California, USA – Week 2 (1 August – 8 August 2016)

Posted on September 11, 2016July 28, 2021 by Mya-Rose Craig

California, USA – Week 2 (1 August – 8 August 2016)

Before we arrived in California, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After spending two weeks here, so far, it had been amazing for birds though a little bit tough to find them in this quiet period after breeding when many birds stop singing and disburse from their breeding sites. The views have also been really amazing especially in Yosemite NP.

On Tuesday 2 August 2016 we spent our second day at the stunning Yosemite NP. The park was the first one set up in the USA 150 years ago. This time we took the higher road stopping at Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows, which were stunning. We had the added bonus that there were a lot fewer people in this area and loads more birds. The best bird of the day was Mountain Bluebird, which was scarce after they had finished breeding and feeding young.

Chris Craig at Yosemite NP, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Yosemite NP, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Mountain Bluebird at Yosemite NP, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Mountain Bluebird at Yosemite NP, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Although there were very few African American people at this park (maybe because it was midweek and it has a relatively high entrance fee of $30) we met a lovely young African American Ranger, who was really inspiring.

That day, in the late afternoon, we left Yosemite NP on the northeastern road and dropped into Lee Vining in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, with its surrounding canyons and the huge Lake Mono. We had very little knowledge about the birds in this area but went into a tourist information shop where we met staff who were very knowledgeable on local birds and so left with a plan for the following day.

On Wednesday 3 August 2016 we set out early. Our first stop was Bodie, now a ghost town, but in the time of the gold rush a huge town. On the way, we saw a stunning Pinyon Jay. We saw our target birds, 5 Sage Grouse which were hiding under a building, as well as having a look around this interesting place.

Greater Sage Grouse at Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Pinyon Jay on dirt road to Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Chris Craig at Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Clark’s Nutcracker at Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Sage Thrasher at Bodie, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Next was Mono Lake where we finally caught up with American Avocet but several hundred of them. It was another hot day but we still spent the afternoons at some small pools, which were like a little oasis with lots of fabulous birds including Yellow-headed Blackbird and Virginia Rail.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Mono Lake, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

American Avocet at Mono Lake, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Bewick’s Wren at Mono Lake, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Northern ‘Red-shafted’ Flicker at Mono Lake, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Thursday 4 August 2016 in the morning we visited Lundy Lake and Canyon which were stunning. We were still in the eastern Sierra Nevada and it was great to see the Beaver dams along the river. There was still no sign of American Dipper but we saw lots of fantastic birds including Townsend’s Solitare.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Lundy Canyon, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Then in the afternoon, we birded at Lee Vining Canyon where we did see a gorgeous Red-breasted Sapsucker.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Lee Vining Canyon, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Red-breasted sapsucker at Lee Vining Canyon, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Red-breasted sapsucker at Lee Vining Canyon, California
Photography copyright Mya-Rose Craig

From here we drove south to stay the night in Lone Vining, famous for the concentration camp that Japanese Americans were kept during WW2 and for Hollywood westerns being filmed nearby.

On Friday 5 August 2016 in the morning, we woke up in the little town of Lone Pine in the Southern Sierra Nevada. We visited a local overgrown field as we had heard of a couple of birds seen from there. There, we bumped into a local birder, Russell Kokx, who was a biologist. He was really kind and friendly, showing us the birds on his local patch, around town and two new hummingbirds for us on his feeders at home. It was an amazing morning to have seen these birds and met Russell and so a big thank you.

Russell Kokx, Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig and Chris Craig at Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig and Helena Craig at Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Anna’s Hummingbird at Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Black-chinned Hummingbird at Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

From Lone Pine, you could see the view to Mount Whitney, which is around 4,300 meters and is the highest peak in the lower 48 (states).

Mount Whitney from Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Lone Vining, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

We then spent the afternoon birding en-route south, in the heat. One stop was at Cactus Flats with lots of Joshua Trees, where we saw Cactus Wren

We also stopped at Diaz Lake and then Isabella Lake where we saw Tri-coloured Blackbird.

Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet at Diaz Lake, California
Photography copyright Mya-Rose Craig

The last stop was Sequoia National Forest South of Lone Pine, which was absolutely beautiful and this was where we finally saw an American Dipper. It was another hot day and so it was great to celebrate our newest bird by hanging our legs in the cool water.

Sequoia National Forest , California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Sequoia National Forest, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Friday night we stayed in the town of Bakersville. After 10 days in California, we had seen 178 birds and 103 of them have been new for me, taking my world list to 4,342.

On Saturday 6 August 2016 in the morning, we left Bakersville and stopped west of Mount Piños. Here we saw a Horned Lark as well as lots of oil derricks. It was really hot, so there was virtually no bird activity.

Derricks. West of Mount Pinos, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Horned Lark West of Mount Pinos, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

We then headed up to the top of Mount Piños, seeing 7 Californian Condor on the way. The best bird of the day was definitely White-headed Woodpecker.

On Sunday 7 August 2016, we spend our second day at Mount Piños, which was an excellent day of birding. The best bird of the day was Mountain Quail.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Mount Pinos, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Next, we drove to Ventura on the coast, West of LA, where we stayed the night. We were in planning to get a boat the next morning from Ventura to the tiny island of Santa Cruz for a very special bird.

