Birdsong PCT Southern California Desert Section Bird Report

Trail name: Birdsong

On day 3, I got up early and left Cibbets camp. While walking through the canyon I heard so many different birds deep in the desert bushes. I pulled out my Merlin bird identification app that my friend recommended and started capturing three or four birds at a time. As I walked about another mile, I heard new birds and captured a few more on the app. That morning, in 2.5 hours I found 13 different species of birds. At a water stop I shared my fascination with the diversity and life in these desert landscapes and another hiker recommended the name of a trail: “Birdsong.” I had to try it on for a few days but I liked it. I like how peaceful it sounds, it resonates with my own nature. And it also reflects one of the reasons why I hike: to find again what makes my heart sing and gives me life. Since that day I continue to track birds through the Merlin application. I had never been interested in bird watching or their songs before, but being present in nature helps me open my ears and eyes to the life around us. Other hikers also recommended I watch “Lister’s,” a YouTube documentary about immersion in the “birdwatching” community. I watched it back in my zero days and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more.

I like to catch these birds in different areas and learn their songs. I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just using the app to learn. Several times a day I think, «Oh, that sounds new.» Only to find out it’s just another Califronia Towhee with a different call. I don’t know if some of these birds might be impossible to find and there may be glitches in the Merlin app. But here’s a list of all the birds found at Kennedy Meadows that the app said it heard nearby when I stopped to listen to calls around me.

1. Spotted Towhee
2. black-chinned sparrow
3. The Wrents
4. Scottish Oriole
5. Black-headed Grosbeak
6. mountain quail
7. blue gray mosquito
8. Gray Vireo
9. common crow
10. white crowned sparrow
11. Bewick’s wren
12. Northern House Wren
13. brown creeper
14. California Towhee
15. white-winged dove
16. Poor common will
17. great horned owl
18. house finch
19. Ash-throated flycatcher
20. cactus wren
21. Rufous crowned sparrow
22. Lazuli bunting
23. horned lark
24. western lark
25. california thresher
26. Acorn Woodpecker
27. Anna’s hummingbird
28. lesser goldfinch
29. Brewer’s Sparrow
30. California Scrub Jay
31. Jay Steller
32. dark-eyed junco
33. sparrow sparrow
34. White-breasted Nuthatch
35. Yellow-rumped Warbler
36. Violet Green Swallow
37. Dusky flycatcher
38. pygmy nuthatch
39. Williamson Sap Sucker
40. fox sparrow
41. band-tailed pigeon
42. mountain titmouse
43. northern flicker
44. Northern Nightingale
45. mourning dove
46. wooded tit
47. Western Wood Pewee
48. Clark’s Nutcracker
49. Jay Sprocket
50. western tile
51. Townsend’s Solitaire
52. red-winged blackbird
53. black phoebe
54. song sparrow
55. Northern Yellow Warbler
56. Lawrence’s Goldfinch
57. American pipit
58. you gave
59. white-throated swift
60. Mallard
61. Nuttal Woodpecker
62. western owl
63. Black-throated Gray Warbler
64. Olive-sided flycatcher
65. green-tailed towhee
66. red-tailed hawk
67. Hummingbird Costas
68. White-headed Woodpecker
69. american robin
70. western tanager
71. hairy woodpecker
72. rock wren
73. Leconte’s puncher
74. purple finch
75. Sage Phrasher
76. bell sparrow
77. oak titmouse
78. lark sparrow
79. american coot
80. common gallinula
81. Western chirping vireo
82. black-throated sparrow
83. Woodhouse’s Jay
84. american kestrel
85. Wilson’s Warbler
86. Indigo bunting
87. Eurasian collared dove

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