Revisiting Southern California Locations

After breakfast, I chose to drive to San Diego with stops at a couple of birding spots John and I visited in March on our first California trip.  The first, Jacumba, is an historic town sandwiched between the interstate and the Mexican border fence.  I liked it when we were there earlier and I still got a kick out of this visit. Since I was between meals, I didn't stop at the quaint restaurant, not even for a cup of coffee. This is the location where we saw our Tricolored Blackbirds (web photo) and they were still here, in even larger numbers than earlier.  I spent some time listening to their croaking calls, very different from those of the ordinary Red-winged Blackbirds.  Further west I left the interstate to drive north on Kitchen Creek road up to the campground where I had hoped there would be some migrants in the oaks.  But it was pretty quiet.  Just phoebes and House Wrens plus Wrentits bouncing their balls and scrub-jays yelling up on the hill.  I drove into San Diego and found my motel where I repacked for the trip tomorrow and watched post-season baseball games.  The Phillies look to be hard to beat.  Tomorrow I fly to Barrow, Alaska to seek the Ross's Gull(s).