January 2000 Field Journal 1.8 [SFBirds]Loggerhead Shrike, Tricolored Blackbird at the Buffalo Paddock
<Finally, something to report>The LOSH was remarkably cooperative this morning at the Buffalo
Paddock. It perched on the fence of paddock nearest the road and just
east of the sign in front of the paddock. I managed to get quite
close for photos and it just sat there and watched me, even as I
walked away. It caught an earthworm and chowed down on it.The blackbird flock contained at least one and possibly as many as
five Tricolored Blackbirds. Additionally, there was an unusal female BREWER'S
BLACKBIRD with almost all its rectrices snow white.1.9 [CVBirds] McCown's Longspur, "Longspur Corner, a.k.a. the junction of roads 16 and 90B
ERPfromCA@aol.com wrote:
>
> This morning Cliff Hawley and I visited Longspur corner again (Roads 16 and
> 90B in Yolo County) with a short side trip to pick up the nearby Mountain
> Plovers. The fog was intermittent but mostly bad at both spots. We did have
> Chestnut-collared Longspurs at the corner, but for the most part they were
> coming in singles rather than flocks. There is one male which is (still?,
> already?) showing a lot of black on the breast and flanks. One Merlin zipped
> through the fog scattering Horned Larks and Pipits in his wake.
>Eric Preston and I and a few other birders had better luck later this morning.
Eric and I showed up at 8:45 or so and it was so foggy we missed the turnoff off
of 505. Using this as an omen, we retired to the nearest coffee shop and ate a
hearty breakfast. After more diddling around, we returned around 10:00 or so
when the fog had lifted leaving only high overcast and excellent light.We had no MERL, but at least twenty and probably quite a few more CCLO in the
field, most easily found by waiting for a flock to fly in and hearing the
longspurs call in flight. I did manage to locate one very cooperative McCOWN'S
LONGSPUR just west of the feeding trough which stayed on the ground long enough
for most of the assembled birders to get on for nice looks. At one point, both
the MCLO and a CCLO were side-by-side and fully in profile, allowing a nice
study of the structural differences between the two. During that period, I
became aware of another longspur immediately behind the MCLO which I believe to
be another MCLO. Unfortunately, it was considerably less cooperative and left
shortly after I located it.Ed raises an interesting point in that there are (more than) a few longspurs
that come and go as individuals with the hordes of pipits and larks, but there
is a flock of dominantly (entirely?) longspurs that alternates between the area
in the vicinity of the trough and the grassy area quite a bit east of the
trough. Obviously, this is the flock to look for. :-)> There were at least four, and possibly five Rough-legged Hawks in the fields
> on either side of Rd 16 just west of I-505 and one Ferruginous Hawk along 16
> west of Rd 87. We did not find the Mountain Plovers on Rd 88 north of 16,
> but did find seven in the dirt field south of 16 just west of Rd 87. We also
> flushed a Short-eared Owl off a fresh kill along Rd 88. It perched right in
> front of us before circling back to resume breakfast.
>We decided not to try for the longspur triple and headed west on road 16. At
the junction of road 16 and road 87, we had roughly 20 MOPL, probably much
easier to see at that time of day. Also, we traded the SEOW for another RLHA
for a total of six on our day.1.15 [SFBirds] Swamp Sparrow
The SWAMP SPARROW put in a brief appearance in the berry brambles just
off of the southwest corner of the concrete bridge at South Lake
Merced. Lotsa of gulls around including at least one (real :-)
THAYER'S GULL. Four CINNAMON TEAL were south of the concrete bridge.Little of interest at Fort Funston other than a PACIFIC LOON, a
HERRING GULL and all three scoter species, including at least nine
BLACK SCOTERS.1.16 [SFBirds] Gull sp. at Lake Merced today
Today, Hugh Cotter and I had the following puzzling gull east of the
concrete bridge at Lake Merced. Of lesser note, the "grassy knoll"
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL was in the flock west of the concrete bridge.
Even with the bicolored bill, it is an otherwise unremarkable GWGU.
Description of the problematic bird follows:A gull larger than a California Gull and noticeable less bulky than a
GWGU. At one point, the bird was in the same scope field with an
obvious first-year GWGU and the size difference was readily evident.
