January 26th-27th 2019
Bird Sightings
| Species | Location of first Sighting | Date | Comments |
| Snow Goose | Thousands at Unit 1, Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR | 26-JAN-19 | One “blue” phase bird seen at headquarters Unit 1 and one at HQ |
| Ross’s Goose | Hundreds at Unit 1, Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR | 26-JAN-19 | One “blue” phase bird seen at Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR headquarters – VERY rare |
| Cinnamon Teal | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Northern Shoveler | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Gadwall | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| American Wigeon | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Mallard | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | one pair seen all trip, flying away |
| Northern Pintail | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Green-winged Teal | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Redhead | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | a pair of drakes flying away |
| Ring-necked Duck | Along Garst Road, returning from Red Hill area | 26-JAN-19 | seen here, then at Calipatria State Prison pond |
| Lesser Scaup | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Bufflehead | Along Garst Road, returning from Red Hill area | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Common Merganser | On the pond by Calipatria State Prison | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Ruddy Duck | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | thousands seen at the Poe Road location |
| Gambel’s Quail | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Clark’s Grebe | South end of Finney Lake | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Rock Pigeon | anywhere in Brawley! | 26-JAN-19 | shows up first on Cattle Call Park list |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | All over Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Inca Dove | North end of Finney Lake at a private residence | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Common Ground Dove | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | |
| White-winged Dove | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | an unusual over-wintering bird |
| Mourning Dove | Thinly distributed across the entire Imperial Valley | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Greater Roadrunner | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | first one distantly viewed here, 3-5 more seen on Day 2 |
| Sora | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | heard only |
| Common Gallinule | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| American Coot | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | Amanda’s Law was obeyed: It was a birding trip!! |
| Sandhill Crane | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Black-necked Stilt | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| American Avocet | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Black-bellied Plover | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | only one seen all trip |
| Snowy Plover | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | a lone male, still coming into alternate plumage |
| Killdeer | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Mountain Plover | 200 County Highway S26 basically, a field! 26-JAN-19 | 26-JAN-19 | What an incredible way to start a trip!! |
| Long-billed Curlew | Along Rutherford Road | 27-JAN-19 | feeding with Cattle Egret and White-faced ibis, as they often are |
| Stilt Sandpiper | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | 1 bird here, more at Poe Road |
| Dunlin | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Least Sandpiper | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Long-billed Dowitcher | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Wilson’s Snipe | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Spotted Sandpiper | South end of Finney Lake | 27-JAN-19 | seen very briefly flying away |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Along Garst Road, returning from Red Hill area | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Willet | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Ring-billed Gull | 200 County Highway S26 basically, a field! 26-JAN-19 | 26-JAN-19 | if you missed these, birding may not be a great hobby for you! |
| Herring Gull | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Iceland Gull | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | Thayer’s type |
| Caspian Tern | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | only one seen all trip |
| Forster’s Tern | Along Garst Road, returning from Red Hill area | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Neotropic Cormorant | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Double-crested Cormorant | North end of Poe Road | 26-JAN-19 | |
| American White Pelican | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| American Bittern | Finney Lake, south end | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Least Bittern | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | first heard here, never seen anywhere |
| Great Blue Heron | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Great Egret | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Snowy Egret | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Cattle Egret | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | seen by the thousands at the Alamo River Project |
| Green Heron | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| White-faced Ibis | 200 County Highway S26 basically, a field! 26-JAN-19 | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Turkey Vulture | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Northern Harrier | 200 County Highway S26 basically, a field! 26-JAN-19 | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | beautiful dark phase bird seen on approach to Poe Road |
| Great Horned Owl | In the crack in the cliffs near Red Hill Marina | 26-JAN-19 | not a typical place for an owl!! |
| Burrowing Owl | Best seen at the refuge headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | these birds are rock stars, and they know it!! |
| Belted Kingfisher | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Gila Woodpecker | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Northern Flicker | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | red-shafted form |
| American Kestrel | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | much more numerous on the east side of the valley away from the sea |
| Peregrine Falcon | Along Rutherford Road | 27-JAN-19 | near the Long-billed Curlew flock |
| Prairie Falcon | headed east on Sinclair Road, harrassing a Red-tail | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Black Phoebe | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Say’s Phoebe | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Vermilion Flycatcher | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | one eye-popping male in the evening light |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Mac Fadden Road | 27-JAN-19 | there were actually two here, but the second one was on the drive out |
| Horned Lark | 200 County Highway S26 basically, a field! 26-JAN-19 | 26-JAN-19 | Only ones we saw on this trip! |
| Tree Swallow | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Barn Swallow | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Verdin | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Marsh Wren | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Bewick’s Wren | Mac Fadden Road | 27-JAN-19 | one bird heard singing only |
| Black-tailed Gnatcatcher | South end of Finney Lake | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Crissal Thrasher | Mac Fadden Road | 27-JAN-19 | poor photos but heard singing, which is really cool – very uncommon bird in Imperial Valley |
| Northern Mockingbird | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | in startling profusion here! |
| European Starling | Cattle Call Park, Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | all over Brawley too |
| American Pipit | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | a flyover bird calling – more seen/heard later |
| Phainopepla | Mac Fadden Road | 27-JAN-19 | remember the mistletoe connection |
| House Finch | North end of Finney Lake | 27-JAN-19 | only ones we had all trip were singing here |
| White-crowned Sparrow | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Bell’s/Sagebrush Sparrow | Mac Fadden Road | 27-JAN-19 | pulling back on this species ID after extensive later discussions with experts |
| Savannah Sparrow | 401-409 East Williams Road | 27-JAN-19 | A random stop for small birds on a wire was these! |
| Song Sparrow | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Abert’s Towhee | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Headquarters | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Western Meadowlark | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | what a wonderful song!! |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | |
| Brewer’s Blackbird | Downtown Brawley | 26-JAN-19 | not captured on any eBird checklists |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | a small group seen at house next to road on drive in – many more in Brawley itself |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | These were the only ones of the trip |
| Common Yellowthroat | Alamo River Wetlands Project | 27-JAN-19 | |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Unit 1 (Vendel Road) | 26-JAN-19 | Exclusively the Audubon’s sub-species |
| House Sparrow | In the bushes at the Brawley Inn | 26-JAN-19 | Not captured on any eBird checklists |
eBird lists
Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR–Vendel Rd. https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157348
Salton Sea–Poe Rd. https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157364
Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR–Union Tract / Visitor Center https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157389
745 West Sinclair Road, Calipatria, California, US (33.177, -115.601) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157404
7549 Garst Road, Calipatria, California, US (33.19, -115.597) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157410
Cattle Call Park https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157413
Alamo River Wetlands Project–Shank Rd. https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157414
260 Rutherford Road, Brawley, California, US (33.044, -115.463) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157421
Finney Lake https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157422
401-409 East Williams Road, Calipatria, California, US (33.066, -115.481) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157429
Finney Lake https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157432
Calipatria State Prison–pond https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157436
Mac Fadden Road, Calipatria, California, US (33.09, -115.533) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157442
200 County Highway S26, Brawley, California, US (33.047, -115.553) https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157449
Salton Sea–Red Hill area https://ebird.org/checklist/S52157453