Spring and Early Summer Land Birding

Between mid May and mid July, I checked many of the riparian habitats close to the coast, as well as Cerro Alto, a riparian site in the hills about 7 miles from the coast. These have been locations which in past late springs and early summers have had unusual warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, etc., often in breeding plumage. This year such birding was not productive as there were practically no such vagrants. I did find sharp looking common local breeders such as the Wilson's Warbler pictured (Coon Creek) and pretty butterflies like the Satyr Comma pictured (Coon Creek), but I spent a lot of time land birding locally with no new BIGBY species. One of the few exceptions was a brief female American Redstart in some willows near the edge of the bay in Los Osos on July 1. It was there for about ten minutes and then was never seen again. I could not get a photo of this bird, which seemed to be in a hurry.