitos off Black Mountain Road. Here are some of our favorites.
We learned that the Western Meadowlark is the state bird of six states: Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming!
We were walking and I said, ‘I want to see an Acorn Woodpecker.’ Then about 2 minutes later we saw this pair. Ask and you shall receive!
And more at the end of the walk:
I’ve been talking about a bird at the Raptor Ridge Trail that I thought was a Kite…where we were today is about 12 miles from there, so not the same bird, but we were treated to this small raptor!
Very close to the tree with the Kite, sat this hawk.
And another on our way out:
We must have looked like bird nerds because a cyclist rode by and told us he’d just seen a Road Runner off the trail, “In case you were looking for it.” We hung around the area a bit, but had missed it. I guess the shorts can only do so much.
Also seen today: White-Crowned Sparrow, Cassin’s or Western Kingbird, Black Phoebe, California Towhee, Bushtits (we think) and several others we didn’t capture on camera.
Please let us know if you think we mislabeled anything!
-Blair
The Big Year 2021 
So many sightings! That kite is stunning! – Alison
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I think the last hawk you show the one with the rust colored breast sitting on the thin post, is a red-shouldered hawk. The other unconfirmed one is interesting. I think it is one of three accipiters (pages 98-99), and a juvenile. So… hmmmm… I am excited that this may be a sharp-shinned hawk because they seem rare here and are difficult to distinguish with a Cooper’s hawk. Per Sibley, Sharp-shinned are smaller. They have a more prominent eye, a smaller more rounded head… could it be? – Dad/Dean
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