Be Prepared- California Here I Come!

In just two days time I will be off on another adventure for both fun and birding. I will be heading out to the West Coast to enjoy the man-made attractions of Disneyland, the Golden Gate Bridge, and VooDoo Donuts, while making some stops at places in Santa Barbara and Crater Lake, Or. With two weeks of off time ahead I am hoping to really be able to relax and spend some quality time learning some of the birds out west.

I've already made a connection with a local birder in Santa Barbara to spend a morning with and hopefully give me a couple of other sites to visit before heading North. I've also been checking out eBird and using their maps and data section to scope out some places to maximize my time. I've hopped onto one of the local birding listservs to see what rarities are in town right now.

Although, I have been out West before it wasn't while I was interested in birding so I'm practically starting from scratch! If you have any advice for a must see stop along the way (Los Angeles to Seattle) please share it! I was originally planning on leaving the laptop at home but going through my pictures and blogging about the birds I've seen along the way really heightens the experience so look out over the next couple of weeks to see what I come across! All in all I think I'm prepared to find some great new birds for my list and you should be prepared to see them too!