The primaries were snow white for all of the visible portion on the
resting bird (do I have your attention yet? :-) and the primaries did
extend noticeably beyond the tail. The tertials were one shade of
brown short of pure white with a prominent snow-white border along all
visible tertials. The secondaries were largely white with infrequent
brown blotches spread over the visible area. However, the secondaries
were not "speckled" in the traditional sense as one might expect in
any typical pale first year gull.I did not get a good look at the tail, but the undertail coverts were
speckled brown, unlike almost any other part of this bills plumage.
The head was very pale with noticeable streaking around the dark eye.
The bill was entirely dark with a noticeable gonydeal angle. The bill
was noticeably larger than that of a CAGU but not quite as massive as
GWGU. The forehead was steeper than on a GWGU, giving it a less
massive appearance. I attempted photos which will be of dubious
quality.<Whoo boy, here we go again> The all dark bill strongly suggest first
winter plumage. The bird is obviously too big for Mew Gull,
Ring-billed Gull and California Gull and too small for Glaucous Gull
and, IMHO, GWGU as well. No normal plumage of Western Gull or Herring
Gull approaches the paleness of this bird. In fact, the only normal
sized bird in normal first winter plumage that approaches this bird is
Iceland Gull.<Sigh> However, there are problems with this bird. First of all, even
the palest ICGU show speckling on the tertials and wing coverts. The
tertials on this bird had no speckling whatsoever and the the
blotching on the wing coverts is quite unlike that of a pale ICGU.
Second, the bill did show a noticeable gonydeal angle, though after
reviewing Grant, it might be within the range of a large, heavy-billed
ICGU. If it is an ICGU, it's in a plumage that's problematic at best,
which makes it a problematic bird to begin with.More likely, though, the bird is a (very?) leucistic gull of some more
common species. A leucistic HERRING GULL _l. argeantus_, might have
the right head patter and bill heft. However, the tertials on a HEGU
tend to show quite a bit of detail at the tips, which appears to be at
variance with the "dark" web, light tip pattern for the tertials for
this bird. However, leucistic WEGU might have a tertial pattern
that's closer to that of this bird, though the heft of this bird
didn't seem sufficient for a WEGU. Also, I guess it's a little hard
for me to believe that leucistic WEGU could be this pale. Another
possibility is leucistic GWGU, but how does one explain the size
differential between the non-leucistic birds and this bird?1.16 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Gull sp. at Lake Merced today
Actually, I may have figure this one out. If you refer to Harrison's Seabirds
(the non-picture book) as suggested by Harry Fuller, the bird at Lake Merced
bears a striking resemblance to the bird depicted in 214a. Leucistic HERRING
GULL suddenly sounds all too plausible.1.19 [SFBirds] Subject: Re: [SFBirds] day late -- $ short
Dan Murphy wrote:
> I know the observer and the chances are this is a
> good observation.With apologies to the observer if s/he is on this list, but if the observer is experienced, s/he should have been aware that this NOGO would be an extraordinary record for SF and should be properly reported (to the BirdBox) as well as this list if s/he subscribes. Regardless, the bird should be written up for the city coordinator and, no doubt, the regional coordinators.
While I'm being a curmudgeon, there's been private discussion on the (lack of) reporting to the BirdBox. While I personally wouldn't call in a Steller's Jay even though it's locally rare, species which are rare even outside San Francisco definitely should be reported to the BirdBox. Birds that should be reported include Glacous Gull and Swamp Sparrow, while larus sp. or Leucistic Herring Gull shouldn't :-). Maybe after Hugh's satisfied with a city distribution list, we can all use that as a reference. In the meantime, if you think it's rare, ask one of the "scions" of SF Birding or simply report it. It's better to have too many reports than too few and you can always qualify your report with "of local interest", which allows you to report anything in San Francisco short of a Brewer's Blackbird. :-)
1.22 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Birds today 01/22/00
Htcotter@aol.com wrote:
>
> As usual missed the Tropical Kingbird, I am begining to think this bird is
a
> figment of everyone elses imaginations :-)As you no doubt know, the bird was seen later in the day. It was still around just after 2:00 when I hopped out and scoped it for a few minutes. Of course this is easier in retrospect, but the bill looked fairly large, maybe more so in width than in length. It then spiraled up and flew off due east over the large pines just north of the housing complex visible from the junction of John Muir and Lake Merced.
