Birding Natural Bridges State Beach

 When I started getting into birding, I typically went out mid-morning on a Saturday or Sunday each weekend. Jump cut to the present, and I find myself going out earlier and more often, usually on both Saturday and Sunday, and often with a revolving cast of fellow enthusiasts. Despite my loner tendencies, I have to admit that I've made some good friends, not to mention that going out with groups of people who are often more experienced than I am, means we're more likely to see a greater variety of birds. 

Today it was just a pair of us, and our main goal was to find the Summer Tanager reported yesterday at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. It took us all of 10 minutes to find the bird, but it didn't stick around long. In fact, after our initial glimpse, it buggered off into the distant Eucalyptus treetops. Summer Tanagers are rare in California, normally breeding closer to the gulf coast and wintering mostly in South America. This is the only one I've seen locally this year.

Summer Tanager

Later, wandering along West Cliff Drive, we found a single Wandering Tattler and a solitary Surfbird, not to mention countless gulls, cormorants, and pelicans. 

Wandering Tattler

 Surfbird

The only mystery we encountered is why somebody would name a Heerman's Gull "Chad."