Redwood Region Audubon Society

Birding Hotspots

Patricks Point

By: David Fix

To reach this attractive state park, one may either continue north from Elk Head on Stagecoach Road about 4.5 miles, or take Hwy 101 to the Patricks Point exit. There is a small per-vehicle fee.

Woodland bird flocks here support occasional vagrant warblers as well as apparently-resident Red Crossbills and Gray Jays. Varied Thrushes nest here and are easily found. Rufous Hummingbirds are readily found here in March, with some males engaging in displays (though they are not known to breed here). Winter Wrens are common, and their incessant singing on spring mornings dominates the passerine chorus.

The Wedding Rock viewpoint offers a superb seawatch venue regardless of tide stage. Marbled Murrelets occur regularly just beyond the surfline (but often require some minutes' intensive scoping to begin to detect). It's also a good site from which to look for migrating Gray Whales. Very small cetaceans surfacing and as quickly disappearing, usually seen in ones, twos, or threes, and showing a neat curved black dorsal fin, are Harbor Porpoises.

Redwood Region Audubon Society
P.O. Box 1054, Eureka, CA 95502
Last updated February 1999