3.4 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Next 5 Birds
- Additional Comments
Alan Hopkins wrote:
>
> Joe Morlan had a swan, or a flock of swans, fly over lake
merced Nov.11
> 1978. Joe submitted it to CBRC as a Trumpter, unfortunatally
it was
> rejected.So do we have swan spp. or Tundra? ' or nothing?
>
I seem to recall Joe discussing this in class
and I believe that the
TRUMPETER SWAN was part of a flock of TUNDRA SWANS. If my
recollection is correct, then TUSW should be on the city list.
3.10 Long-tailed
Ducks, Crissy Field, SF
|
Kevin
McKereghan and I were out birding this morning and we decided
to try to the Oldsquaw that Josiah
Clark had found. Kevin The plumage of LONG-TAILED DUCK is among the
most complicated of any duck and perhaps of any North American
species. Nevertheless, the bird in the front appears to be an
adult male in definitive alternate plumage with the white cap,
gray cheek patch, grey bill with a prominent yellow/orange stripe
between the nail and the nostril, black patch at the rear of
the auriculars and long gray scapulars laying on The fascinating question for me is whether or not this is breeding pair or not. From Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufmann: First breeds at age of 2 years. Courtship display begins by early winter, but most pairs form in early spring. Displays of male include shaking head back and forth, raising long tail high in air, tossing head back with bill pointed up while calling. We did not seed any evidence of courtship behavior. |
had
seen the bird the previous day and was kind enough to revisit
Crissy with me. We parked at the buildings near Fort Point and
walked east towards the Coast Guard Pier. Before we arrived at
the pier, we found a large mixed duck flock, primarily of GREATER
SCAUP and SURF SCOTERS. While scanning through the flock, Kevin
announced that he had the bird and I picked it up shortly thereafter.
It was only after I looked at where he was scoping that I realized
that he was not looking at the same bird that I was. In fact,
we were looking at two different birds!
black
flight feathers. In fact, it lacks only the long tail streamer
(not evident in this picture). The rear duck also appears to
be an adult female in definitive alternate plumage with the black
cap, black patch at the rear of the auriculars, and brownish
scapulars.3.10 Swamp Sparrow,
Lake Merced, SF
|
After gettting my city SWAMP SPARROW earlier
this year with fragmentary looks at the bird at South Lake The upper photo shows the bird perched on a cardboard box, which is in fact an empty box of "Friskies" cat food, visible in the full slide. Envrionmental issues notwithstanding, the bird is almost in full alternate plumage, with just the forecrown not yet molted into alternate plumage. Notice the fairly clean breast, contrasting gray auricular patch suffused with brown, the faint moustachial and malar stripes and the fairly white throat delimited by an almost indistinguishable submoustachial.
I don't fully understand the appearance of the head in the lower photo; either low-angle bright sunlight or ruflled feathers might cause the apparent roughness of the plumage on the head. |
Merced, I was intrigued
about the possiblity of "lingering" looks at one in
the City. .jpg)
The lower picture shows the bright rufous on the based
of primary and secondaries and a prominent gray nape. Neither
scan slows the moderately buffy flanks.3.10 Tropical
Kingbird, South Lake Merced, SF
Below is a description courtesy of
Kevin McKereghan from
January:
"I ran down to Lake Merced today after
Rich Ferrick reported the Kingbird from this morning. Arriving
about 2:20 on the Southwest side of the lake I found it immediatley
flycatching over the willows. After a few minutes it disappeared
into .jpg)
the
Tules, reappearing a few minutes later, looking freshly bathed.
It procedded to perch low in some bare willows and sun it self.
Calvin Lou arrived and got on the bird, I ran my daughter down
to the restroom at the bridge and when I returned the bird was
gone. Calvin saw it fly up a number of times and then disappear
into the tules and willows, never to be seen again. We stayed
around hoping until about 3:30 when the sun was gone off the
south end, and headed out."
"I don't think the bird is a Cassin's. Thge bird's back is noticably green and there is only a faint bit of green across the chest, this was mostly noticable when the bird was wet. Mostly it looked as if the white of the throat went right into the bright yellow of the breast and belly. The wings and tail appeared brownish to me. The bird posed for a while with its wing extended and P10 was noticably shorter than P9, and rounded, which I beleive suggests hatching year. When folded the tail was strongly notched, long and narrow. I agree with Rich that the bill didn't appear large, and I think Brian's estimate on the tape was close, the bill being roughly the legth of the eye and lores combined, I felt that it was perhaps another 1/4-1/2 eye longer. The lores were very dark and the ear patch was present and distinct but not pronounced. The mouth lining was pink, for what that's worth and the crown appeared peaked. "
Unfortunately, I don't think the photo adds anything to the description. The bill looks pretty long in this picture, but it's rather difficult to tell.
