Carrizo Plains 🌷
2025-02-22 00:00 - 23:59 (America/Los_Angeles) | Carrizo Plain Meeting Point, 32660 CA-33, Maricopa, CA, 93252, United States
Take a trip to the beautiful Carrizo plain where Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons, Golden Eagles, Mountain Bluebirds, and Mountain Plovers like to spend the winter! This is an all day trip, so be prepared! Meet at 8 a.m. at the corner of Hwy 166/33 and Soda Lake Rd. Trip leaders: Thelma Williams and Dee Lyon (805) 427-0987

🛶Lake Piru
2025-03-08 08:00 - 11:00 | Lake Piru, 4780 Piru Canyon Rd, Piru, CA, 93040
Meet at 8:00 am at Warring Park in Piru. We’ll look for the largest bird in North America, the California Condor as well as other large raptors, plus waterfowl, and early spring migrants. The entrance fee will be $5 per car for this field trip, instead of the normal $10, so be sure to tell them you are part of the CVAS birding group.

Trip leaders: Peter Robertshaw (909) 771-9720.

© Don Klabunde

Beginner Bird Walk
2025-03-12 08:00 - 11:00 | California
Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa

Conejo Valley Audubon invites birders of all experience levels to attend our monthly Beginner Bird Walk at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa. These walks are held on the second Wednesday of each month. We will meet at 8:00 am at the main parking lot, which is accessible off Lynn Road at Via Goleta in Newbury Park. Rancho Sierra Vista is an excellent place to see many of the oak woodlands birds that are common in the Conejo Valley area. We will take time to introduce beginning birders to these species and teach the best techniques for locating and identifying them. Wear comfortable walking shoes and layered clothing, and bring water.

Contact walk leader Richard Armerding at (310) 701-3878 (texting is OK)

🦅Lake Casitas
2025-03-15 08:00 - 11:00 | Lake Casitas, 11311 Santa Ana Rd, Ventura, CA, 93001, United States
Thanks to Ojai Rotary Club, we will be able to charter a small boat out onto the lake! Space is limited, so please text Sammy at (818) 470-7098 or email him at fieldtrips@conejovalleyaudubon.org if you are interested in coming on this trip. Meet outside the lake entrance at 8:00 am, and we’ll carpool in, since the cost is $20 per car.

Trip leaders: Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098 and Jerry Maryniuk

🦗Potrero Open Space
2025-03-23 08:00 - 11:00 | Rancho Potrero, 5020 Lynn Rd, Thousand Oaks, California, 91320, United States
*DATE CHANGE*

Sunday, Mar 23nd: Potrero Open Space

Meet at 8:00 am in the Rancho Potrero Trailhead parking lot off Lynn Road. This open space is ideal habitat for a variety of grassland species! We’ll specifically be looking for the local population of Grasshopper Sparrows that winter and breed in the area. Vesper Sparrow and Western Meadowlark overwinter as well, and swallows and kingbirds might be arriving early.

Trip leader: Ryan Burnett (530) 258-6742

🛣️ Cañada Larga Road
2025-03-29 08:00 | Canada Larga Road, 180 Canada Larga Rd, Ventura, CA, 93001
Saturday, Mar 29th: Cañada Larga Road

The ranchland along Cañada Larga Road provides great habitat for many grassland species, and the riparian habitat along the creek is a great place to spot early migrants. Meet at 8:00 am at the beginning of the road, and we will drive up the canyon together, stopping at various points.

Trip leader: Marc Better (510) 919-5283

🪽Sisar Canyon
2025-04-05 08:00 - 11:00 | Sisar Canyon, 12799 Sisar Canyon Rd, Ojai, CA, 93023
Sisar Canyon is a great spot to see migrating warblers, vireos, and flycatchers as they forage throughout the oaks and riparian of the canyon. It’s also a decent spot to see Black-chinned and Costa’s Hummingbirds! Meet at 8 am at the parking lot off Sisar Rd. Parking is very limited, so carpooling is suggested.

Trip leader: Spencer Seale

🪻Conejo Valley Botanical Garden
2025-04-13 08:00 - 11:00 | Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, 400 W. Gainsborough Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360
As migration heats up, the Conejo Valley Botanical Garden offers birds a nice resting stop in the middle of Thousand Oaks. There is a decent chance to see multiple different warbler species, vireos, flycatchers, orioles, and other migrants.

Meet at the parking lot off Jeaunine Dr.

Trip leader: David Person (805 469-6806)

🐻 Bear Divide
2025-04-19 06:00 - 10:00 | Bear Divide Picnic Area, 21525 Santa Clara Truck Trail, Canyon Country, CA, 91387, United States
Bear Divide is a narrow pass in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County that funnels thousands of birds through a tiny gap in the mountain ridge with hundreds of birds flying by at eye level per minute. Dawn flight is the best time to witness this spectacle, so we plan to be at Bear Divide by 6 a.m. If you want to carpool, contact Sammy Cowell to arrange a meeting spot. There may also be an opportunity to watch banders catch and tag migrants with mist nets.

