Birding in Monterey

Posted byabpreecePosted inBirds

Email sent to out-of-town birders:

Hi Barb and Herb-

I’m glad to give you some recommendations! There’s lots to see around Monterey.

  1. Best birding locations (names in parenthesis are the official name of the hotspot in eBird) – going from north to south, these are the locations I would recommend visiting:

– Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (Elkhorn Slough Reserve (NERR)) and Jetty Rd.(Moss Landing Harbor–Jetty Rd & north harbor) in Moss Landing are two excellent birding spots and they are easily accessible from Hwy 1. They would be easy enough to stop at coming south from SF or on your way back north.

– Laguna Grande Park (listed as written in eBird) in Seaside, CA is a great spot to look for vagrants and local warblers. There is a pair of Peregrine Falcons living on the tall Embassy Suites hotel that keep things interesting. This is a typical urban park, with clear, level paths and many recreating non-birders, but there’s loads of thick patches of willow and blackberry harboring those sneaky little songbirds. The lake in the middle will have some good ducks, grebes and sometimes herons and egrets. I was just there this morning looking for a Yellow-breasted Chat and Sage Thrasher, two rarities that have been hanging around the park since Christmas.

– In Pacific Grove, CA, there’s lots of great birding on the coastal recreational trail that follows the rocky coastline. Any of these stretches will have our classic rocky coastline birds like Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, Black Oystercatchers, Whimbrels and loads of different species of gulls. I like to walk the coast from Lover’s Point out to Point Pinos (Pacific Grove–Lovers Pt., Pacific Grove–Sea Palm Beach, Pacific Grove–Otter Pt., 3 separate eBird hotspots).

– Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds has a mile of maintained coast trail that is similar to the stretch between Lover’s Point and Point Pinos. But it has some nice coves that will harbor Sanderlings, Willets and godwits. The Asilomar Conference Grounds are open to the public as well and include a section of Monterey pine forest which has some excellent birds. Asilomar is split into 3 eBird hotspots: Asilomar SB–rocky shore only [Jewell to Asilomar, west of Sunset], Asilomar SB–sandy beach to Spanish Bay, Asilomar Conference Grounds [limited to grounds; use Asilomar SB hot spots for shore].

– Further south is Carmel River State Beach (Carmel River SB (beach, lagoon, and/or Cross Hill)) and the Carmel Highlands trails from Ribera Rd. The sandy beach is an excellent area that usually has Snowy Plovers in the winter.

  1. As far as group events go, I think the only one that will be happening while you are in town is my Asilomar bird walk. I actually work at Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds and lead bird walks on Wednesdays. Here’s the link to the park website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24967(you have to scroll down a bit). My walks are at 1:30 in the afternoon, so you can go birding in the morning, have lunch, then keep right on birding!

There are two locals who lead private bird tours if you’re interested in getting in touch with them:

Blake Matheson – gypaetusbarbatus1@gmail.com

Rick Fournier – RimBirding@aol.com

  1. As far as sightings, we have the two rarities at Laguna Grande park that I mentioned above that seem to be settled in for a while. There has been a Summer Tanager in Pacific Grove along the forest recreation trail (Pacific Grove–old RR trail & neighborhoods) that has overwintered here in the past. I’ve seen it at Asilomar in the pine forest.

If there’s any specific bird you want to see, let me know and I can probably direct you to a location that would give you the best chance of seeing it.

Sounds like you’re in for a fun trip! I hope my information has been helpful. I like to use eBird to plan my trips. If you search for the hotspots with the names I’ve given in parenthesis above, you can see where they are located and what birds you can expect to see there. If you have any additional questions just let me know!

Amanda

Published by abpreece

Amanda Preece has been birding the Monterey Peninsula for 8 years since moving to California from Idaho. She has followed a unique path to bird watching, starting by working with many different bird species in captivity as an aviculturist for 8 years, working in the wildlife rehabilitation field, and now pursuing a graduate degree in environmental science. Her thesis is related to songbird use of nest boxes. She is also a Black Oystercatcher Project monitor, a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and sits on the board of the Monterey Audubon Society. This varied background gives her a different approach to identifying and appreciating birds in the field, an activity that she loves to share with others. She works for California State Parks at Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA, restoring native habitat and leading bird walks. Her favorite activity is getting someone who never really noticed birds to get excited about their feathered neighbors. The most common follow-up observation from budding birders: birds are everywhere and they are awesome!

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