*MISSION ACCOMPLISHED*

[XemaSab]

Last Wednesday I left to go down to Southern California to see some birds.

On Wednesday I drove to Santa Clarita and stayed at a campground I did wildlife surveys at 2 years ago. I pulled in and popped open the trunk and realized to my great dismay that *someone* "cleaned" the trunk and most of my camping gear was no longer inside. Instead, I had a case of cat food, a 30 pound bag of dog food, an emergency blanket, a tent with no poles, jumper cables, my rain pants, and half a bolt of fabric. It was really cold, so I tried to wrap myself in the blanket, but the blanket was too small to get the job done. I lay there freezing my ass off for hours. Eventually I got the tent out and wrapped myself in it, and I was MUCH warmer and was able to get some sleep.

The next morning I birded LA county a bit, getting Lawrence's Goldfinch among other birds. I then drove to Ventura County and spent the day birding Ventura. Around noon this dude called from a job I applied for asking if I could come down to Santa Barbara for an interview, and I told him I was in Ventura, so we agreed to meet on Monday in Santa Barbara. I went to Target and got some food for the next day's boat trip, as well as a bright pink 10 dollar sleeping bag. I spent the night at a state park in the city of Ventura.

Friday I met up with my friend Clay and we went out to the Channel Islands. I saw Island Scrub Jay and Xantus' Murrelet, putting my life list (ABA) at 582. Yay me!

That night Clay and I went to see "The Hills Have Eyes," and lemme tell ya, when I saw that vulture I said loudly "You have GOT to be kidding me!" which I think the whole theater heard. New World vultures don't look like that AT ALL... I think it was some kind of African vulture. Hollywood. :eyes:

Saturday I bid Clay a fond adieu and headed over to Santa Barbara county. At the botanic gardens I found a brand new copy of "Birds of Colombia" for 25 bucks. SCORE! I then headed down to Lake Los Carneros for a flock of Cassin's Kingbirds to polish off 100 birds for Santa Barbara county.

I spent the night at Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo county. I woke to find the lake shrouded in fog, so I headed down the hill into the fields surrounding the town of San Luis Obispo. I headed up to Santa Margarita to go to the native plant nursery, but they were closed, so I bounced back over to Morro Bay, where I had Black Brant for my 100th bird for San Luis Obispo County.

I went into Santa Maria and found a hotel, then spent the rest of the day checking out the sceny-scene in the area. I went out to the potential project site, looked at some of the towns in the area, and generally tried to get a feel for the place. I went back to the hotel and watched shows about disasters on the Discovery Channel half the night.

Monday I slept in a bit, and spent the bulk of the day getting ready for the interview. It was raining pretty solidly at 3:30 when I met the dude at the office. We went out to the dunes near the project site, and he explained to me what my duties would be. The job sounded totally sweet, and I think the interview went well. I had some EXCELLENT Salvadoran food for dinner.

I spent another night at the lovely Santa Maria Motel 6, and at 5:30 I got up and began the drive back to Redding. I swung through San Luis Obispo for a coffee, and it took me AGES to find a place. I cut over to the 5 and started the drive northward. I really can't imagine a more boring drive. By the time I got to Bill and Kathy's Restaurant in Zamora I was defunct. I stopped in for a veggie burger and continued on my way.

About 20 miles down the road I was kinda spacing out again, and I saw what initially looked like a log off to the side of the road. Just as soon as I sped by, I realized it had feathers and a bright orange facial disk. It was probably just a Great Horned Owl, but I had to turn around to check. On the second pass, I realized that stopping to look at a bird 3 feet from the yellow line of the fast lane of the interstate was a dumb idea. If anyone wants to go look for a potential Long Eared Owl, it's right near County Line Road. Enjoy!

I swung through Delevan NWR to get a Merlin, among other species, and made it home in time to take the puppy to his puppy class.

Good times.