On of my reasons for wanting to return to the Watsonville area was to see the local birds, many of which are different then the birds I see on the East Coast. When I arrived I googled birding clubs San Francisco area and stumbled upon a Santa Cruz Birding Club that was having a bird walk this AM. I emailed the leader, Steve Gerow and asked if I could come along with them.
We first walked along the Watsonville Slough where I got to see some new birds including Lesser Goldfinch, Lincoln Sparrow, Chestnut Warbler and a young Black-chinned Hummingbird. Then Steve wanted to stop by Ford Street where there was a possiblity of seeing a Tropical Kingbird.
Immediately upon arriving someone saw a good sized bird along the side of the road in the trees and called out for us all to look. The bird is a Common Cuckoo, a very rare visitor to the lower 48 states having only been seen once before in the 80's in Mass. I never expected to come to CA, meet up with a great, friendly group of local birders and be with the group when a rare bird was discovered. An awesome morning!! Common Cuckoo(left). Photo by Wendy Naruo - Member of the Santa Cruz Bird Club
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