top of page

Summer Birding | Refugio Creek Canyon, Goleta, CA


Distance: 1.2 miles | Duration: 120 minutes | Habitats: woodland, riparian, grassland.


June 2020 Field Trip

We drove pass the ranch, turned around and parked on the side of the road, then we birded down the road to the orchard and back.

A female Pacific-slope Flycatcher was carrying food to its nestlings.

The male was watching us as we walked by.

We heard loud calls of a fledgling being fed on top of this cliff.

After struggling a few minutes, we located where the calls were coming from and focused the camera on a new life bird: a Canyon Wren fledgling!

The video revealed an additional quiet fledgling coming out of the crack between the rocks.

A Black-chinned Hummingbird was nearby.

As we continued to walk down the road, we noticed a small yellow bird and assumed it was an Orange-crowned Warbler. Actually, after reviewing the photo, we realized it was a new life bird, a Warbling Vireo.

A White-breasted Nuthatch.

A bird is hiding in this photo, can you identify it?

Answer: Turkey Vulture.

Oh, here is an Oak Titmouse grabbing food on the ground.

Click on the arrows, to find out what this Canyon Wren was doing.

A female House Wren was bringing food to the nesting cavity where several nestlings could be heard.

Another Black-chinned Hummingbird keeping track of us.

A male Hooded Oriole foraging high in a sycamore tree. A female was also present but not on the photo.

A pair of Western Bluebirds was catching insects to feed their nestlings, we looked for the nesting cavity but it was well hidden. The female was perched on a wire overlooking a small meadow.

This male Violet-green Swallow was also perched on a wire while the female went into a nesting cavity and remained there.

As we turned around, a Mule Deer was peacefully grazing in the bushes.

Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Interesting rock formations and hollow tree.

Other birds seen or heard were Anna's hummingbirds, Red-tailed Hawks, Acorn Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Black Phoebes, California Scrub-Jays, American Crows, Cliff Swallows, Wrentits, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, California Towhees and Spotted Towhees. A total of 26 species.

 

Additional Information

 
21 views

Comments


bottom of page