Trip leader: Sammy Cowell (818 470-7098).

🌵Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
2025-04-26 08:00 - 17:00 | Big Morongo, 11055 East Dr., Morongo Valley, CA, 92256, United States
Big Morongo Preserve is one of the best places in southern California for migrant flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and other species but also hosts some great breeding birds. We can expect to see (or hear) Summer and Western Tanagers, Brown-crested and Vermilion Flycatchers, Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles, Yellow-Breasted Chat, Bell’s Vireo, as well as migrants and desert residents. Bring lunch, snacks, and plenty of water. In the afternoon we may look for Black-throated Sparrow and Scott’s Oriole.Meet at Covington Park. Take I-10 to Hwy 62, go north 10 miles to Morongo Valley and then turn right on Park Avenue. Please contact

Pete Robertshaw (909 771-9720) ahead of time if you are interested, to better coordinate meeting times and carpools.

🌊Santa Clara River Estuary
2025-05-03 08:00 - 11:00 | Surfer’s Knoll, 1600 Spinnaker Dr, Ventura, CA, 93001
Meet at 8 am at the Surfer’s Knoll parking lot off of Spinnaker Drive. The beginning of May marks the tail end of shorebird migration, the peak of songbird migration, and the beginning of the breeding season for summer residents, and Santa Clara River Estuary is a great place to see all of this in action! We will look for ducks, gulls, phalaropes, plovers, swallows, warblers, and more.

Trip leader – Sammy Cowell: (818) 470-7098

🌃Two Rivers Park
2025-05-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Two Rivers Park, River St., Fillmore, CA, 93015
*Time change*

Meet at Two Rivers Park at River and C Street in Fillmore at 6:30 pm in the evening. We will be going just before dusk to hopefully see nighthawks come out! If you want, we will meet at Daniel’s Gourmet Food Co. in Fillmore at 5 pm beforehand for food and drinks.

Trip leader – Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098

🏝️Island Scrub-Jay Pelagic trip to Santa Cruz Island
2025-05-18 08:00 - 17:30 | Channel Islands Harbor (Oxnard), 3600 Harbor Blvd, Oxnard, CA, 93035, United States
This trip is organized by Island Packers, not CVAS. Tickets must be purchased through them either on the Island Packers website https://islandpackers.com/oxnard-to-scrub-jay/ or call (805) 642-1393. The cost is $138 per person. Leaves from Oxnard Harbor. Please arrive at 7:15 a.m., 45 minutes prior to depature.

We will take our time on our way over to the island, looking for shearwaters, alcids, and other pelagic species. Once on the island, we will spend an hour or so looking for the endemic Island Scrub-Jay and other unique island wildlife! Then, we will spend the rest of the afternoon cruising around the Santa Barbara Channel looking for more birds and other wildlife.

🗻Mount Pinos
2025-05-25 08:00 - 13:00 | Mt. Pinos, Cuddy Valley Rd., Frazier Park, CA, 93225, United States
Join us as we go into the mountains to find some alpine birds. To carpool, meet at 6 am at the Janss Park & Ride, located on the east side of the 23 freeway at the Janss Road Exit by the soccer fields. Alternatively, meet at 8:00 am at the Mt. Pinos Nordic Base parking lot at the end of Mount Pinos Road (GPS: Cuddy Valley Rd, Forest Rte 9N24, Frazier Park, CA 93225 — or use coordinates 34.8134, -119.1263). Dress warm!

Target species include – Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Olive-sided Flycatcher, White-headed Woodpecker, Townsend’s Solitaire, Green-tailed Towhee, Red Crossbill and more!

Trip leader – Richard Armerding: (310) 701-3878.

Bird Walk - Camarillo Outlets
2025-08-31 08:00 - 10:00 | California
Leader is John Mueller (818) 625-9584

Our first field trip of the year will begin with an easy location perfect for locating Fall migrants. Meet at 8 am at the corner of Camarillo Center Drive and Plaza la Vista, near the Crossroads church behind the Camarillo Outlets. Best parking is at the outlets along Camarillo Center Dr. Target species will be early fall migrants (warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles).

Santa Clarita River Estuary - Beach Bird Walk
2025-09-06 08:00 - 10:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at the Surfer’s Knoll parking area off Spinnaker Dr. Best parking is along Spinnaker as the parking lot now requires a fee. Target species will be fall shorebirds such as godwit, sandpipers, plovers, curlew, willet, whimbrel, yellowlegs, gulls and perhaps phalarope or something unexpected, . Expect to walk at least a mile in the sand, which could be hot. Flip flips and sunscreen highly recommended.

