August 1999 Field Journal 8.2 [SFBirds] Red-necked Phalarope at Spreckels Lake
Ed Walsh reported a juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPE from Spreckels Lake
yesterday evening.8.23 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Pier 98
Janice Andersen wrote:
> Across the water at the India Basin Shoreline Park, there was a 2nd year Mew
> Gull, which seemed early to me.Early indeed! According to Birds of Northern California, Mew Gull is dashed all the way until at least the last week in September. This, of course, raises the question of whether the bird oversummered. This year was certainly remarkable for BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES oversummering at the coast, but I'm not aware of any similar phenomenon for Mew Gull. FWIW, the SF Big year first fall date is 6 September.
8.24 [SFBirds] Larus canus
>From NGS Second Edition:"Three year gull. Adult has white head, heavily washed with brown in winter; dark gray mantle; primaries tipped with black and white; thin unmarked yellow bill; large dark eye. Second-winter bird is like adult but bill it two-toned; blackish on primaries more extensive; firs primary has large white spot; spotty tail band. [both of which are presumably difficult to impossible to discern on a resting bird]"
>From Grant:
"Second-winter: wings uniform grey, with black tip not confined to primaries, but extending along leading edge of the outer wing, small mirrors, white primary tips tiny or lacking, and much dusky head streaking (July to April)."Also from Grant:
"Four subspecies are generally recognized [...] Marked plumage differences between _canus_ and _brachyrhyncus_ are, in themselves, apparently sufficient to warrant specific status for latter ([...] Mew Gull _L. brachyrhynchus_), but clinal nature of plumage and size differences [...] and the similarities of plumage [...] between _kamtschatschensis_ and _brachyrhyncus_, are strong arguments against any split."
"- _L. c. canus_, breeds northwest Europe, winters within southern part of breeding range and south to southern Europe
- _L. c. heinei_, breeds central Russia and westerns and central Siberia, winters Black Sea, southern Caspian, Iraq and Persian Gulf
- _L. c. kamtschatschensis_, breeds northeast Siberia, winters in coastal eastern Asia
- _L. c. brachyrhynchus_ (Mew Gull), Breeds Alaska and western Canada; winters (mainly on coast) south to California."Gee, we're talking about gulls and it's only August! :-)
8.28 [SFBirds] Bay Side birds
This morning, I decided to see if I could find anything interesting in the city. The heavy fog pretty much ruled out anything ocean side, so after a brief and utterly unremarkable stop at Lake Merced South, I headed bay side.BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were much in evidence at various different spots, with at least five from the Last Port parking lot, a few at Candlestick Recreation Area, at least a dozen at Double Rock and another eleven at Pier 98. FORSTER'S TERNS were plentiful, with easily a dozen an more roosting at Pier 98, another dozen or more at Double Rock and several flying over various spots in between.
Perhaps the best bird(s) of the day were a pair of ELEGANT TERNS at Pier 98 which I scoped from the India Basin parking lot. This is certainly a bay side first for me. A close second was the GREEN HERON flyby at Double Rock, also probably a bay side first for me. Pier 98 had lots of "nice to see" birds including 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, a LONG-BILLED CURLEW and an AMERICAN KESTREL. India Basin also had a BELTED KINGFISHER.
It's great to see the diversity go up at Pier 98, but some of the ponds are going to be harder to bird due to the newly-implemented access restrictions to certain parts of the wetland. In particular, the peeps which tend to hang out on the south side of the Pier will be very hard to impossible to find. Also, if you show your binoculars at Candlestick Recreation Area on game day, you can beat the $10 parking fee.
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