Palomar Audubon Society Trip Leaders guide birders around different areas of Lake Hodges, like Del Dios Community Park, the Boat Dock, and Bernardo Bay, every year in spring and fall. The list of bird species seen is then posted on the PAS website. SDRP has compiled the lists since October 2013 into a PDF document.

53 bird species were identified in September 2018, and 42 bird species were identified in November 2018. All of them have been seen before, so the cumulative total over the past 17 bird walks remains at 127 different species.

The featured image of an Acorn Woodpecker was taken at Lake Hodges by SDRP Trail Patrol Volunteer Ginni Kitchen in December 2016. Acorn Woodpeckers have always been seen during the spring and early fall bird walks on the north side of Lake Hodges, but they have never been seen during the November bird walks at Bernardo Bay on the south side of the reservoir. However, this doesn’t mean acorn woodpeckers don’t live on the south side, as we received a photo of a juvenile taken in August 2018 on the Piedras Pintadas Trail.

Learn more about the Palomar Audubon Society and view their trip reports on their website.

(Updated 11/27/18 with more information about acorn woodpecker sightings.)