We started the day on Monday 8 August 2016 by birding on the beach at Ventura before visiting the Settling Pools. These were great and we saw birds like Wood Duck there.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Ventura Saline Pools, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Wood Duck at Ventura Saline Pools, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Ventura Saline Pools, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

We then got a boat to Santa Cruz Island where we saw the best bird of the day, the endemic Island Scrub-jay.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Santa Cruz Island, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Island Scrub-jay at Santa Cruz Island, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

That evening we walked along the beach at Ventura and caught this stunning sunset. We also saw and photographed Snowy Plover, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs and Elegant Tern. It would be amazing if one of these turned up on my local patch at home.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Ventura Beach, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Snowy Plover at Ventura Beach, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Willet and Marbled Godwit at Ventura Beach, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Lesser Yellowlegs at Ventura Beach, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Elegant Tern at Ventura Beach, California
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

California, USA – Week 1 (26 Jul-1 Aug 2016)

Posted on August 29, 2016July 28, 2021 by Mya-Rose Craig

California, USA – Week 1 (26 Jul-1 Aug 2016)

Before our trip, I was really looking forward to birding in the USA over summer, across California, Arizona and New York City.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on flight to San Francisco

At age 14, my world list is 4232 and I was hoping to see at least a couple of hundred new bird species in our month away. It would be fantastic to see a few new hummingbirds as well, as I am trying to see all the hummingbirds of the bird. I am also hoping to add a load more flags for the USA onto my wall world map.

We flew from London Heathrow direct to San Francisco with United Airlines on Tuesday 26 July 2016 on a day flight. Usually, we tend to fly on night flights and so it was was great to watch 6 films without hassle from my parents.

We arrived in San Francisco the same day on Tuesday 26 July 2016 and travelled across to stay with our friends in Oakland, California. Our friends, Dave and Daphne and their lovely girls were great hosts. On Wednesday 27 July 2016, we collected our hire care and then had our first full day birding around Oakland which is across the Bay from San Francisco. First, we birded along The Bay and then into the mountains behind Oakland. We saw lots of new birds including Wilson’s Warbler one of the birds I really wanted to see. What more can you ask than a bird with Wilson in the name?

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, San Leandro Bay Regional Shoreline, California

Jack-tailed Jackrabbit, Hayward, California

The next day, Thursday 28 July 2016, we birded back up in the hills above Oakland before having a fantastic day visiting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with lots more birding in that area. The best bird of the day was Hammond’s Flycatcher. From here, we travelled to Monterey Bay, where we were doing a boat trip the next day.

Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco Bay, California

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Red-tailed Hawk, Lands End, San Francisco

American Coot, Lands End, San Francisco

Hermann’s Gull, Lands End, San Francisco

Lighthouse, Pigeon Point, California

Seal, Pigeon Point

Brandt’s Cormorant, Pigeon Point

Friday 29 July 2016 was an unforgettable day on one of the famous Debi Shearwater’s Californian Pelagics out of Monterey Bay. It was interesting to meet Debi, who was Annie Auklet in my favourite film, They Big Year with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson. Debi has been running pelagics (boat trips to open seas looking for birds) from the coast of California for over 40 years (http://shearwaterjourneys.com/). The best birds from the trip were Scripp’s Murrelet and Black-footed Albatross with my first two huge Blue Whales and also Fin and Humpback Whales.

Male and Female Sea Otter, Monterey Bay, California

Male and Female Sea Otter mating, Monterey Bay, California

Pigeon Guillemot, Monterey Bay

Californian Sealion, Monterey Bay, California

Black Oystercatcher, Monterey Bay, California

Sun Fish, Monterey Bay, California

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Debi Shearwater on Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

Blue Whale on Pelagic from Monterey Bay, California

Blue Whale, apparently it is rare to see them fluke with their tale
on Pelagic from Monterey Bay, California

Black-footed Albatross on Californian Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

Black-footed Albatross on Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

Pink-footed Shearwater on Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

Rhinoceros Auklet on Pelagic
from Monterey Bay, California

We were planning to travel south from Monterey Bay to The Big Sur, for Californian Condor but there was a huge forest fire out of control and blocking the road and reserves. Debi suggested that we go to The Pinnacles National Monument instead, but warned us it would be hot into the day.

Saturday 30 July 2016 we were up early and birded at The Pinnacles National Monument in California. The highlight was 3+ Californian Condor. It was fantastic to see these birds after recovery from extinction in the wild. Today was my Dad, Chris Craig’s birthday and so the Condor’s were a great birthday present. In the evening it was 90 degrees at 7.30 pm, so it was a balmy night for us.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at The Pinnacles National Monument

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig watching 3 Californian Condor
at The Pinnacles National Monument

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at The Pinnacles National Monument

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Chris Craig at The Pinnacles National Monument

The Pinnacles National Monument, California

First of many Stellar’s Jay during the trip, Pinnacles National Monument

Temperature at The Pinnacles National Monument

The morning of Sunday 31 July 2016, we started our day birding at Lake Luis, Basalt Camp. The campsite had sections of trees, amongst the desert about it. Here we found our target, a Californian endemic, Yellow-billed Magpie.

