9.4 [SFBirds] Tanagers, tanagers, tanagers
After I left Paul and tangaers dripping
off of Mt. Davidson, I went hit a
few other spots. At Middle Lake, there were a couple of HAIRY
WOODPECKERS
and the BELTED KINGFISHER put in appearance in addition to several
WESTERN
TANAGERS. At North Lake, there was a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER and
several WETA in
the pittisporum/myoporum north of the restrooms. At Bercut,
three or four
WETA flew out of a eucalyptus and I found a lonely looking WARBLING
VIREO
next to the trash bins. Crissy Field had no shorebirds other
than a pair of
peeps and a couple of KILLDEER.
Things really quieted down after 8:30 or so...
9.8 [SFBirds] Wood Duck, mystery empid,
more...
There was a WOOD DUCK at North Lake
today as well as a mystery empid at the East
Wash this morning. I didn't get a good look at it, but the eye
ring looked
prominent and round and the coloration was noticeably different
from the other
Western Flycatchers which were around. Lots of migrants still
moving through,
including little monospecific clumps in the East Wash that looked
like they
pretty much had just landed there together. Middle Lake also
had lots of
migrants.
9.10 Buff-breasted
Sandpiper, Abbott's Lagoon, MRN
This stunning bird was among the tamest
shorebirds I've ever encountered. I was worried about flushing
it, but it proved absolutely fearless. After luxurious full-frame
views in our scopes, we continued around to the south end of
the lagoon without seeing much of interest. On the way back,
however, we were nearly "attacked" by the BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPER as it got nearly close enough for naked eye observation.
9.15 [SFBirds] Fort Funston
Lots of activity, low diversity.
Only a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, a SAY'S
PHOEBE. a couple of WARBLING VIREOS and a WESTERN FLYCATCHER
were of any note at
all, though there were at least three BEWICK'S WRENS there.
And just for Kevin,
lotsa YELLOW WARBLERS. :-)
9.16 [SFBirds] Arctic Tern, Marbled Murrelets,
no eastern vagrants
Today, I too birded the south end
of the Ocean Beach and had pretty much the
same birds as Kevin did. An ARCTIC TERN moved by near where
the SOOTY
SHEARWATERS were coming through and I spotted three MARBLED MURRELETS
(one
in a confusing not-quite-basic plumage) fairly near shore. There
were also
three PACIFIC LOONS also quite near shore. I didn't see any
unusual looking
shearwaters nor any jaegers.
At Fort Funston, I ran into Calvin and saw
almost exactly the same set of
birds as I did yesterday. Nothing of interest at Lake Mercd
either.
9.18 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Sat GGP
Alan Hopkins wrote:
>
> Marbled Murrelet, I could only ID one, considering last
Sunday’s bird it
> might pay to be very cautious.
>
Very good point; I confess I did not consider
this. However, on this bird,
it looked more like the white scapular patch hadn't quite molted
completely
in rather than something closer to a LBMU.
BTW, anyone know how long MAMU juveniles retain
juvenile plumage? Wouldn't
it be possible to have a juvenile MAMU at this time of year?
> Lake Merced:
> As dead as the barn owl across the street from the concrete
bridge.
Dead birds everywhere. Given my infamous
luck finding live owls, it's not
much of a surprise I missed a dead one. :-)
9.19 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Chukar in
SF
myra ulvang wrote:
>
> I just followed a chukar up Seal Rock Drive to Alta Mar
at 4PM Tues. He
> wouldn't eat the bird seed I put down for him. He is afraid
of humans. If
> anyone knows how to help this bird, please do so.
>
This is certainly an escaped captive bird.
He's afraid of humans for good
reason; he doesn't want to be eaten, which is why he was raised
in captivity to
begin with. Apart from a nice photo op, there's not much else
to do.
9.24 [SFBirds] GGAS Field Trip
Today, I led a trip to Chain of Lakes,
Lake Merced and Fort Funston. There
was good migrant activity, but no vagrants. Highlights were
few and far
between, but there were a pair of HERMIT WARBLERS at Middle Lake,
a HUTTON'S
VIREO at North Lake, a pair of FORSTER'S TERNS, a pair of TRICOLORED
BLACKBIRDS and an OLYMPIA BEER CAN at Lake Merced. Skyline Grove
had no
migrants whatsoever, let along vagrants.
This is the first time I've led this trip
and had no vagrants.
9.27 [SFBirds] Canada Warbler continues at North Lake
This morning, I headed out to North Lake to chase Kevin's
(Alan's?) CANADA
WARBLER. I managed to leave Kevin's directions behind, but from
memory more or
less immediately walked up to the bird. The following description
is a
composition of three different sightings, enumerated below:
A warbler-like bird that stood out for it unusual 'tschup' call note,
reminiscent of slightly squeakier Common Yellowthroat. The upperparts were
uniformly grayish tinged slightly blue, though I never got a great dorsal look
at the bird. The breast and belly were yellow all the way down to the vent,
abrubtly changing to white undertail coverts. The undertail feathers were
dark. There was a dark necklace completely around the throat. While the
necklace was not black, it was well-defined and easy to see. There was a
prominent white eye ring and a pale (yellow?) loral stripe leading from the top
front of the eye to the bill, giving the bird a vaguely spectacled appearance.
Once again, I failed to note leg color.
Though I don't have a lot of field experience
with Canada Warbler, the upperpart coloration to me screamed
out Canada Warbler to me. The combination of belly, undertail
coverts and undertail coloration, white eye ring, spectacled
appearance and
necklace unambiguously identify the bird to species.
Aging and sexing the bird is more challenging.
The distinct yet grayish
necklace suggests first fall for age, but I tend to disagree
that the bird is a
female. Dunn & Garrett illustrate a first fall female as
having a indistinct to
non-existent necklace; this appears to be inconcistent with this
bird. However,
I have no significant field experience in this area.
After initially refinding the bird, the bird
moved several tens of yards south
of northern boundary of the golf course on west side of the shrubbery
separating
the golf course from the North Lake area. I then refound the
bird twice in
vegetation not far from each other, once in a medium evergreen
and another time
in low in another evergreen. The bird can feed quite close to
the ground and
may keep the company of other migrants or even residents.
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