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commentary by Don Roberson
Hardcore birdwatching along the Big Sur coast is a very recent phenomena. Pioneer ornithologists visited the southern Big Sur coast early in the 20th century (Jenkins 1906, Pemberton & Carriger 1915) and Joseph Grinnell visited the Little Sur River canyon around that same time (Grinnell 1902). Scenic Highway 1 was built 1933-1937 and many tourists visited thereafter. Dr. J. W. Tilden compiled a list in 1948 of the birds of Bixby Canyon (thanks to David Suddjian for sending me this resource). Various state parks came into existence; Andrew Molera State Park was opened in 1974. Research reserves for graduate studies were opened farther south, and some have been surveyed for birds by students (e.g., Cull & Melchert 1980). These various surveys, however, only touched on the regular avifauna and did not tap into the wealth of vagrants which we now know visit the Big Sur coast, particularly in spring & fall migrations. The first superb vagrants were at eclectic locales scattered along the coast: a Prothonotary Warbler 3-7 Dec 1967 at Willow Creek — well south of Big Sur town; a wayward Wood Stork on private "Rancho Grande" 10-31 July 1976; and a Chimney Swift over another "Rancho Grande" pond on 19-26 Aug 1984. Only an Orchard Oriole found dead on private property near the Big Sur R. mouth in Dec 1965 hinted at the riches at that locale. The "discovery" of the Big Sur R. mouth as a vagrant trap dates from 21 Sep 1981 when Peter Metropulos & John Sterling discovered an Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided and Blackburnian warblers along the Big Sur River in Andrew Molera State Park. A couple friends and I visited the headlands that same week (26 Sep 1981) and found a Sage Thrasher, Tropical Kingbird and several lesser vagrants (e.g., Palm Warbler). From then on, the Big Sur R. mouth area was checked by local birders each fall, and regularly by visitors like Jeri Langham, Peter Metropulos, and Doug George. The latter found a male Vermilion Flycatcher 14 June 1989, alerting us to the potential for spring/summer rarities as well. The Big Sur Ornithology Lab (BSOL) opened in 1992, and their daily surveys and constant-effort bird-banding revolutionized our understanding of the Big Sur River mouth's potential. Over 375 species have now been recorded in the Molera/Pt. Sur vicinity and the bird-banding operations have added a variety of first county records and one first California record (Arctic Warbler 13 Sep 1995). Check out a gallery of rarity photos from BSOL and the Molera/Pt. Sur vicinity HERE. Davis & Roberson (1996, 2000) compiled a pocket bar-graph annotated checklist that includes the entire Big Sur coastal watershed. The complete list for our area (the more more limited Molera/Pt. Sur vicinity) is HERE.
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Since we have learned that the Big Sur R. mouth vicinity is a great for vagrants, many birders check the locale regularly. BSOL staff have been most active and the top three birders in the area have spent much time bird-banding there. Jeff Davis was the first to break the "300" barrier on the official Molera/Pt. Sur list. Now the "300 Club" has five members. Their lists (totals updated to 31 Dec 2006) are below but the photos are arranged clockwise from top left in the order they entered the club:
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... who's next ?The complete Molera/Pt. Sur bird list is on-line HERE.
Literature Cited:
Cull, R., and D. Melchert. 1980. "Birds" in J. Carothers, et al., Terrestrial Vertebrates of the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve. Envir. Field Prog., U.C. Santa Cruz, No. 3.TOP
Davis, J. N., and D. Roberson. 1996. Birds of Big Sur: a checklist. Big Sur Ornithol. Lab/Ventana Wilderness Sanctuary, Carmel Valley, CA.
Davis, J. N., and D. Roberson. 2000. Birds of Big Sur: a guide to their seasonal status. Big Sur Ornithol. Lab/Ventana Wilderness Sanctuary, Carmel Valley, CA.
Grinnell, J. 1902. Birds of the Little Sur River, Monterey County. Condor 6: 125-128.
Jenkins, H. L. 1906. A list of birds collected between Monterey and San Simeon in the coast range of Calif. Condor 8: 122-130.
Pemberton, J. R., and H. W. Carriger. 1915. A partial list of the summer resident land birds of Monterey County. Condor 17: 189-201.