1.27 - 31 South Texas
27 January
It's pretty windy at Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary when Steve, Brenda and I show up. The palms mitigate the wind somewhat, but birding the top of the palms is not possible. Most of the expected specialties are around included GOLDEN-FRONTED and LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, WHITE-TIPPED DOVE, BLUE-WINGED TEAL and COMMON MOORHEN along with the ubiquitous GREEN JAYS. A walk through the back part of the yields nice looks at a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER and a BLUE-HEADED VIREO. A shuffling noise in some dry leaves and underbrush provides a few OLIVE SPARROWS. LEAST GREBES are plentiful at the resaca.At the Brownsville dump, the wind is a gale that makes poring through the blizzard of gulls even more taxing. BLACK VULTURES and CHIHUAHAN RAVENS are everywhere, showing plenty of white on the throat in the wind. However, we're looking for something more elusive. After braving the gale for far too long, we finally notice a distant corvid that's roughly the same size as a GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. After poring through too many CHRA and coming up short, this corvid shows a square tail in flight, a relatively delicate bill and size much smaller than the nearby CHRA. Finally, we can tick TAMAULIPAS CROW. Back at the gull, Steve finds a first winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.
A MERLIN is a surprise fly-by as we leave Brownsville. Along Old Port Isabella Road, HARRIS' HAWKS are easy to see as they will be for most of the trip. A BLACK-THROATED SPARROW is singing along FM510 and a ROSEATE SPOONBILL provides a nice look as we drive by the pond.
The entrance road to Laguna Atascosa is as birdy as I remember. A WHITE-TAILED HAWK flies over and a CRESTED CARACARA is also present. The photo blind provides numerous opportunities for excellent photos including NORTHERN BOBWHITE. The walk behind the visitor center provides an absurdly cooperative LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER. After visiting many places around the auto tour route, we finally happened upon a pair of APLOMADO FALCONS, resting on fence posts not too far from the fork in the auto route road.
At the Convention Center on South Padre Island, SORAS are easy to see and finally a CLAPPER RAIL saunters out of the reeds. While we're waiting for rails, the SWAMP SPARROWS put on a nice show for us. A SANDWICH TERN flies by in, making little headway in the still-raging gale. On the drive back to the hotel at dusk, a COMMON PAURAQUE flies up from roadside.
28 January
It's before light when we arrive at Bensten Rio Grande State Park and COPA are easy to find sitting on the entrance road with their eyes gleaming red in our headlights. While it's still quite blustery, the splendid undisturbed habitat in the park keeps it tolerable. A PLAIN CHACHALACA is visible beore dawn in a nearby tree. We arrive well before 8:00 at the Rio Grande Nature Trail and embark on it. Birding is slow in the wind, but we do pick up YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER along the way. Back at the car, we find out that the HOOK-BILLED KITES have been see earlier near the trail entrance. However, the birds moved shortly down the road. We drive shortly down the road and uncautiosly stroll into the brush. Someone locates a raptor which does manage to perch for us. We scramble for a better look and find a male HBKI. Another raptor is in the vicinity and we get good looks at a female HBKI, it's chestnut collar showing clearly even in the gloom of the overcast. Inbetween, we get a glimpse at yet another raptor, which isn't our hoped-for HBKI, but rather a GRAY HAWK.However, in our excitement chasing the raptors, we discover that we no longer can locate either the car or the road. After litterally beating around the bush for fifteen or twenty minutes, Brenda shows the right stuff and organizes us into a search party to find the road. We do find the road, but of course take the maximally indirect path back to the car. Another lesson (re)learned the hard way!
Other birding in the park nets us a nice look at a LONG-BILLED THRASHER and GREAT KISKADEES are plentiful. At the feeders in Bensten, their are plenty of INDIGO BUNTINGS, but BLUE BUNTING had not been seen in sometime. We do get nice looks at ALTAMIRA ORIOLE and a NASHVILLE WARBLER strolls through the feeder complex.
At Anzadulas County Park, Steve finds us an ANHINGA and a VERMILLION FLYCATCHER looks resplendent even in the gloom. The gleaner flock produces, a warbler we struggle with for a bit but finally identify as a PINE WARBLER, a bird with which I don't have a lot of field experience. EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and CHIPPING SPARROWS are plentiful on the ground.
On to Santa Ana where we get nice looks at a GREEN KINGFISHER which magically appears when I play a tape of YELLOW RAIL. A LINCOLN'S SPARROW is at the photo blind. On the resaca loop, we hear a bird singing that we haven't heard before on the trip. Seeing the bird is quite impossible, but we listen to tapes back at the car and realize it was a GROOVE-BILLED ANI.
We head to McAllen to try to find some parakeets or parrots as they come to roost. We head up near one of the reported roosts, but before we get there, I notice a large flock of birds sitting on power lines not far from the reported roost. Even in the heavy gloom, I can tell that they're green, so we pull into the parking lot and savor 200+ GREEN PARAKEETS. Shortly after we pull in, Eric Preston and his entourage pull in behind us. Both cars decide to head for the parrot roost. We get close and I notice a distant flock of relatively large birds. They're also green, so I roll down the window and the RED-CROWNED PARROT flock can be clearly heard. A rather amusing race ensues with both cars trying to chase the in-flight parrot flock to where they're going to roost. Our car decides to head to the reported roost and wait. Sure enough, they circle and land in the trees right in front of us, nearly deafening us before they settle down. In the roosting flock, we spot two YELLOW-CROWNED PARROTS; what is the status of these birds in Texas?
29 January
In Salineño, we pick up VESPER SPARROW on the outskirts of town. COUCH'S KINBIRD is easy to find at the Water Tanks as is CACTUS WREN. At the river, we find an AUDUBON'S ORIOLE first in Mexico, then another on the U.S. side of the river. At the DeWind's feeders, we get nice looks at several specialities which we've already seen until a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK comes crashing through the feeder area.On the drive out of town, we nab PYRRHULOXIA and SAY'S PHOEBE near the dump. Close to Chapeño, we find a remarkable sparrow flock with BLACK-THROATED, WHITE-CROWNED, VESPER, CLAY-COLORED, CHIPPING SPARROWS and a LARK BUNTING. We spent most of the rest of the day searching in vain for WHITE-THROATED SEEDEATERS but manage only a WILSON'S WARLBER behind the Zapata library. We return to Salineño only to discover that we had missed RED-BILLED PIGEON and BROWN JAY, the latter by only five minutes. Oh well; something to get next trip!
30 January
In Weslaco, we find little of interest other than a BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD which is somehow active despite the frigid temperatures and the gloom. In Progresso, we pick up AMERICAN AVOCET and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. Another foray back to Anzadulas nets us nice looks at an EASTERN SCREECH-OWL.I joined Eric's car at noon due to a change in plans, and we headed up to El Canelo ranch to go for the FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL. In our ignorance, we did not make an advance reservation and our plea went for naught when we arrived and asked to look for the owl. Pockets richer, but one tick poorer, we nonetheless had WHITE-FACED IBIS, FIELD SPARROW and CRESTED CARACARA on the road to the ranch. Our spirits improve on a late afternoon journey to Laguna Atascosa where we have thousands of SANDHILL CRANES coming in to roost. A flyby GULL-BILLED TERN is a nice pickup.
