April 20^th – Arrival to San Diego Airport, transfer to a nice hotel in Poway.  Afternoon photography at a feeder setup nearby.  Targets include Hooded Oriole, California Scrub Jay, Wrentit, Allen’s and Anna’s Hummingbirds, Lesser Goldfinch, California Towhee, Roadrunners and other species.  We will do some natural light setup hummingbird photography.  Hotel: A nice hotel in Poway, California.

April 21^st – Today we will have our first boat trip on a local lake to photograph displaying Western and Clark’s Grebes.  There are large numbers of these species on a couple of different lakes in the area.  In the afternoon we will visit Santee Lakes, which is a great spot to photograph Wood Ducks, there was a nice Great Horned Owl nest there in 2026.  Hotel: Poway, California.

April 22nd – Today we will visit the coast, our first stop we will try for the endemic Ridgeway’s Rail, then as long as the Peregrine Falcons are nesting (and they have been every year recently) we will spend some time photographing them from the beach near their nest on the cliff.  This can result in some amazing action images with prey exchanges and chasing other types of birds, both possible.  In the afternoon we will have another session at our setups in Poway.  Hotel: Poway. 

April 23^rd – This morning we will visit a Brandt’s Cormorant rookery, they are in beautiful breeding plumage, and many are feeding chicks at this time of year.  There are often other interesting birds such as Elegant Terns and Black Turnstones and Oystercatchers in the area.  Then we will stop by the Peregrine location again for a couple hours and then check for Ridgeway’s Rail before heading back to our hotel in Ramona. 

April 24^th – We will have our second Grebe photography trip on a local lake today, in addition to birds running on the water and displaying we often photograph them feeding each other fish and engaging in other courtship behaviors.  In the afternoon we will visit a feeder location in the mountains.  Lawrence’s Goldfinch sometimes come in as well as Purple Finch, Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatches, Western Bluebirds and other species.  Hotel: A nice hotel in Ramona.    

April 25^th – This morning we will visit a location to photograph some California endemic birds, especially California Thrasher and California Gnatcatcher.  Then we will check out and take you back to the airport for your return flight home.