Bird Watching in Ventura County: Top Spots on our Spring Visit!
Our team was bird watching in Ventura, a coastal city in the Southwestern United States. This was part of a larger trip to Southern California. What a gorgeous way to see some scenery along the South Coast. We enjoyed the rolling hills dotted with White Oak, large areas of farmland, stunning sandy beaches and creekside areas. We were in Malibu and Agoura the day before and headed to Santa Barbara just after. Our target bird for this leg of the trip was Snowy Plover! We made sure that we were birding with one of 10000BirdTours.com amazing guides that live and work in Ventura county. Frank the Bird Guy hand curated a tour for us based on our eBird needs list for the area.
Ormand Beach
We started in the beautiful, historic city of Ventura. One of our target birds was a Snowy Plover. Frank knew right away where to start our day. First stop, Oxnard and Ormand Beach. We had a wonderful walk along the edge of the Point Magu Navel Air Station. We heard and saw Yellow-headed Blackbirds, White-faced Ibis and Great-tailed Grackle. Next we made our way down to the beach for Snowy Plovers! They were there among a mix flock of other waders. The other birds in the flock were Marbled Godwit, Willets, Sanderlings, Black-bellied Plover, Least and Western Sandpipers. Then, we took a walk through the ponds and sand dunes where there were more waders. In the ponds were Black-necked Stilt, Whimbrel, Yellowlegs of both flavors, and several species of duck. Like a cherry on top, we ran into a singing Horned Lark practicing among the sand dunes.
Ventura Harbor
Next stop, Ventura Harbor. We spent some time scanning the rocks that make up the jetty. There were at least 600 Brown Pelicans sitting on the end of the breakwater, which was nice because these birds were wiped out on the West Coast due to DDT. The other great birds among the rocks were Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Spotted Sandpiper, Black Oystercatcher and Surfbird. On the outer harbor, we were lucky enough to see birds fishing. Those birds included a Red-necked Loon, an Eared Grebe and a Pelagic Cormorant. On the inside of Ventura Harbor were a slew of Western Grebe with a few Clarke’s Grebe mixed in. All the grebe were close enough to get great photos.
Bates Road Bridge
Our last stop while bird watching in Ventura County was the Bates Road Bridge. Frank the Bird Guy explained why it is well known to birders. The reason; it splits two counties. When looking off the right had side of the bridge going inland, you are looking at Ventura County birds. On the left you are looking at Santa Barbara County birds. Highlights birding on the border of the counties were Nuttall’s Woodpecker, California Thrasher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Western Flycatcher and a pair of California Quail. This road leads away from the Rincon Point and Beach and Hwy 101 into Ranch land and orchards of avocado. Beyond is the Casitas Pass which brings you by Lake Casitas
Ventura For a Day
What a wonderful day spent bird watching in Ventura county! We found our target bird, the Snowy Plover on the beach in Oxnard. We added tougher birds to see around Ventura County because the man made rock breakwater is easy to scope. On our transition into Santa Barbara we birded the “line” off the Bates Bridge starting our transition. A big thank you to Frank for the great outing and birds!