3.19 [SFBirds] Palm Warbler, Bonaparte's
Gull
I was thinking of heading out for
the DICKCISSEL this morning, but had
far too much to drink last night to respond to the alarm. :-|
When I
realized how windy it was, though, I headed out in San Francisco
and
had a nice morning.
SURF SCOTERS are moving through in good numbers
despite the northwest
gale. Of course, they can just drop into the ocean when they
get
tired. There were about 200 WILLETS immediately below the observation
platform at Fort Funston, wanting desperately to head north but
daunted by extremely high tides (= no beach) and the stiff wind.
On Ocean Beach, the Grim Reaper was hovering
over two aechmophorous
grebes at the high tide line. The WESTERN GREBE was merely moribund,
and would complain when joggers got too close. The CLARK'S GREBE
was
comatose with a very sad eye just barely open. I had seven SNOWY
PLOVERS between Noriega and Ortega, including one individual
banded
orange over blue on the left leg and green (?) over orange on
the
right leg. They were quite close and I managed good photographs
the
banded individual.
At North Lake Merced, the PALM WARBLER continues
in the pine tree near
the bottom of wooden steps leading west from the Sunset Circle
parking
lot. As David pointed out, the bird has mostly completed it
pre-alternate molt on its head, but I didn't get a long enough
look to
evaluate the rest of its plumage.
At South Lake Merced, there were a large number
of gulls just north of
the concrete bridge. A first winter BONAPARTE'S GULL was sitting
towards the eastern edge of the gull flock, but it moved off
after
being startled by a round from the Police Firing Range.
3.24 - 26
Honey Lake and environs
©2000 Mark W. Eaton
I had Friday off and we headd up to the Lassen County early in the day. We arrrived well before dark and had time to scout the lek on that afternoon. By and large, the directions given in Birding Nothern California by John Kemper and Birding Nothern California by Jean Richmond, though the mileages seem to be a little closer in Jean's book. Here are some additional notes from our trip:
- The left turn off of 395 is almost exactly one mile according to my odometer. It is _very_ hard to see in the dark; I recommend scouting the afternoon before to make sure you find your way. Regardless, you'll need to slow down quite a bit and look very carefully after about 0.8 miles from the tracks. If you go 1.2 miles, you've gone too far; reverse course and try again
- The road is extremely rough and I recommend a high clearance vehicle, preferably with 4WD. However, as you'll see in the attachment, it is possible to navigate this _carefully_ in a passenger vehicle _if_ it has not rained recently. The worst part is getting to the tracks and just beyond; it's better beyond that. If you're unsure, I recommend walking in; allow enough time to walk the 1.25 miles from the road to the cairn.
- Make sure you don't turn left too early at the road right after the tracks; the correct left turn is almost exactly 1/2 mile from the road; don't forget to reset your odometer when you leave 395. It's an obvious dirt road, in better shape than the access from 395, though again it's not real easy to find in the dark.
- There's an obvious rock cairn about 0.75 miles up this road. Park on the side of the road nearer 395 and observe quietly from there. Views are distant, but good if you have a nice clear, cool morning and decent optics.
After satiating ourselves with watching the grouse and the sun rise at the same time, we retired for breakfast and headed out to Honey Lake. We managed to see most of the birds we found after scouting the lek on Friday afternoon, including GREATER WHITE-FRONTED, SNOW, CANADA and ROSS' GEESE. Along Mapes Road., there was a hugh flock of TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS with a few YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS mixed in. At the Daikin Unit, we were treated to distant looks at a pair of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. A BEWICK'S WREN seemed unusual on Cappezoli Road and Stephen Davies managed to find a VESPER SPARROW that we all had nice looks at.
Janesville Grade produced nice looks at typical montane species, including a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. LEWIS' WOODPECKER were easy to find in Janesville proper. Heading out of Lassen on Hwy. 135, Stephen found a GOLDEN EAGLE soaring above the road near the summit and we had a pair of BALD EAGLES at, appropriately, Eagle Lake. Just before returning to Lassen, I spotted to a small flock of small passerines at about 60 MPH. I mentioned that "gee, they looked a lot like MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS" and, sure enough, when we turned around,that's what they were. In fact, there were easily 20-25 there, probably one of the larger flocks I've seen in one location of late. Returning to the Daikin Unit at dusk, we worked hard and finally found a SHORT-EARED OWL, albeit only when we were right on top of it. On the way out, we found a pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS, perhaps contributing to the dearth of SEOWS in the unit.
