Fiery Dawn along California Hwy 25 on way to Panoche ValleyThis birding location is one of my favorite SCVAS field trips, and long-time leader Clay Kempf knew all the best places to find the birds. The highlight for me personally was to finally see MOUNTAIN PLOVERS in the Panoche Valley... after 5 years of trying!
We all saw a flock of 85 Mountain Plovers flying fast east of Panoche Road in the southern edge of Panoche Valley. The flock stayed far away from the road, at least 500 yards away. I had my 500mm telephoto lens with the 1.4x teleconverter... for 700mm equivalent... and I was able to get several photos of the flock in flight. (CLICK photo to view larger size)
We all saw a flock of 85 Mountain Plovers flying fast east of Panoche Road in the southern edge of Panoche Valley. The flock stayed far away from the road, at least 500 yards away. I had my 500mm telephoto lens with the 1.4x teleconverter... for 700mm equivalent... and I was able to get several photos of the flock in flight. (CLICK photo to view larger size)
85 Mountain Plovers on flight - Panoche Valley
Mountain Plovers in Panoche Valley
Other highlights of the trip were MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, LARK SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, AMERICAN PIPIT, and many of the usual species.
Lark Sparrow
The big miss for me is still the CHUKAR... which I have never ever seen in Panoche Valley... after now 5 years of trying. I have been told it does exist...! Really???
A SLIDESHOW of many more photos from this Panoche Valley field trip is available on my Blog Page and my BirdingPix website. Enjoy!
Lark SparrowThe big miss for me is still the CHUKAR... which I have never ever seen in Panoche Valley... after now 5 years of trying. I have been told it does exist...! Really???
A SLIDESHOW of many more photos from this Panoche Valley field trip is available on my Blog Page and my BirdingPix website. Enjoy!
