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San Diego Bird Festival

Birding the Border

There will be two Border trips every day. This trip hits some of the best hotspots along our border with Mexico for California specialties. Click here for a list of birds most frequently seen in these hotspots in late February and early March.

Border I 6:00 am - 2:00 pm

Thursday Feb 23 with Dan Jehl and Bruce Aird
Friday Feb 24 with Justyn Stahl and Luke Safford
Saturday Feb 25 with Kat Wendel and Martha Wild
Sunday Feb 26 with Autumn Turner and Jonny Sperling

Border II 6:30 am - 2:30 pm

Thursday Feb 23 with Kat Wendel and Kevin and Dale Karlson
Friday Feb 24 with Rick Grove and John Dumlao
Saturday Feb 25 with tba
Sunday Feb 26 with Martha Wild and Rick Grove

This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for breakfast and coffee before the field trip! Lunch is included.
$155

100 or More

There will be two 100 or More trips every day. This trip hits some San Diego hot spots, starting from the Eastern part of the county working towards the Coast. The goal is to spot 100 species or more.

100 or More I, sponsored by Sabrewing Nature Tours   6:00 am - 3:00 pm

Thursday Feb 23 with Justyn Stahl, Tyler Ficker and Eric Ripma
Friday Feb 24 with Kat Wendel, Tyler Ficker and Eric Ripma
Saturday Feb 25 with   Tyler Ficker and Eric Ripma
Sunday Feb 26 with  Tyler Ficker and Eric Ripma

100 or More II 6:30 am - 3:30 pm

Thursday Feb 23 with John Dumlao and Rick Grove
Friday Feb 24 with Autumn Turner and Nathan Goldberg
Saturday Feb 25 with Adam Sell and Rick Grove
Sunday Feb 26 with Justyn Stahl and Mandy Mathews

This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for coffee and breakfast before the field trip! Lunch is included.
$155

Palomar Mountain---new trip! 7:00 am - 3:00 pm

There will be one Palomar Mountain trip every day. This trip heads for the hills for mountain and grassland birds. 

Thursday Feb 23 with Martha Wild, Benny Jacobs-Schwartz and Autumn Turner
Friday Feb 24 with Bruce Aird, Benny Jacobs-Schwartz and Martha Wild
Saturday Feb 25 with Justyn Stahl, Benny Jacobs-Schwartz and Autumn Turner
Sunday Feb 26 with  Kat Wendel, Benny Jacobs-Schwartz and Nathan Goldberg

This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for coffee and breakfast before the field trip, sponsored by Zeiss! Lunch is included.
$155

 

Camp Pendleton 6:00 am - 3:00 pm

There will be just one field trip going to Camp Pendleton. Military bases are a great place for birding, as the birds don't have to contend with some of the threats that come with development in urban environments. Come behind the gates with us!

Thursday Feb 23 with Pete Ginsburg and Lesley Handa

This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for coffee and breakfast before the field trip, sponsored by Zeiss! Lunch is included.
$155

The Hawks of Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve ---new trip!   7:30 am - 2:30 pm

Thursday February 23  with John Martin and Jimmy McMorran
Saturday February 25  with John Martin and tbd

A behind-the-gates look at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, where wintering hawks are plentiful. But we won't discriminate: we'll look at other birds, too!

This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for breakfast and coffee before the field trip! Lunch is included.

$155

Overnight Trip: Salton Sea and Borrego Springs ---old trip, new way!

Saturday Feb 25 - Sunday Feb 26 with Kurt Leuschner and Bruce Aird

Sat 6:00 am - Sun 6:00 pm
Whenever we do a day trip out to Salton Sea or Anza Borrego, we always get the same feedback: we want more time! Here' your chance to spend more than a day out in the desert. We'll bird in the mountains on the way out to the desert.  At the Salton Sea, we'll visit the birdiest places: refuge headquarters and the prison pond, the Holly Sugar Plant (for Sandhill Cranes), and Vendel Road. We'll also do some birding near Brawley, including Cattle Call Park, and a few other stops depending on current sightings in the area. We'll have evening birding at the golf course in Borrego Springs, which is very close to our hotel. This area has been newly designated for wildlife habitat. A representative from Zeiss will be on hand to show off some new products for viewing wildlife in dark conditions, and we may see some beautiful views of the nighttime sky. (Borrego Springs is a Dark Sky community.) Then we'll bird our way back to San Diego.
This trip begins and ends at Marina Village Conference Center. Please join us for breakfast and coffee before the field trip! Meals, lodging, transportation and guide services included

$640 per person, based on double occupancy
Add $75 for single occupancy.

OUR PARTNERS

  • USFWS logo
  • City of San Diego

  • County of San Diego
    County of San Diego
  • State Coastal Conservancy
  • SANDAg transnet logo
    SANDAg transnet logo
  • Malk Nature Fund
  • Coastkeeper
    Coastkeeper
  • UCNRS logo
  • San Diego Regional Fire Foundation logo
  • Americorps
  • Room & Board
    Room & Board
  • San Diego River Conservancy
  • National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
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