Travel, birding and taking photos as the main purpose.

Western USA summer 2010.

This was my third trip to the USA and the purpose was to drive with my family from L.A to Seattle making a detour to Yosemite National Park. I did not count in many new birds but really enjoyed this trip for the other wildlife I saw. An obvious start for the family was a day at Disneyland which was great. We like to visit the amusement parks. Then we drove up to Jim Royer, who I had met as a birding pal earlier this winter in February when I visited California for some winter birds for this region. Jim lives in Los Osos which is by the coast just before the scenic Highway 1. My son is interested in snakes so I had asked Jim if we possibly could see a rattle snake. Very close to his house we found this Western Rattlesnake just next to the path where everybody is walking and running.

Common birds is this area are also the handsome White-crownes Sparrow and the Killdeer.

We spent a few days with Jim and his lovely family before we headed north toward Monterey which is an eldorado for marine wild life. On the way we stopped at San Simeon which has a rookery for Elephant Seals. At very close range you can spot these great animals. However, at this time of the year not many were present and just a few big males. When I visited in February, the place was cramped with individuals. I really recommend a stop here if you are passing by.

At Monterey we took a whale safari to look for Humpback Whales. The weather was not very nice but we saw a few individuals quite close. We had also hoped for a Blue Whale, which they had seen the day before.

Easier to see and also whiteout risking to bee sea sick are all the Californian Sea Lions that are dotted around the harbor. Depending on what time of the year you visit this place you will see different birds and mammals but it´s always worth the trip.

We left Monterey for the stunning national park of Yosemite. It´s is an amazingly beautiful spot (even if it is too crowded at the center) and the vistas at some places are unforgettable. We took a steep walk up to one of the waterfalls and up there I saw this brilliant Steller´s Jay.

If you ever go here you must also drive up to the higher levels as the park changes in structure. From here we had a very long drive (10 hours) to a small town at the coast. We then followed the highway along the coast and reached the small scale town of Seaside. However, this town is a magnet for people on the 4th of July and we had such a wonderful experience this day, my daughter even won a cake on a lottery.

Later in the evening there was a magnificent moment of fire works which ended this great day.

From here we continued north to Port Angeles which is situated north of Olympic National Park and also the gateway to Canada. One morning I took a walk high up in the park and saw some good birds though I did´t get any pictures. This White-tailed Deer was seen together with some great views.

One of my biggest goals (when it comes to seeing wildlife) was to see Orcas. Therefor we had made a booking at San Juan Island (where the film "Free Willy" was partly filmed). To increase the possibility to see one you need to take a tour with any of the "whale watching" companies on the island. We saw a family of 8-9 individuals. Even if were not lucky enough to see them breach one male made a "run" towards our boat which is a uncommon behavior.

If you are short of money or dislike being at sea you could sit on the southern coast of this island and maybe see them from here. We had a magic evening with sun set and no wind as a family of Orcas passed by and showed us their beautiful bodies.