Sonoma County Birds

I photographed these American Barn Owls by looking into a barn at Tolay Regional Park in Sonoma County California. This was the first time I have seen an American Barn Owl, and they are certainly interesting looking birds. For this California trip, they were the 15th and final new species for my 2025 list and the 13th for my life list. At this point, I have seen 477 species this year in the US, and 502 during my lifetime.

On Wednesday, Kate and I were driving from near Point Reyes to Bodega Bay where we would be staying through Sunday. Along the way, we took a detour off CA 1. As we were driving along a back road, we spotted two birders standing at the side of the road near some wetlands. We stopped to see what they might be observing. One man left as we arrived, but we chatted with the other man, Josh, for quite a while. Josh pointed out that the bird on the wire above was a Tropical Kingbird, one of the birds I needed for my 2025 list. It turned out Josh was both an avid local birder as well as a bike mechanic professionally, so we had lots to talk about. Josh ended up offering to guide me for a day of birding throughout Sonoma County on Saturday. Many of the photos in this blog, including the American Barn Owls at the start of the post, were taken during my day with Josh.

Wednesday evening it rained and the wind blew hard. On Thursday morning, I took a walk from our hotel into Dorian Regional Park adjacent to our hotel on Bodega Bay. The wind was still blowing as seen in the grasses in this photo of a Turkey Vulture that glided past me.

On the beach, two Marbled Godwits were fighting.

Later in the day, I headed out to Bodega Head hoping that the gail winds from the previous night may have blown some pelagic birds near to shore. Over two hours, the only pelagic birds I saw were two Common Murres in the distance. However, the pounding waves did make a nice backdrop for these Brandt’s Cormorants.

Coming back from Bodega Head, with the setting sun behind me, I saw this flock of American White Pelicans on the edge of Bodega Bay.

On Friday, Kate and I returned to Bodega Head for a pleasant walk. While the gulls and cormorants flew above the cliffs at the ocean’s edge, it was this photo of an American Kestrel which I found most interesting.

On Saturday morning, I headed out with Josh for a day of birding. The first place we stopped was Shollenberger Park where we were looking for Virginia Rails. As we walked towards the areas of reeds and marsh, a huge flock, primarily consisting of Least Sandpipers, flew by.

While we were unable to see any Virginia Rails, we did clearly hear one. In some of the ponds we walked by, there was a nice mix of waterfowl including this Cinnamon Teal.

I got this wonderfully sharp photograph of a White-tailed Kite as it flew directly overhead.

Just as we were pulling out of the parking lot, Josh spotted a Merlin, another of my 2025 target birds. By the time I got out of the car, the Merlin had landed on the tip of this dead tree.

Our next two stops were places to look for Black Rails and Ridgeway’s Rails. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful hearing or seeing either species. Instead, another I will substitute another shot of a mixed collection of shorebirds.

Finally, we headed to Tolay Regional Park to look for American Barn Owls, Burrowing Owls, and Prairie Falcons. While we found American Barn Owls, we were unsuccessful searching for the other two. Nevertheless, there were plenty of raptors around including this Northern Harrier.