Trip Recap: Big Bear Lake
On June 11, we made a trip out to Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County. Trip participants were an award-winning journalist, a data analyst, a graduate student in Urban Ecology and a UCLA Ph.D. student botanist. This energetic crew started at Big Bear Dam, where we got our first looks at Steller’s Jays, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Grebes, and Brewer’s Blackbirds.
Next, we visited Grout Bay on the north side of the lake, spending over an hour trekking through the meadow. Here, and a highlight of the trip, we sighted a soaring Bald Eagle, and later looked at the nest and a perched adult through a scope. Here we also sighted Savannah Sparrows, Gadwalls, and American Coots, plus Barn, Cliff and Violet-Green Swallows. The trees at Grout Bay also provided our first Pygmy Nuthatches of the trip. We listed 28 species here.
Click the image to view the eBird Trip Report!
We stopped for brunch at the North Shore Cafe, enjoying their great omelettes, avocado toast, and — crucially — coffee. After discussing the finer points of eBird and refreshing ourselves, we moved on.
Next up was the Cougar Crest Trail, getting us up into the ponderosa pine forest. Here we did some proper hiking, but first were stopped by a pair of Mountain Chickadees feeding a nest of young in a pine right next to the trail. We appreciated how accustomed they were to humans, as we watched them return to the nest several times with beakfuls of insects. Farther along the trail were brief looks at California Scrub Jay, Oak Titmouse, and White-headed Woodpecker. There was great evidence of multiple species breeding, with an energetic singing male Spotted Towhee and a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches entering their nest hole at the end of our walk. The wildflowers along the trail also put on a show, including penstemon, phlox, flatbud prickly poppy, and flowering beavertail cactus.
Still satisfied from brunch, and newly sunkissed in the midday heat, we stopped back into town for smoothies, ice water, and air conditioning.
After driving the length of the southern edge of the lake, we stopped at Boulder Bay Park, where we did some light bouldering while seeing Spotted Sandpiper, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Killdeers with three young. Then we were on to a brief stop at Metcalf Bay at the Pleasure Point Marina, where we closed out the birding with a Mallard hen with ducklings, Great Blue Heron, and a few more Cliff Swallows. The blooming lupines here also caught our eye.
Ready to kick back, we headed to Saucy Mama’s Pizzeria, grabbing a couple of beers and dressing up a margherita pizza with artichoke hearts and mushrooms — putting a note in our back pocket that this is a combination for the ages!
To close out the night, Sean gave an hour-long presentation at Chirp Nature Center, highlighting the historical ecology of the birds of Southern California. He showed how the information on specimen tags can be digitized, mapped, and incorporated into large-scale analyses of bird presence in the landscape. Throughout the talk, Brewer’s Blackbirds and Steller’s Jays delighted the audience by visiting a feeding platform behind the stage. Sean profiled specimens of indicator species from freshwater marsh, alpine forest, desert, and grassland, and ended with four tips on how to get engaged: feeding birds, logging your birding on eBird, conserving habitat, and visiting museums. After it seemed like all was wrapping up, Sean surprised everyone by bringing out the very specimens that he had described in his talk: Yellow-headed Blackbird, Steller’s Jay, Phainopepla, and Loggerhead Shrike. He also showed some historic egg records and a clutch of plover eggs.
In total, we listed 45 species across six sites, and a fully memorable day!
“Sean is not only highly knowledgeable about birds but also delightful company! He was eager to help us locate and identify birds during our walk and also taught us about technology that will help me while birding on my own.
Sean had a great itinerary planned and was also flexible when we needed breaks to cool off from the summer heat! That was awesome and I’m now DETERMINED to get myself some binoculars! Thanks Sean!”
“I signed up with no idea what to expect, but the entire birding adventure—a full-day trip to Big Bear—was a delight from start to finish, and not just because of the birds! The day was perfectly paced—Sean was attentive to everyone’s energy and recalibrated as we went along, so that it ended up feeling both relaxed and satisfyingly full. Sean himself is easy and fun to be around, but also a fount of knowledge about bird lifestyles and habits, which he shared with enthusiasm, but without being overbearing. His sharp ears and eyes mean that even a stop in a layby by a busy road was rewarded with birdsong and new bird sightings, and his ability to teach (without being annoyingly didactic) gave me a whole new set of skills and tools to open my eyes and ears to the birdscape all around me, and even new ways to enjoy it and engage with it in the future. From spotting a bald eagle to watching a pair of mountain chickadees feed their young to discussing a particular songbird’s curious habit of impaling its prey on thorns for later, our entire day of birding was magical, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable. I can’t wait to go bird walking with Sean again.”
“As a plant ecologist, I really appreciated being able to visit the different ecosystem types on one trip and learn more about the plant-animal interactions in different vegetation communities. I’m excited to now identify more of the bird species that interact with some of the plants I study. This was my first birding trip and I can’t imagine a better or more informative experience!”
“Despite frequently conducting bird surveys professionally, I learn something new every single time I join a bird walk with Sean. Whether it’s a new trick for tracking birds through binoculars or clarifying a subtle difference between similar species, I am always astounded by Sean’s breadth of knowledge and ability to engage each birding level present on a walk. My birding skill level has definitely been raised after this trip with Sean. Sean’s talk at Chirp following our walks also illuminated the numerous ways I can support the local bird species inhabiting my community. I’m looking forward to upping my backyard birding game and being a more hospitable host to both resident and migrating birds in my neighborhood.”