JULIAN — For hard-core birders, the alert that went out late last Saturday morning via an “extreme rarity” text message couldn’t have been much more startling.
“It would be like seeing a penguin in Julian. It’s impossible,” said Rick Campbell.
It was about 10 a.m. that morning when Mike Goldhamer, a serious bird photographer from San Diego, was watching the feeders behind Julian’s The Birdwatcher shop. Goldhamer saw a familiar bird, a tiny one he immediately recognized as a Common Redpoll.
Goldhamer had taken pictures of the same bird species this past summer — in Barrow, Alaska. The thing is, Redpolls are indeed common in the Arctic and Canada and Alaska, but never before, ever, has one been seen as far south in California as San Diego County. In fact, since 1899 only 11 had ever been seen in the state and none closer than Fresno.
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