Leader is Dee Lyon (805) 427-0987

Warblers at Bob Kildee Park
2025-09-13 08:00 - 09:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at the corner of Eston St. and Curt Dr. near the baseball fields in the center of Camarillo. Target species will be warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles and whatever else we can find along the tamarisk trees on Eston St. We will be discussing the CVAS Warbler Bingo game and how to sign up and participate.

Leader is John Mueller (818) 625-9584

Sycamore Canyon Campground & Beach
2025-09-20 08:00 - 10:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at the paid day-use parking area at the campground. Parking is $3/hr. Target species will be fall migrants and perhaps shorebirds at the beach. We won’t be walking through anyone’s campground, just the main roads near the parking area, the old bridge and then perhaps the beach across the street depending on what we find at the campground area.

Leader is TBD [text John at (818) 625-9584 for info].

Hawk Watch - Grant Park in Ventura
2025-09-27 11:00 - 13:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at the parking area by the Serra Cross in Grant Park in Ventura. Target bird will be the Broad-Winged Hawk which has been recently spotted here. Last year it was first seen on Sept. 29th until Oct. 10th. Bring good walking/hiking shoes as we may climb modest trails.

There may be a change in date/time based on who is leading and where they’re being seen.

Leader is Sangeet Khalsa (805-861-4648)

Arroyo Vista Community Park in Moorpark
2025-10-19 08:00 | California
Meet at 8 am in the parking lot at the far end of the park off Tierra Rejada in Moorpark. We’ll look for all sorts of birds around the park and in the adjacent stretch of Arroyo Simi. There may be youth sports taking place, so come early.

Leader: John Mueller (818) 625-9584 for info

RSVP at this link on Google Forms for all our field trips

Pipits, Plovers and Pipers of the Oxnard Plain
2025-10-26 08:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at the end of Arnold Road at the parking area. We can carpool back out to the fields depending on attendance to ensure we don’t crowd the side of the road. We’ll spend about an hour on the Arnold Road sod fields and then caravan over to Casper Road where these birds are also common. Parking is virtually non-existant on Casper, so maximum carpooling is encouraged when we travel to Casper.

We’ll look for pipits, plovers, sandpipers, raptors and who knows what else. Bring a scope if you have one. We can discuss as a group when we’re there to come up with a game plan.

RSVP at this link on Google Forms for all our field tripsLeader – John Mueller (818) 625-9584 for info

Conejo Creek Park North
2025-11-09 08:00 | California
Meet at 8 am in the parking lot on the southern end near the exit. We will then walk a loop of the park to listen and look in the riparian area and grass for migrants and common park birds. This location may have returning waterfowl such as American Wigeon, and the trees and shrubs could be alive with various migratory birds such as warblers, vireos and sparrows.

RSVP at this link on Google Forms for all our field tripsLeader is John Mueller (818) 625-9584

Rancho Simi Community Park
2025-11-16 08:00 | California
Meet at 8 am in the parking lot nearest the swimming pool off Royal Av west of Erringer Rd. Rancho Simi Community Park is a hot spot that offers up a variety of habitat such as a pond with an island, old sycamores, stands of conifers, and the adjacent Arroyo Simi. Resident species include Canada Goose, Western Bluebird, Belted Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night-heron, and there almost always seems to be at least one White-faced Ibis in the arroyo. We’ll also look for Plumbeous Vireo, Cackling Goose, various ducks, sparrows, migrating warblers, and other winter visitors.

RSVP at this link on Google Forms for all our field trips

Leader is Don Klabunde (805) 522-8023

BIRD OUR PARKS
2025-11-30 08:00 | California
This will be a social birding experiment where we as Ventura County residents will bird our neighborhood parks and see what kind of birds we can find. Birds commonly visit our parks so we will use social media (such as our new “Conejo Valley Audubon Society (CVAS)” WhatsApp community group from your phone) to count birds and discuss what we’re seeing. Every city in Ventura County has multiple parks, so feel free to visit a couple and post your findings on our eBird Trip Report. If you would like to work together as a team, we will have a sign-up form closer to the date. We will then publish our results on the CVAS website and discuss at the December 1st meeting.

Contact John Mueller (818) 625-9584 to indicate which park you intend to cover

Or use our new Field Trip Sign-Up Form and indicate which you want to cover

Here is the proposed list of parks that could be covered. To maximize coverage, I would suggest no more than 2 people per park. Maybe spend 30-60 minutes per park to cover it sufficiently, but not over-doing it. If there are parks missing, please let us know.

