Birding encounters 2025

Coyote Hills Regional Park

On New Year's Day 2025 we visited Coyote Hills Regional Park in search of an american bittern. In hindsight, with no recent sightings posted on eBird, the chances of finding one were slim to none, but I was still new enough to birding to not understand this. In reality the target we should have been on the lookout for was the short-eared owl, which had been seen multiple times in the preceding and following days. Alas, we did not look for it and instead contended ourselves with the white-tailed kites.

Allen's Hummingbird at the San Diego Zoo

San Diego is home to a population of allen’s hummingbirds that reside there year-round rather than wintering in Mexico. At the zoo for a work trip I saw several males with those ridiculously attractive orange gorgets and even a nesting female!

Vermilion Flycatcher at Holy Cross Cemetery

We visited this cemetery to spot a vagrant vermilion flycatcher. The individual in particular is an immature male, so he wasn't quite as brilliantly red as most adult males, but he was starting to show red on his head. The cemetery makes for an interesting location for birding; flycatchers and other avian insectivores perch on the graves seeking out bugs and will fly out to grab one in midair before returning to their perch. You can capture arresting photos of birds posing on moss-covered tombstones.

Barn Owls

Saw this sleepy pair of barn owls in a nest box at Del Valle Regional Park.

Fiji

Hawaii is a convenient travel destination for Americans looking for a sun-drenched vacation, but if you've already been there a few times and want an amped-up version I highly recommend Fiji, which has better snorkeling, more accessible birding (most of the birds you'll easily find on Hawaii are introduced species), and fewer crowds.

The bird I was most excited to see was the aptly named orange dove, endemic to the island of Taveuni. It's exactly what it sounds like—picture a dove but dunk it in a bucket of vibrant, orange paint. (The females are a more modest shade of green that results in much better camouflage).

Ravenswood Salt Ponds

My first time seeing a black skimmer feeding! These are super cool birds that have a large lower jaw that they use to catch fish by dragging their beak through the water and snapping it shut when an unlucky fish swims by.

This was a great spot to see lots of different feeding behaviors: we saw american white pelicans scooping fish and draining water, elegant terns plunge feeding, and american avocets scything their bills back and forth to catch invertebrates.

Zone-tailed Hawk

Heard about a zone-tailed hawk in Anderson Lake County Park, which is much further north than their usual range. These birds mimic the appearance and flight of turkey vultures—to their prey's detriment. We waited for an hour at a pullout point of a winding road before we finally spotted it. If I hadn't known to give it a closer look I definitely would have assumed it was just another vulture.

Central Park Birding

Was in New York City for a work trip right during fall migration, so I got a chance to join one of Birding Bob's famous walks in Central Park's the Ramble. It was my first time seeing the East Coast warblers, including this charismatic black-and-white warbler below.

Vaux's Swifts at Rio Lindo Adventist Academy

Every year tens of thousands of vaux’s swifts stop by Rio Lindo Adventist Academy on their migration south. They spend the day swooping and diving and hunting like all good swifts, and in the evening they roost in this one particular chimney on the campus. It's a remarkable sight:

Taiwan + Singapore

I visited Asia over Thanksgiving and got a chance to see a bunch of cool birds. My favorites are the taiwan barbet—a stunningly colorful bird endemic to Taiwan, the oriental pied hornbill—a toucan-like bird that is findable even in urban Singapore, and the white-throated kingfisher (I just love all kingfishers, and was so grateful to spot this one on our last day).