California trip 2024

My brother and I wanted to visit states west of Illinois. Our father drove us over the course of 9 days. It is about an 30 hour drive from our home in Chicago to San Diego where my father had a conference. Below are links to the posts from our adventure.

Day 1, 10.29.24:

Illinois: Illini State Park. Pictured: 2 Turkey Vultures and a Fox Squirrel

Iowa: Iowa River. Pictured: American White Pelicans, Gadwall, Bald Eagle, and a Turkey Vulture

Day 2, 10.30.24:

Colorado: Roadside and White River National Forest. Pictured: Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Mountain Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, Chipmunk, European Starlings, Ferruginous Hawk, Bald eagle, Red-tailed Hawk

Day 3, 10.31.24:

Colorado: White River National Forest. Pictured: Pigmy Nuthatch

Colorado: Eagle, Colorado. Pictured: Red-tailed Hawks, Black-billed Magpies, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, Great Blue Heron, Elk

Colorado: No Name Rest Area. Pictured: Black-billed Magpies, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, House Finches, American Crow, Red-tailed Hawk, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Townsend’s Solitaire

Utah: Roadsides. Pictured: Common Raven, Pronghorn, Merlin, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Flicker (Red-shafted subspecies), Song Sparrow, Mule Deer (Rocky Mountains subspecies)

Day 4, 11.1.24:

Nevada: Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (i). Pictured: Greater Roadrunners, Great-tailed Grackles, Western Meadowlark, Gamble's Quail, Say's Phoebe, Albert's Towhee, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, Northern Harriers, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Song Sparrow, House Finch

Nevada: Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (ii). Pictured: Western Grebe, Pied-billed Grebes, Common Gallinules, American Coots, Ruddy Ducks, Eared Grebes, Pied-billed Grebes, Green Heron, Northern Shovelers, Scaups, Buffleheads, Snowy Egrets, American Avocets, Greater Yellowlegs, Cinnamon Teal, Killdeer

Nevada: Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (iii). Pictured: Anna's Hummingbirds, Costa's Hummingbird

Nevada: Clark County Wetlands Park. Pictured: Phainopeplas, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebes, Northern Mockingbirds, Verdins, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Gambel's Quail, Fox Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackles, Common Raven, American Coots, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebes, Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Cooper's Hawk

Day 5, 11.2.24:

California: San Diego River Mudflats (i). Pictured:Tricolored Heron, Snowy Egrets, Reddish Egret, Little Blue Heron, Marbled Godwits, Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers, Long-billed Curlews

California: San Diego River Mudflats (ii). Pictured: Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Western Sandpipers, Snowy Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers

California: San Diego River Mudflats (iii). Pictured: Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls, American Kestrel, Osprey, Eurasian Collared-Doves, Horned Larks, Mourning Doves, Black Phoebe, Northern House Wren, Anna's Hummingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah Sparrow

California: Grossmont College. Pictured: Anna's Hummingbirds, Black Phoebe

California: El Cajon Courthouse. Pictured: Red-crowned Amazons and/or Lilac-crowned Amazons and/or Red-lored Amazons

Day 6, 11.3.24:

California: San Diego, CA (roadside). Pictured: Western Bluebirds, House Finch

California: San Diego, CA (Burrowing Parakeets). Pictured: Burrowing Parakeets

California: Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge. Pictured: Ridgway's Rails, Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, Willets, American Crow, Common Raven, Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel, Red-shouldered Hawk, Lincoln's Sparrow, Anna's Hummingbird, House Finch, Say's Phoebe, Brown Pelicans

Arizona: Tacna, AZ (roadside)

Day 7, 11.4.24:

Arizona: Painted Desert. Pictured: Common Ravens, Mountain Bluebirds, Western Meadowlark, and House Sparrows

Arizona: Petrified Forest. Pictured: Mule Deer

Day 8, 11.5.24:

Oklahoma: Lake Hefner, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Pictured: American White Pelicans, Forster's Terns, Ring-billed Gulls, Franklin's Gulls, Forster's Terns, Great Blue Herons, Double-crested Cormorants, Snowy Egret, American Coots, Pied-billed Grebe, Blue Jay, Sandhill Cranes, White-collared Dove, Cooper's Hawk

Oklahoma: Stillwater. Pictured: European Starlings

Day 9, 11.6.24:

Missouri: Joplin. Pictured: Wild Turkeys, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jay, Eastern Bluebird

Illinois: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Pictured: Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, European Starlings