A GALLERY OF BIG SUR RIVER & PT. SUR VAGRANTS
Copyright to all photos remains with the photographer credited; all rights reserved.
May not be reproduced in any form (including other websites) without permission of photographer.
A wall inside the Big Sur Ornithology Lab has a "Hall of Fame" (above) featuring some of the rarest species banded by BSOL -- check it out on your next visit. Among the rarest of the rare are the following (how many can you identify?)
They are:
  • (top row) Blue-winged Warbler 14 Sep 1993 (© Jeff N. Davis/BSOL) 
  • & White-eyed Vireo 4 June 1994 (© Craig Hohenberger/BSOL)
  • (middle row) Mourning Warbler 31 May 1994 (© Craig Hohenberger/BSOL) 
  • & Veery 21 Sep 1998 (© Jim Booker/BSOL)
  • (bottom row) Arctic Warbler 13 Sep 1995 (© Allen Spaulding/BSOL) 
  • & Gray Catbird 13 June 1996 (© Don Roberson)
The Arctic Warbler was a first California record; the Blue-winged Warbler & White-eyed Vireo & Veery were all first Monterey County records at the time they were captured. The Gray Catbird was one of an unprecedented three individuals captured here in June-July 1996.
The dense riparian thickets at the Big Sur River mouth do not generally make for good photographic opportunities, and birds on nearby restricted governmental land often do not allow close approach. Nonetheless, here are a selection of other rarities. The top two are from the Pt. Sur vicinity; the bottom three from near the Big Sur River (all photos © 2000 Don Roberson, except the sapsucker which is © Jeff N. Davis).
These are:
  • Tricolored Heron 31 May 1999 & Common Grackle 21 Apr 1998
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 23 Oct 1993, Black-throated Sparrow 8 Sep 1996 & Tropical Kingbird 3 Oct 1993
Locals may recognize some of the sites shown in the bottom row (left to right): the orchard behind BSOL (next to the recently opened local history museum), the picnic table right in front of BSOL, and the mesa fence separating Andrew Molera State Park from adjacent private property.

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Page created 19 Aug 2000