Park Name

City

Birder

Bob Kildee Community Park

Camarillo

John Mueller

Community Center Park

Camarillo

Freedom Park

Camarillo

Lokker Park

Camarillo

Mission Oaks Park

Camarillo

Pitts Ranch Park

Camarillo

John Mueller

Valle Lindo Park

Camarillo

John Mueller

El Rio Park

El Rio

Sunkist Park

El Rio

Sheill Park

Fillmore

Two Rivers Park

Fillmore

Meiners Oaks Park

Meiners Oaks

Arroyo Park

Moorpark

Campus View Park

Moorpark

Oak Park

Moorpark

Peach Hill Park

Moorpark

Poindexter Park

Moorpark

Nyeland Acres Park

Nyeland Acres

Chaparral Park

Oak Park

Deerhill Park

Oak Park

Medea Creek Park

Oak Park

Oak Canyon Community Park

Oak Park

Oak View Park

Oak View

Libbey Park

Ojai

Soule Park

Ojai

College Park

Oxnard

Del Sol Park

Oxnard

La Colonia Park

Oxnard

Rio Lindo Park

Oxnard

Rio Vista Park

Oxnard

Southwinds Park

Oxnard

Warring Park

Piru

Bubbling Springs Park

Port Hueneme

Civic Center Park

Port Hueneme

Moranda Park

Port Hueneme

Orvene S. Carpenter Park

Port Hueneme

Wright Park

Port Hueneme

Las Piedras Park

Santa Paula

Teague Park

Santa Paula

Santa Rosa Valley Park

Santa Rosa Valley

Rancho Madera Park

Simi Valley

Rancho Simi Community Park

Simi Valley

Rancho Tapo Community Park

Simi Valley

Sequoia Park

Simi Valley

Conejo Community Park

Thousand Oaks

Conejo Creek North Park

Thousand Oaks

Old Meadows Park

Thousand Oaks

Arroyo Verde Park

Ventura

Barranca Vista Park

Ventura

Camino Real Park

Ventura

Hobert Park

Ventura

Juanamaria Park

Ventura

Marion Cannon Park

Ventura

Montalvo Hill Park

Ventura

Thille Park

Ventura

Westpark

Ventura

Beginner Bird Walk
2025-12-10 08:00 | California
Conejo Valley Audubon invites birders of all experience levels to attend our monthly Beginner Bird Walk at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa. These walks are held on the second Wednesday of each month. We will meet at 8:00 am at the main parking lot, accessible from Lynn Road at Via Goleta in Newbury Park. Rancho Sierra Vista is an excellent place to see many of the oak woodlands birds that are common in the Conejo Valley area. We will take time to introduce beginning birders to these species and teach the best techniques for locating and identifying them. Wear comfortable walking shoes and layered clothing, and bring water.

Contact walk leader Richard Armerding at (310) 701-3878 (texting is OK)

Christmas Bird Count- Thousand Oaks
2025-12-14 00:00 - 23:59 | California
Contact Dave Pereksta at pereksta@pacbell.net, if he hasn’t already contacted you. Carol and Bill Langford will be hosting the post-count tally party. You can reach Carol at (360) 742-6059.

CSUCI Regional Park & Ponds
2026-01-10 08:00 | California
CSU Channel Islands Regional Park & Ponds

WHERE – Take Lewis Road south to Camarillo Street (going to the university, and after the first bridge turn left on Old Dairy Road (yes, the Scary Dairy). Right inside there will be a kiosk where we can pay for parking ($7 I believe) and then we’ll drive to the parking area where the old model planes used to fly.

This is one of the best open spaces in Ventura County for not only good habitat for sparrows as well as raptors and the back ponds for wintering waterfowl. Canvasback have been seen there most years as well as American White Pelicans among others. Expect to walk about 2 miles total. Not much shade so bring a hat and sunscreen.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP

Leader is John Mueller (818) 625-9584

More info: https://www.csuci.edu/unipark/

Beginner Bird Walk - Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa
2026-01-14 08:00 | California

Hill Canyon
2026-01-24 08:00 | California
Meet at 8 am at Santa Rosa Valley Park, the equestrian parking area at the beginning of Hill Canyon. We will walk through the open space around the equestrian area including the short walk to the creek. Next, we’ll walk across the bridge and up the canyon in search of wintering birds. Rain will cancel this trip. Bathrooms are available at the parking area.

Leaders are Carol & Bill Langford (360) 742-6059

Bard Lake
2026-02-06 07:45 | California
Meet by 8:00 am at the boardroom of the Calleguas Municipal Water District office, 2100 Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. After a brief introduction by the CMWD staff, they will escort us on the 3 mile loop around the 230 acre reservoir looking for different duck and gull species. (note: golf carts are available for those who would like them) The lake is typically closed to the public, so this is a special treat for CVAS! All participants must show a signed waiver and their driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID when we gather. Please email fieldtrips@conejovalleyaudubon.org for your copy of the waiver to sign in advance.

Trip leaders: Bill & Carol Langford (360) 742-6059
