Sunset State Beach offers interesting landbirds amidst coastal scrub and a mature grove of planted Monterey pines, and waterbirds on the beach and adjacent bay. A nice marsh lies behind the dunes in the southern part of the park. The park’s pine grove area appears to be one big, under-worked migrant trap. Camping and picnic facilities are available.
Directions. The south end of this park can be reached by walking north from Shorebirds Pond or north along the beach from the end of West Beach Rd (see previous site description). These routes let one check the southern beach and the bay, but they make for a long walk to the upper part of the park and its interesting landbirds. This description begins in the upper part of the park.
Take the Riverside Dr (Hwy 129) exit west off Hwy 1 to West Beach Rd. Turn left on West Beach Rd, go 1.3 miles, and turn right on San Andreas Rd. Follow San Andreas Rd north for 1.9 miles to Sunset Beach Rd. Turn left and follow Sunset Beach Rd to the park entrance (day-use fee). In fall the trees and shrubs around the entrance station are well worth a careful search for migrants and vagrants. One can walk down to the beach from here, scan with a scope from the bluff top, or drive south to the campground. Past the campground, the road descends to a lower parking lot at the south end of the beach; scrub, riparian, and marsh vegetation lie south of this lot. For a nice loop of about 3.5 miles, walk south from the entrance station, through the campground, and down to the marsh; then double back north along the beach. This is one of the county’s better beaches for birds, but it gets crowded from May to September (fewest people in the morning, when the lighting is also best).
Birds. During most of the year the beach often has one or more big gull flocks, as well as the expected birds of the sandy beach and inner bay. Thayer’s Gull is fairly numerous in winter, and Glaucous Gull is found here annually, and this is a good place to find Whimbrel and Long-billed Curlew. Clark’s Grebe swims beyond the surf with more numerous Westerns year round; White-winged and Black scoters appears here in fall and winter. Parasitic and Pomarine jaegers fly by from August to October, harassing Elegant Terns. Scan for Marbled Murrelet in fall and for other alcids (including Ancient Murrelet) in winter. Resident Snowy Plovers are often on the beach south of the path from the lower beach parking lot. Look for Say’s Phoebe and American Pipit in fall and winter.
During migration, the whole campground area rewards the diligent birder. Bird this site in the morning, before afternoon winds. Fall vagrants have been found here (e.g., Yellow-green Vireo, Blackburnian Warbler, Ovenbird, Tropical Kingbird), but the site seldom gets the thorough coverage it deserves. The campground also hosts resident forest species such as Pygmy Nuthatch, Hairy Woodpecker, and Pine Siskin, and scrub species such as California Thrasher, Wrentit, and White-crowned Sparrow. House Wren is numerous here from late summer through winter. Red Crossbill, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Golden-crowned Kinglet appear some years. The crossbill and nuthatch have nested rarely, and Lawrence’s Goldfinch may nest regularly in small numbers in the cypresses or pines. Pairs of Lawrence’s have recently nested in the cypresses just past the entrance kiosk.
The stretch from the campfire center to South Camp can be especially birdy. Some years the agricultural fields near South Camp are planted with sod and attract both golden-plover species and Horned Lark. The marsh south of the lower beach parking lot has Virginia Rail and Sora, various ducks and herons in winter, and nesting Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, Common Yellowthroat, Marsh Wren, and American Goldfinch. Swallows are often plentiful in spring and summer. The scrub and willows in this area may host vagrant landbirds. Listen for California Thrasher on the slope east of the marsh.