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USEFUL
INFORMATION ABOUT BIRDING IN THE CENTRAL COAST AREA.
GUIDES
PERIODICALS
VIDEO
INTERNET
TRAIL
BROCHURES
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR BIRDERS
There are various
guides and additional internet resources that you can turn to in
planning your trip to the Central Coast.
GUIDES
A Birder’s
Guide to Southern California by Brad Schram,
1998.
This is the revised and updated Lane guide. It
provides good detail about most of the trail sites in both Santa
Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. It also includes detail on the
Cuyama Valley and north side of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Thought
not officially part of the trail, both areas provide excellent
spring birding opportunities. Many of the Ventura County sites are
not covered, but it does contribute good detail about Pt. Magu State
Park, the Santa Clara River Estuary, McGrath State Beach and Mt.
Pinos. It also includes the Oxnard Plain which is not part of the
trail, yet frequently a good birding destination in the fall.
(available through the ABA)
California
Wildlife Viewing Guide, by Jeanne L. Clark, 1992. One of
the Watchable Wildlife series, this guide provides basic information
about many of the trail sites in all four counties. (available
through the ABA)
Monterey Birds by
Don Roberson, 2002 [2nd edition]. This guide provides birding
information along with status and distribution detail for the 482
species that have been recorded in Monterey County. (available
through the ABA)
Birding Northern
California by John Kemper, 1999. This guide relates to
sites that are mostly north of the CCBT, yet does cover many of the
Monterey County locations.
(available through the
ABA)
Ocean Birds of the Nearshore
Pacific by Rich Stallcup, 1990. This book gives pelagic
birders insight and information on the offshore birds of the Pacific
Coast. (available through the ABA)
Great Birding Trips of the West, by Joan Easton
Lentz, 1989 (out of print). This wonderful book has two very
informative chapters that cover parts of the trail, one on southern
Santa Barbara County and the other from Morro Bay to
Monterey.
Where Birders Go in Southern
California by Henry E. Childs, Jr., 1993 (out of print).
This southern California Guide covers many of the trail sites in
Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo
Counties.
The Birds of San Luis
Obispo County, California, 1996 [revised]. This little
booklet provides graphs showing the abundance and habitat for the
county’s 438 species.
(available through the ABA)
The Birds of Santa Barbara County by Paul
Lehman, 1994. This classic work covers the status and
distribution of Santa Barbara County Birds. (While out of print,
copies might still be obtained from the Vertebrate Museum at the
University of California Santa Barbara. Books also appear on
Amazon.com.)
A Birder’s Guide to the
Lompoc Valley, by Gene Lynch, 1997. The first of a trio
of guides for northern Santa Barbara County details 11 birding
locations. (available through La Purisima Audubon)
A Birder’s Guide to the Santa Maria Valley, by
Gene Lynch, 2000. The second of a trio of guides for northern
Santa Barbara County details 16 birding locations. (available
through La Purisima Audubon)
A
Birder’s Guide to the Santa Ynez Valley, by Gene Lynch,
2002. The last of a trio of guides for northern Santa Barbara
County details 11 birding locations. (available through La Purisima
Audubon)
Birding the Nipomo Mesa,
by Corrine Ardoin, 2000. This guide is informative for the
mesa area of southern San Luis Obispo County. (available through La
Purisima Audubon)
An Album of the
Birds of Rancho Nipomo Dana Adobe, by Corrine Ardoin,
2002. The Dana Adobe dates to the 1840s. Beyond the
historical interest, the adobe grounds attract numerous bird
species. (available through La Purisima
Audubon)
PERIODICALS
“Birding on
DoD Lands: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California,” by Ken
Hollinga and Chris Eberly, Winging
It, May 2003. The author notes that VAFB occupies 98,000
acres of prime coastal real estate that is situated between two of
the nation’s top ten Christmas Counts [Santa Barbara and Morro
Bay].
“Birder-friendly
California,” by Nancy Stevens Brown, Birder’s World, October 2001. This
article examines the birding opportunities at two of the missions
along El Camino Real, La Purisima [Santa Barbara County] and San
Antonio de Padua [Monterey County].
The annual January issue
of the ABA’s NT Winging It
provides the schedule for pelagic trips throughout North America
including Ventura, Santa Barbara and
Monterey.
VIDEO
Through the
Seasons: An Introduction to the Seabirds and Marine Mammals of
Monterey Bay. This Les Lieurance and Debra Shearwater
1994 video is an informative and basic guide for pelagic birding on
Monterey Bay. (available through Shearwater Journeys)
Life at the Ocean’s Edge: The Western Snowy Plover
and the California Least Tern. This Tony Sehgal
award-winning video [in both DVD or video cassette format] documents
the natural history of these two threatened Central Coast species.
(available through La Purisima Audubon)
INTERNET
SLOCOBIRDING is a birding group for reporting
sightings and discussing the birds of San Luis Obispo County. To
subscribe: slocobirding-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Members
can view the archives at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slocobirding/
SBCOBIRDING is a birding group for reporting
sightings and discussing the birds of Santa Barbara County. To
subscribe: sbcobirding-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Members
can view the archives at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sbcobirding/
VENTURACOBIRDING is a birding group for
reporting sightings and discussing the birds of Ventura County. To
subscribe:
venturacobirding-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Members can view
the archives at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/venturacobirding/
There
is no comparable site for Monterey County.
Searching
for California’s Seabird Specialties by Mitch Heindel.
This informative brief relates pelagic birds that can be encountered
on trips from Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles.
http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/socalpelagics0901.html
TRAIL
BROCHURES
The
Santa Barbara County trail brochure is free upon request from the
Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, 614 South Broadway, Santa
Maria, CA 93454
[805-925-2403] or [800-331-3779}
For
the other brochures, contact the local Audubon
Chapters in Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties.
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