Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Four Gonzo birders departed Butte County about 4 P.M. Aug. 21st and arrived in Crescent City about 11 P.M. We arose bright and early, ate breakfast and began birding. Some shore birds were sighted near the restaurant so we started birding immediately after breakfast. Willets, Whimbrels, Marbled Godwits and Short and Long-billed Dowitchers at our first stop. We then drove along the coast and pulled out at several spots. These brief stops produced Killdeer, Semipalmated Plovers, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Wandering Tattlers, Heermann's, Ringed-bill, Herring, Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls; Caspian Terns, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Numerous Marbled Murrelets, and Cassin's Auklet.

We drove out to the jetty at Crescent City and walked out to the end. This little mile jaunt turned up Pacific and Common Loons; Black-bellied Plovers, Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, Sanderlings, and Western and Least Sandpipers.

Next we visited Pt. Saint George where we added Brown Pelican, Double-crested, Brandt's and Pelagic Cormorants but we missed the Long-billed Murrelet that was reported on the Internet (and we didn't call the hotline). Other birds we added along the coast were Pied-bill and Western Grebe, Great-blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret and Belted Kingfisher.

Our final destination in Del Norte County was Lake Earle. The drive in turned up White-tailed Kites, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels. We birded the woods on the edge of the lake for an hour or so and turned up Mourning Dove, Great-horned Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Cliff, and Barn Swallow. We also saw Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit,Bewick's and Winter Wrens, American Robins, Wrentit, Hutton's Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Song, Lincoln's, and White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch and American Goldfinch. The Lake itself added Canada Goose,Northern Pintail,Blue-winged Teal,Ruddy Duck Osprey, Virginia and Sora Rail.

On Sunday the 23rd, we birded the Arcata Marsh and The Mad River County Park. At the Marsh we saw much of the birds we had already seen so we went to the Mad River Park to look basically for one bird. This is a great place to find Black-capped Chicadees in California and we found them. we then went to a pond east of Arcata where we saw Green Heron ,Band-tailed Pigeon, Vaux,s Swift, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, American Crow, Chestnut and Black-capped Chickadees, Swainson's Thrush, Waxwings, Cassin's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned, Yellow and Wilson's Warblers and Western Tanager. We saw 106 species for the weekend.

Butte Meadows. On September 19, several members of the Altacal Audubon Society took a field trip to Butte Meadows. This was certainly not the most productive trip that we've ever taken to this area; it was "dead" enough that some of us joked about making a "small day" of it (our day total for the trip, once reaching the area we were birding, was only 24 species). Mountain birding can sometimes do that!

Our first roadside stop, just to listen and see what was around, yielded only Northern Flicker, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, and Stellar's Jay. It was, however, a good opportunity to go over a few tricks of binocular use with 2 new birders in the group, and also to explain to them that mountain birding can be frustrating at the best of times! (I personally like to direct newer birders to some of our fine local wildlife refuges, where they can find lots of "big birds that hold still"!).

The campground just past the fire station was unusually crowded (we're apparently either in deer season or it's Rifle Rack Awareness Week up there). We did pick up a few good birds there, including Hermit and Black-Throated-Grey Warblers, a probable Nashville Warbler, and Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and we got good looks at the expected Brown Creepers, Juncos, some Mountain Chickadees, and a White-Crowned Sparrow. There were also 3 American Dippers foraging in the creek; we managed to get all 3 into binocular view simultaneously, which was a treat.

Heading down the road across from the Bambi Inn (by the Boy Scout camp), we picked up Song and Fox Sparrow, and a possible Chipping Sparrow (the quite faded plumage made the identification unsure; this may be normal for this time of year, or we could have been seeing things!) and some distant swallows, at least a few of which were Violet-Green. A few members also saw Vaux's Swift in this group (the rest picked it up later, in another large group of swallows).

On the way to the Cross-Country Ski Park, we stopped at a field where we saw more Swallows & Swifts, and added Mallard and Great Blue Heron. Once at the Ski Park, we took a walk which was remarkable for its lack of birds. We did finally hear a Robin and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, for which we were quite thankful. Then, dark-morph Red-Tailed Hawks and a Turkey Vulture flew over, and finally, just as we were leaving, a Sharp-Shinned Hawk circled above.

Trip list: Mallard, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Band-tailed Pigeon, Vaux's Swift, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay, American Dipper, American Robin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Violet-green Swallow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Chickadee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco.