tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post1337562282942050532..comments2024-02-05T16:57:21.842-08:00Comments on The Speckled Hatchback: Post #125 - California County Birding - By Bike!Dorian Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15916335753403783947noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-65310199457129416702017-12-15T08:33:08.848-08:002017-12-15T08:33:08.848-08:00Hey Chris - I'll have to try that more souther...Hey Chris - I'll have to try that more southerly route over the coastal mountains at some point. It's just so damn easy and fast to go over 92 from where I am now. <br /><br />I hear you on the whole emissions thing, but at the end of the day birders aren't even drop in the total bucket. I like the environmental aspect of the bike, but the physical challenge it presents is the real attraction for me. Collecting birds in a car is just too easy!Dorian Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15916335753403783947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-91505764085917486182017-12-14T13:20:31.778-08:002017-12-14T13:20:31.778-08:00Yeah, I hear you Tom. SB is the single biggest cou...Yeah, I hear you Tom. SB is the single biggest county in the US, so it present challenges unlike anywhere else. Same goes for most of SoCal, minus Orange. But up here in the bay it would be totally possible to thoroughly bird many of the smaller counties by bike over the course of a given year. I also realize that I live in arguably the single best bike-birding area in the country what with so many habitats so close to home. I didn't do any bike-birding in LA county, and now I really regret that I didn't. Woulda been dope to get 300 species in LA county - the most car plagued in the nation - on my bike!<br /><br />On the other hand, that SB county appears so unbirdable by bike, just think about what a boss you would be if you actually did it! The more impossible something seems, the more reasons there are to pursue it. That was my rationale for my bike Big Year, something that virtually everyone I talked to before departing said was impossible. I get it that the bike isn't practical for 95% of birding situations, but it is in redeeming that remaining 5% that the real fun is found. <br />Dorian Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15916335753403783947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-19804812328632230732017-12-14T13:13:38.657-08:002017-12-14T13:13:38.657-08:00Hey Greg - I find stuff in transit all the time, e...Hey Greg - I find stuff in transit all the time, especially waterfowl as they are all over the bayshore at this time of year. The beauty of the bike is that I'm birding the whole time, right? I've only seen Henslow's Sparrow one time, so that's a really cool one! I also got my county bike Merlin as one flew over me here on the bay.Dorian Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15916335753403783947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-12966618917900215462017-12-14T12:22:01.565-08:002017-12-14T12:22:01.565-08:00I agree that biking and birding is the way to go. ...I agree that biking and birding is the way to go. I am a big cyclist and also, while using them once a week on average, see cars as having massive downsides. I think, for example, of the Red-footed Booby and wonder: What is its carbon footprint? How much carbon has been put into the atmosphere by birders checking it out. <br /><br />I am not trying to cast aspersions since I drove out to the coast to see the booby myself (in a '97 Civic that gets 40mpg at least). I also ventured out there by bike to see it. Unlike you, I am not willing to bike on Hwy. 92, so I get at least 4,000 feet of climbing on this approximately 50-mile round trip, going up Kings Mtn Rd. and the Higgins-Purisima OSP on the return. Boy, that trail is steep in parts!<br /><br />Ride on.Chriscohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06686660183447872700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-11647540298060795312017-12-14T08:36:53.115-08:002017-12-14T08:36:53.115-08:00Any recommendations for birding by bike in San Ber...Any recommendations for birding by bike in San Bernardino County, where it's 200 miles (one way) to the Colorado River, or a net 5000' elevation gain to Big Bear Lake, as measured from my home in San Bernardino?Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05426032065435319659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6961914105467755287.post-10743849962223264042017-12-14T05:23:45.080-08:002017-12-14T05:23:45.080-08:00"I have basically given up local birding in t..."I have basically given up local birding in the car as it is no longer satisfying." -- Seconded! You also mention the length of trips to get to specific destinations as a barrier to consider, but have you found any new additions to the list or subjectively 'good' birds while in transit? Since starting to bike bird in 2015, there are two birds like this that stick out in my mind as incidental during a bike ride to elsewhere that I wouldn't have otherwise found: a Henslow's Sparrow in a random field while biking to work last year, and a Merlin in a local park that I was passing through on my way to a CBC location this past January. I am curious to know if you have had any experiences like these on the bike?Greg M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17589804703249828778noreply@blogger.com