In the world of birding, a “big year” is when you set out to see as many distinct bird species as possible within a single year. The Big Year competition in San Diego County — often called the “birdiest county in America” — is intense. San Diego is the major leagues of birding.
I met one of this year’s top finishers in February, when I attended a birding field trip at the San Diego Bird Festival, which we documented in The Finest podcast. We saw more than 100 species of birds in a single day. My guide, Rick Grove, a semi-retired former superintendent, was such a master at identifying birds by sight and sound that I found it hard to imagine anyone topping him in the standings this year.
But when I met back up with Grove in mid-December, he was in third place, nearly 20 birds behind Paul Lehman, one of the most respected and well-known birders in the country. You might call him the Tony Gwynn of birding in San Diego.
For years, Lehman studied and taught geography at UC Santa Barbara, but his life has long revolved around birds. He was the editor of Birding magazine and used his geography background to create range maps for birds throughout North America, and led many birdwatching tours.
“Birding was a passion, a hobby, a life, but also it was a profession,” Lehman said.
It’s no surprise, then, that Lehman was in first place in the 2025 Big Year standings.
“Paul is the guy who finds half the birds — maybe more than half the birds — the rest of us chase,” Grove said.
All of these top birders go out nearly every morning, usually before sunrise. They charter boats to explore the ocean, drive to remote corners of the county and climb mountains — all to spot rare birds. There's no prize for winning — just the memories, bragging rights and the satisfaction of finding something truly elusive.
“It's a competition, but it's a competition with yourself more than really anybody else,” Lehman said.
Even though they’re vying for first place or a county record, the competition is far from cutthroat — nothing like the one depicted in the 2011 Owen Wilson and Steve Martin film, “The Big Year.” They take trips together and always share intel on bird locations.
“This community is amazing in that everybody helps everybody, and everybody wants everyone to see every bird,” said David Trissel, another local birder, just one bird behind Grove in the standings this year.
In fact, this cooperative nature of the birding community, Grove said, is why “the leading birder every year is from San Diego County.” While Los Angeles County claims to be home to a higher number of bird species, birders here in San Diego County see a greater percentage of the birds that pass through the area. For example, Lehman has seen more than 96% of the total species spotted in the county this year. Working as a team, these local birders can be sure to see nearly every bird possible. They're constantly on call, like firefighters, ready to spring into action when word of a rare bird comes in.
“This morning was a good example of that,” Grove said. “Paul put out the word about a Thick-billed Longspur out at Brown Field out in Otay. I was already on the road heading down this way. When I got the word, I turned around and went that way.”
In February, everyone came together for one spectacular bird — the undisputed highlight of this year in birding. A Lesser Frigatebird was spotted off the coast near Del Mar.
“It's only the fourth or fifth time it's ever been seen anywhere in North America,” Lehman said.
Birders tracked it as it made its way down toward Point Loma before leaving the county, and Trissel said crowds of dozens of people assembled to catch a glimpse.
It was such a spectacle because that Lesser Frigatebird was thousands of miles from its natural habitat in the Southern Hemisphere. One of the most exciting phenomena in birding is the scientific mystery of "vagrants" — birds that migrate to the "wrong" place.
“We don't really know why the birds show up here. We don't know if their compass is off,” Trissel explained. “We don't know if these are like the pioneers of that species that decided to go west.”
Fascinating birds surround us almost anywhere in San Diego. Trissel, Grove and Lehman couldn't help but sneak in some birding during our interview. We were at Robb Field in Ocean Beach, and they pointed out a Willet, which calls its name in flight. There was also the Black-bellied Plover, which flies from here all the way to the Arctic Circle.
Since the pandemic, birding has become more popular, more accessible and more diverse. You don’t need to be an elite birder at the top of the list to marvel at our feathered neighbors. For me, last year's San Diego Bird Festival was slightly life-changing. It deepened my appreciation for the mind-blowing nature in our own backyard.
That festival is coming up again in February, and you'll have the chance to bird with champions like Grove or Trissel. But all you really need to get started is a walk outside — and the free birding app Merlin helps too.
“Just look at birds. It doesn't take any equipment, it doesn't take a mentor,” Grove said. “The three of us, we look like what you might consider birders to look like. We're old, retired white men … and I think it's really important to point out that birding is for everybody.”