It was interesting for birds here as we flushed birds from the small woods, which held over twenty Barn Owl as well as other birds of prey. We searched for other owls in the heat of the day with no luck.

It was also really uplifting to bird in a campsite where virtually all the families were African Americans. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see this in the UK one day?

We then spent the rest of the day birding in this central Californian area seeing some specialised birds.

Yellow-billed Magpie at Lake Luis, Basalt Campsite, California

Barn Owl at Lake Luis, Basalt Campsite, California

Swainson’s Hawk at Lake Luis, Basalt Campsite, California

Red-tailed Hawk at Lake Luis, Basalt Campsite, California

Western Yellow-bellied Racer snake at Lake Luis, Basalt Campsite, California

Osprey, Lake Luis, California

Great Blue Heron, Los Banos Wildlife Centre, California

On Monday 1 August 2016, we spent the day birding on the southern end of Yosemite (pronounced U-cem-eti) NP, which is east of San Francisco. It was difficult birding as the park had lots of people in it and birds seemed quiet post-breeding. We birded up the road to Glacier Point, seeing a handful of new species by the end of the day. A common but great looking bird for the day was Audubon’s Warbler.

Then something amazing happened; as we were waiting in the shop, my old teacher from primary school (with only 70 pupils) Mrs Jo Brady came up to us with her children. A fantastic coincidence!

After catching up, we went for a walk on the highest path. We were pishing as we birded (though mainly Dad). That’s when you make a p’shing noise that birds hopefully come out to investigate. However, here Dad got more than he bargained for when a ground squirrel came close to him, sat on a rock and started shouting at him. Not a good plan with some carrying fleas infected with the plague.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Yosemite NP, California

Yosemite NP, California

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig and Chris Craig at Yosemite NP, California

Chris Craig at Yosemite NP, California

Audubon Warbler, Yosemite NP, California

Ground Squirrel at Yosemite NP, California

It was a really wonderful first week of our trip. I had only spent a day birding in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012 on our way from South America when I saw 64 bird species and 60 new birds. The trip has started well with 136 birds seen and I’m really hoping to see 200 new species on this trip.

A great road trip, California

ABA Magazine’s article about me and the Sundarbans oil spill

Posted on June 15, 2016June 7, 2022 by Mya-Rose Craig

ABA Magazine’s article about me and the Sundarbans oil spill

The American Birding Association has got a huge membership and has a quarterly magazine. The Magazine just out is called “Birders’ Guide to Conservation and Community” with lots of brilliant articles about sex, race and getting young people into nature.

Noah Strycker (last year’s Big World Year winner, seeing over 6000 birds in the year) has written an article about my highlighting the environmentally disastrous Sundarbans oil spill in Bangladesh. Thank you Noah for your lovely article. The article about me is on pages 9 – 10 http://bit.ly/1YqRDfx

The 2016 issue of Birder’s Guide to Conservation & Community is at the printers. American Birding Association members should find it in their mailboxes in the next couple weeks. But you don’t have to wait until then to see what’s inside. You can see the entirety of this issue of Birder’s Guide right now. Simply click here. (Birder’s Guide is just one of the free resources that the ABA provides to the birding public.)

“Conservation Milestones” is back. It highlights the real accomplishments of birders like you. Look out for Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on pages 9 -10.

At the heart of this issue are efforts to increase inclusion and remove barriers to participation in birding. A diverse suite of contributors shared their thoughts on women in birding, and Jennifer Rycenga expounded on the formation of GBNA, our region’s informal LGBT birding club.
A recurring theme from past issues is the importance of cultivating the next generation of conservationists. Tiffany Kersten talks about the importance of starting young in this issue, and Jennie Duberstein reports to us about ongoing efforts in northwest Mexico.

American Birding Association – My Guest Blog

Posted on November 11, 2015June 7, 2022 by Mya-Rose Craig

American Birding Association – My Guest Blog

On 10 November 2015, The American Birding Association published a guest blog by me about my summer trip to Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya

Open Mic: On Being the Youngest to 4000 Species

I wrote about seeing Shoebill, Green-breasted Pitta and Red-throated Tit, my 4000th bird in the world.

Shoebill, Mabamba Wetland, Uganda
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Mya-Rose Craig

Green-breasted Pitta, Uganda
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Mya-Rose Craig

Zebra, Nairobi NP, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig taking a photo of a Red-throated Tit, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

Red-throated Tit, Swaro Plains, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Black Rhino, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

As well as this, I wrote about seeing Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the highlight of my trip.

Mountain Gorilla, Uganda
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mountain Gorilla and Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, Uganda
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

A few days later, American birding legend, Debi Love Shearwater, got in contact with me and invited me to join her Facebook page, World Girl Birders, after someone had put a link to my blog post on the page. I couldn’t join as I don’t have my own Facebook account, but it was fantastic to hear from her.

Also on the Audubon Magazine website, there is an article about me, which I am very proud of:

https://www.audubon.org/news/the-little-twitcher-who-could

Tag: American Birding Association