The Audubon Society indicates
that there is no other county in the contiguous USA that has as
many species of birds as does San Diego
county.We take advantage of that at the Marco Polo Connection when
we organize our Birdwatching trips.Our daily bird counts are sometimes
huge. There are four major ecological areas where one may see birds
in the county. They are:
- The Coastal Littoral and Wetlands.
- The Coastal Chaparral and valleys.
- The Montane areas including Uplands.
- The Sonoran Desert
 Birdwatchers have their choice when it
comes to birding with the Marco Polo Connection. We usually divide
the day into two parts. From
Dawn to mid-morning and from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. We like
to bird count in the coastal areas in the early light of day when
all of the coastal species are out foraging in the dawn by visiting
some of the local lagoon areas and by walking slowly through Mission
Trails Regional Park. Your guide will meet you at a pre-arranged
location and either transport you in our transportation van or will
ask you
to follow in your own car to the first area. A map is also provided.We
will walk gently through the locations, spotting as we go until the
morning bird "Rush-hour " is gone. Then we will travel
to one of the Marsh and wetland areas to do more Birding. After building
our count in the marshes we usually stop for a morning break in a
road-side hostlery to exchange notes, or we take a picnic lunch in
the park, and then proceed on into the inland areas of our Birdwatching
Adventure.
 The
final destination of this wonderful day will take you through some
of the upper Montane areas of San Diego
county and we will get
some experience of the high peaks and juniper forests. We have seen
Golden Eagle and Prairie Falcon in the high country, Peregrine Falcon
in the coastal cliffs and a host of smaller birds in the coastal
canyons. Oddly enough we see Raven in all the niches. Several of
our guests have had a bird count that was higher than any of their
previous
daily totals.
You will want to wear stout walking shoes when
you come with us, bring sunscreen and a jacket. You will also need
your own binoculars.
Our Ornithologist, Dr Elin Pierce, has an Advanced Degree in Ornithology
from a Norwegian University and has also taught ecology at Humbolt
State University in Washington. She is currently engaged for some
of the time in field research in the sub Arctic where she is studying
the effects of global warming on the habits of Sea Birds.
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