On Sunday, we headed out to the Bizz Johnson trail and Stephen found a gray-headed FOX SPARROW that we didn't get a good enough look at to identify to species. Katherine managed to find a GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE that was flying across the trail, but unfortunately she didn't get a good enough look to tick this would-be lifer for her. The amazing thing to me was the half dozen or so TOWSEND'S SOLITAIRES that we found along the trail, including one spectacularly cooperative individual posing for us eating berries about twenty feet from us. An AMERICAN DIPPER was calling as it flew down the river, but this bird too was poorly seen.
Another trip to Eagle Lake resulted in nice looks at a PRAIRIE FALCON and TREE SWALLOWS seemed early at this high an altitude. MUSKRATS were plentiful in the lake and a WHITE-FACED IBIS seemed out of place as well.
98 species seen:
Common Loon (15)
Pied-billed Grebe (14)
Horned Grebe (4)
Eared Grebe (4)
Western Grebe (14)
American White Pelican (3)
Great Blue Heron (14)
White-faced Ibis (15)
Greater White-fronted Goose (3)
Snow Goose (3)
Ross's Goose (3)
Canada Goose (3)
Gadwall (4)
American Wigeon (4)
Mallard (3)
Cinnamon Teal (3)
Northern Shoveler (3)
Green-winged Teal (4)
Canvasback (4)
Redhead (4)
Ring-necked Duck (14)
Greater Scaup (11)
Lesser Scaup (15)
Bufflehead (4)
Common Goldeneye (4)
Common Merganser (4)
Ruddy Duck (4)
Bald Eagle (11)
Red-tailed Hawk (3)
Rough-legged Hawk (6)
Golden Eagle (2, 11)
American Kestrel (6)
Prairie Falcon (14)
Greater Sage-Grouse (3)
American Coot (3)
Sandhill Crane (3)
Killdeer (3, 3)
Black-necked Stilt (8)
American Avocet (4)
Long-billed Curlew (3, 3)
Red-necked Phalarope (6)
Ring-billed Gull (6)
California Gull (4)
Mourning Dove (10)
Barn Owl (16)
Great Horned Owl (12)
Short-eared Owl (12)
Belted Kingfisher (4)
Lewis's Woodpecker (10)
Acorn Woodpecker (10)
Red-breasted Sapsucker (9)
Downy Woodpecker (13)
Hairy Woodpecker (13)
Northern Flicker (6)
Steller's Jay (16)
Western Scrub-Jay (9)
Pinyon Jay (11)
Black-billed Magpie (2)
American Crow (13)
Horned Lark (3)
Tree Swallow (14)
Mountain Chickadee (9)
Bushtit (13)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (9)
Brown Creeper (9)
Bewick's Wren (7)
Marsh Wren (3)
American Dipper (13)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (9)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (13)
Western Bluebird (10)
Mountain Bluebird (11)
Townsend's Solitaire (13)
Hermit Thrush (13)
American Robin (9)
European Starling (4)
Cedar Waxwing (11)
Green-tailed Towhee (13)
Spotted Towhee (7)
Vesper Sparrow (8)
Savannah Sparrow (6)
Fox Sparrow (13)
Song Sparrow (7)
White-crowned Sparrow (3)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (13)
Dark-eyed Junco (13)
Red-winged Blackbird (3)
Tricolored Blackbird (5)
Western Meadowlark (3)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (5)
Brewer's Blackbird (3)
Pine Siskin (9)
Lesser Goldfinch (13)
American Goldfinch (13)
Evening Grosbeak (13)
House Sparrow (7)
Accipiter sp. (6)
Dowitcher sp. (8)
Locations:
1) Honey Lake Area
2) Hwy 395 (Mar 24)
3) Fleming Unit (Mar 24)
4) 395 (Mar 25)
5) Mapes Rd. (Mar 25)
6) Daikin Unit (Mar 25)
7) Cappezoli Road (Mar 25)
8) Fleming Unit (Mar 25)
9) Janesville Grade (Mar 25)
10) Janesville (Mar 25)
11) Hwy. 135 (Mar 25)
12) Daikin Unit (Mar 25)
13) Bizz Johnson (Mar 27)
14) Eagle Lake (Mar 27)
15) Muskrat (Mar 27)
16) Sacramento NWR (Mar 27)
3.27 [SFBirds] Lesser Goldfinch at Middle
Lake
The male LESSER GOLDFINCH continues
at Middle Lake. It was calling at the
norhtern end of the lake from a perch in the trees just north
of the path.
I did not see the female or any evidence of nesting behavior.
Otherwise, it
was pretty quiet.
3.30 [SFBirds] Orange-crowned Warbler
This morning I had an ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER singing in my back yard.
While this certainly is not uncommon, I think it's much more
likely that
it's a migrant than a resident that I've overlooked all winter.
This
might suggest that there's a migrant push starting through...
You can contact me via email.