Saturday Field Trip – Morro Bay

03 Aug Saturday Field Trip – Morro Bay

Long-billed Curlew by Rachel Clark

Please join Fresno Audubon on Saturday, July 17 as we escape the Valley heat and journey to Morro Bay. We will meet at 5:30 AM at the Walmart parking lot on the southeast corner of Shaw and Ashlan to arrange carpooling. The plan is to depart by 5:45 AM. The first destination will be Montaña de Oro State Park. Goal birds at this location will be Brown Pelican, Western Gull, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic  Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, Wrentit, California Thrasher, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, California Quail, and many more! Next, we will visit Morro Bay State Park, where we will visit the Marina/Boardwalk Trail and the heron rookery. Our goal birds at these locations will be Heermann’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Black-crowned Night Heron, and many more. Sometime while in Morro Bay State Park, we will sit down for lunch. Our next birding destination will be Sweet Springs Nature Preserve, where our goal birds will be Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Common Yellowthroat, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Egret, and many more. If there is time, we will stop by Morro Rock to look for Peregrine Falcons and various shorebirds. The plan is to leave Morro Bay around 3:30 or 4:00 PM and be back in Fresno by 6:30 PM. Participants should bring snacks, lunch, water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. Please be aware that there is poison oak along the trails at Montaña de Oro State Park and other locations along the coast; long pants and poison oak/ivy wipes are recommended. Registration is required and there is a limit of 25 participants. The use of masks is recommended when maintaining a distance of six feet is not possible, and we ask that participants carpool at their own discretion. Trip leaders are FAS president Rachel Clark and  Susan Estep.

Registration: Please register for the field trip here.

Checklist: binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat, radios

Trip leader: Rachel Clark at 515-357-0122 or tanagergirl@gmail.com.