"Easy Birder" Driving Routes
Cameron Valley
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At present the road (which is dirt) is well-graded, but there can be muddy spots
and good-sized ruts (and even impassable) after a bad rain.
Approximate Length: 5 miles
Approximate Birding Time: 1.5 hours
Traffic: Very light; traffic consists mostly of local land-owners and Border Patrol.
Facilities: None; best bet is behind a tree in the National Forest portion...
Directions: Take I-8 east about 45 miles, past the turnoffs to Cuyamaca and Laguna Mountains, and exit on Kitchen Creek Road. Turn right, and then left at the T, which is Old Highway 80. Drive about one mile to the "town" of La Posta, and just beyond the buildings and fenced-off construction area there's an unmarked dirt road on the right, almost right against the little ridge of hills coming up to the road (just past the "slippery" sign). This is the start of Cameron Valley.
The first part of the road passes some in-progress building construction, but beyond that there's plenty of open sage along most of the length of the road, which happens to be one of the easiest places in the county to get Bell's Sage Sparrow. Look also for raptors and kingbirds (Western in summer), Say's Phoebes (winter), Loggerhead Shrikes, Western Bluebirds, Scott's Oriole (very rare), Western Meadowlarks, Brewer's Blackbirds, and Brewer's (rare in migration) and Lark Sparrows. Greater Roadrunners and California Quail like to hide in the scrub but can occasionally be seen scampering across the road or between patches of scrub; in winter look also for Mountain Quail (although they can tarry late into the spring). In the chaparral areas listen for Bewick's Wrens, Wrentits, Hermit Thrushes (winter), Western Scrub Jays, California Thrashers, California and Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos (winter), and White-crowned (winter) and Black-chinned (summer) Sparrows.
Open sage area with riparian corridor along the mountain
All along the road are small groves of oaks which should house the usual suspects: Band-tailed Pigeon (occasional), Anna's Hummingbird, Acorn and Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, House Wren, Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hutton's Vireo, Phainopepla, and Lesser and Lawrence's Goldfinches year round, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee, and Black-headed Grosbeak in summer, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warbler in winter. Rarely you may flush a Barn Owl or two in these woodlands! It's not unusual to have Steller's Jays this low down, so beware of counting Red-shouldered Hawks solely by ear here! A narrow riparian corridor along the base of the mountains to the west is on private property and thereby inaccessible, but you might still be able to hear riparian-associated birds such as Song Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, and Red-winged Blackbird. Keep an ear out for Canyon Wrens singing from the distant rocky hillsides or White-throated Swifts chattering overhead.
Oak woodland
There's a "major" intersection at the top of the hill with some homes close to the road; the owners have requested that people not stop along the road from this point to a point a little over a half mile down the road (marked by a pair of railroad ties stuck like posts on either side of the road; the road is quite narrow in here, so stopping probably isn't a good idea anyway). Beyond this point is more chaparral but also more disturbed areas as you approach private homes with horses, etc. The corvid population increases dramatically along this stretch; look also for Black Phoebes along the fences, plus other human-associated birds.
View from the "intersection"
View coming down the other side of the hill
The route ends at Buckman Springs Road; seeing as Cameron Valley only takes an hour or so to bird, you might want to consider birding La Posta Road as well. To do so, turn left and continue to highway 94, and turn left again. La Posta Road is about 3.3 miles down (there's a good sign on the right, so you shouldn't miss it). To return to San Diego, turn right on Buckman Springs and follow it to the freeway.
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Please keep in mind that these lists are NOT comprehensive, and that some months may have had poor overall coverage.