This morning I made the long drive to valley to see if I could pick up some of the sparrows that had been seen recently and perhaps find a few new flowers.
I birded Ballinger Canyon Road from the intersection of Highway 33 to the Campground. Best birding was in or near the campground: singing Black-chinned and Brewer's Sparrow, Phainopepla, Lawrence's Goldfinches, and (probably) nesting Western Kingbirds, judging from their extremely aggressive behavior (even for them!) towards a pair of Ravens that wandered in. Also present near the campground and elsewhere along the route were several Lazuli Buntings, Ash-throated Flycatchers, and Lark Sparrows.
My next stop was at the intersection of Qatal Canyon with Highway 33, where I birded the tall trees by the apparently abandoned home. Most of the activity there was from Eurasian Collared-Doves and House Sparrows, but there also were Western Kingbirds, Lawrences Goldfinches, Western Tanagers (3), and a pair of Bullock's Orioles. The water impoundment next to this property has had Tr-colored Blackbirds in the past, but today I found nary a one. I then up drove Qatal Canyon for several miles but did not turn up anything else birdwise that I had not seen before.
I finished at Santa Barbara Pistachio where I had lunch and watched bird feeing around the small pond and the trees above. No warblers, but I had Lark Sparrows, American Robins, and Lawrence's Goldfinch all com edown to the water, and in the trees were more Western Kingbirds and at least one Bullock's Oriole.
Though the main show of Goldfields is done, I still had some nice flowers in Ballinger Canyon, including some beautiful Hillside Daisy and at least two different kinds of Phacelia. Also blooming profusely along both roads was the yellow and cream Malacothrix featured on the cover of Clif Smith's "A Flora of the Santa Barbara Region, California." I was hoping to find two of my inland favorites, Scarlet Bugler and Blazing Star, but was not successful. It may yet be too early for them.
Closer to home, I found that White lupine is finally blooming along US 101 in the shady north-facing roadcut between Los Alamos and its intersection with Highway 154.
Florence Sanchez