31 January
Another trip back to Sabal Palm Grove nets us neither the hoped-for TROPICAL PARULA nor a BLUE BUNTING (there were no seed feeders up when we were there), but we did get nice looks at a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER and an OVENBIRD, the latter of which was in the feeder area. Cruising through Brownsville, we picked up both WHISTLING DUCKS and a nice look at an ANHINGA.Postscript
After dropping me at the airport, Eric and friends did manage to get the FPOW the next morning. Also, the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN showed up shortly after I left, and they managed to get it the next morning as well. That'll teach me to go home!138 species seen:
Least Grebe (1)
American White Pelican (6)
Brown Pelican (6)
Neotropic Cormorant (13)
Double-crested Cormorant (6)
Anhinga (10)
Great Blue Heron (1)
Snowy Egret (7)
Little Blue Heron (1)
Tricolored Heron (5)
Reddish Egret (6)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (16)
White Ibis (6)
White-faced Ibis (19)
Roseate Spoonbill (5)
Black Vulture (2)
Turkey Vulture (1)
Fulvous Whistling-Duck (22)
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (22)
Greater White-fronted Goose (20)
Snow Goose (20)
Gadwall (1)
American Wigeon (5)
Mottled Duck (7)
Blue-winged Teal (1)
Cinnamon Teal (1)
Northern Shoveler (1)
Green-winged Teal (11)
Bufflehead (13)
Red-breasted Merganser (6)
Ruddy Duck (1)
Osprey (6)
Hook-billed Kite (9)
White-tailed Kite (2)
Northern Harrier (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (13)
Gray Hawk (9)
Harris's Hawk (4)
Red-shouldered Hawk (11)
White-tailed Hawk (6)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Crested Caracara (6)
Merlin (3, 6)
Aplomado Falcon (6)
Plain Chachalaca (9)
Clapper Rail (7)
Sora (7)
Common Moorhen (1)
American Coot (1)
Sandhill Crane (20)
Black-bellied Plover (6)
Snowy Plover (20)
Killdeer (10)
Black-necked Stilt (11)
American Avocet (16)
Greater Yellowlegs (6)
Long-billed Curlew (4)
Ruddy Turnstone (20)
Least Sandpiper (18)
Laughing Gull (2)
Ring-billed Gull (2)
Herring Gull (2)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (2)
Gull-billed Tern (20)
Caspian Tern (6)
Royal Tern (6)
Sandwich Tern (7)
Forster's Tern (6)
Rock Dove (1)
White-winged Dove (9)
Mourning Dove (10)
Inca Dove (10)
Common Ground-Dove (13)
White-tipped Dove (1)
Green Parakeet (12)
Red-crowned Parrot (12)
Groove-billed Ani (11)
Eastern Screech-Owl (17)
Common Pauraque (8)
Buff-bellied Hummingbird (15)
Ringed Kingfisher (10)
Green Kingfisher (11)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (1)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (9)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (1, 6)
Eastern Phoebe (1)
Say's Phoebe (13)
Vermilion Flycatcher (10)
Great Kiskadee (9)
Couch's Kingbird (13)
White-eyed Vireo (6)
Blue-headed Vireo (1)
Green Jay (1)
Tamaulipas Crow (2)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (13)
Tufted Titmouse (1)
Cactus Wren (13)
Bewick's Wren (13)
House Wren (1)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1)
Eastern Bluebird (10)
Hermit Thrush (1)
Long-billed Thrasher (9)
American Pipit (18)
Orange-crowned Warbler (6)
Nashville Warbler (9)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (9)
Black-throated Green Warbler (1)
Yellow-throated Warbler (21)
Pine Warbler (10)
Black-and-white Warbler (6)
Ovenbird (21)
Common Yellowthroat (7)
Wilson's Warbler (14)
Olive Sparrow (1)
Chipping Sparrow (10)
Clay-colored Sparrow (13)
Field Sparrow (19)
Vesper Sparrow (13)
Black-throated Sparrow (5)
Lark Bunting (13)
Lincoln's Sparrow (11)
Swamp Sparrow (7)
White-throated Sparrow (6)
White-crowned Sparrow (13)
Northern Cardinal (1)
Pyrrhuloxia (13)
Indigo Bunting (9)
Red-winged Blackbird (1)
Common Grackle (15)
Great-tailed Grackle (1)
Bronzed Cowbird (9)
Brown-headed Cowbird (18)
Altamira Oriole (9)
Audubon's Oriole (13)
American Goldfinch (9)
House Sparrow (1)Locations:
1) Sabal Palm Grove (Jan 27)
2) Brownsville Dump (Jan 27)
3) Brownsville (Jan 27)
4) Old Port Isabella Road (Jan 27)
5) FM 510 (Jan 27)
6) Laguna Atascosa (Jan 27)
7) South Padre Island (Jan 27)
8) TX 100 (Jan 27)
9) Bentsen (Jan 28)
10) Anzaldulas (Jan 28)
11) Santa Ana (Jan 28)
12) McAllen (Jan 28)
13) Salineno (Jan 29)
14) Zapata (Jan 29)
15) Weslaco (Jan 30)
16) Progresso (Jan 30)
17) Anzudulas (Jan 30)
18) McAllen Sewage Ponds (Jan 30)
19) El Canelo Ranch (Jan 30)
20) Laguna Atascosa (Jan 30)
21) Sabal Palm (Jan 31)
22) Brownsville (Jan 31)Home
You can contact me via email.
