11.2 [CVBirds] [Calbirds] Demoiselle Crane
continues
The DEMOISELLE CRANE flew into roost
around 4:30 this afternoon to the field
on the east (dry) side of Staten Island Road just north of the
first trees
south of the end of the pavement. This is roughly half way between
the end
of the pavement and the metal barn. Tomorrow morning first thing
might be a
good bet. And yes, it definitely had a wild look in its eye.
11.5 Red
Phalarope at Crissy Field (Second hand)
Rick Liebador (sp?) reported a RED
PHALAROPE from the lagoon on Saturday on
the BirdBox.
|
Steve Gerstle and I spent several days birding
Washington State and had some nice birds. On the On the 8th at Stanwood, we had a PEREGRINE FALCON, though raptors in general seemed to be in short supply. A HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK was a nice find at Pink House 90 on the Samish Flats. Our trip across the Cascades was fairly unremarkable other than a flat tire resulting from fallen rocks along the way. On the 9th, we headed up to Highland Snow Park where we heard an unfamiliar owl call. Upon reviewing the tapes, we realized it was a GREAT GRAY OWL. Unfortunately, the bird was not chaseable as it was on private property. Near Havallah, an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE was a nice find. Along Toats-Coulee Road, a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL responded to my imitation and a chickadee flock contained mostly MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES and possibly one or more Boreal Chickadees. GRAY JAYS eating out of our hands were an amusing side light.  On the 10th, we had a nice day of birding
in boreal forests. Along the road near Loup Loup, a bird We then headed up the forest service road towards Conconully. After ice forced us to turn back, we flushed a grouse at the edge of the road. We got decent looks at a single grouse at the edge of the road which I assumed was a Blue Grouse which eventually flushed. A woodpecker was also in the area, probably not farther than twenty feet from the road, but could not be located in the remarkably dense boreal forest. While we were waiting for the woodpecker not to appear, not one but two grouse reappeared in the tops of the trees at the edge of the road. At this point, they seemed utterly unconcerned with our presence, voraciously consuming buds. Steve retrieved the guide and we confirmed the identity of two SPRUCE GROUSE while I managed to set up my camera for frame-filling photos. On the 11th, we had a drake EURASIAN WIGEON and a flock of 62 BARROW'S GOLDENEYES at the Everett Marina. 119 species seen: Locations: |
7th , we had a
locally-uncommon WHITE-TAILED KITE along the Brady Loop. Graveyard
Spit had a nice count of 36 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS and Bay City
had 3 GREAT EGRETS. On the 8th, we had a very late WESTERN TANAGER
at the end of Eide Road..jpg)
flew over the car
which I thought initially was a woodpecker from its undulating
flight. When we got out of the car, it was clearly a finch with
a crossed bill and white wing bars, which we judged to be a first
fall male WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. At the campground at Loup Loup,
we flushed an owl at the edge of a small meadow. While we never
got a ventral view of the bird, the large size, huge head, barring
on the tail and the mottling on the back identify the bird as
a GREAT GRAY OWL.11.15 [SFBirds] GGRO Sighting at Hawk Hill
today on BirdBox
...possible adult white-morph Harlan's
Hawk.
11.15 [SFBirds] Subject: Another second
hand sighting...
...Ron Thorne reported a COMMON POORWILL
"from San Francisco" was brought in
to a rehab center on the peninsula. Details on the BirdBox.
11.15 [SFBirds] Historical records of Wrentit
"Ten years ago Ray listed the
[Wrentit] as a resident of [San Francisco],
and there is one record of its nesting (Oologist, IX, no. 8 p.
93). It is
almost certain that there are none here now."
Hansen and Squires, The Condor, Vol. XIX, Mar. 1917.
11.15 [SFBirds] Subject: Swamp Sparrow
continues
The SWAMP SPARROW continues at the
cesspool at the southwest corner of the
second parking lot past the Harding Park Boat House. Vehicles
entering or
leaving the parking lot do affect whether the bird is visible
or not. Other
sightings of possible interest:
36 Least Sandpiper at Crissy Lagoon (Nov 17)
24 Killdeer at Crissy Lagoon (Nov 17)
25 Cedar Waxwing at Mountain Lake (Nov 17)
2 White-throated Sparrow (tan morph) at Mountain Lake (Nov 17)
Winter Wren (singing) at Merrie Way (Nov 17)
6 Snowy Plover at Ocean Beach (Pacheco) (Nov 17)
68 species seen:
Red-throated Loon (4)
Western Grebe (1, 4)
Clark's Grebe (4)
Brown Pelican (1, 5, 6)
Brandt's Cormorant (4)
Double-crested Cormorant (1, 4, 5, 7)
Great Blue Heron (1)
Great Egret (1)
Snowy Egret (1)
Ruddy Duck (7)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (3)
Red-shouldered Hawk (1, 7)
American Coot (3, 7)
Snowy Plover (6)
Killdeer (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (1)
Willet (1, 6)
Sanderling (6)
Least Sandpiper (1)
Heermann's Gull (2, 4, 5, 6)
Mew Gull (1, 4)
Ring-billed Gull (1, 3)
California Gull (1)
Western Gull (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Glaucous-winged Gull (1, 3, 5, 7)
Glaucous-winged x Western Gull (4, 7)
Elegant Tern (2)
Anna's Hummingbird (1, 3, 5, 7)
Belted Kingfisher (7)
Downy Woodpecker (3, 7)
Northern Flicker (7)
Black Phoebe (3, 4, 7)
Steller's Jay (3)
Western Scrub-Jay (5)
American Crow (1, 2)
Common Raven (5, 6)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (3, 5, 7)
Bushtit (7)
Pygmy Nuthatch (3, 7)
Brown Creeper (3, 7)
Winter Wren (4, 5)
Marsh Wren (7)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (5)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3, 5)
Hermit Thrush (3, 5)
American Robin (2)
Northern Mockingbird (3)
European Starling (1)
Cedar Waxwing (3)
Orange-crowned Warbler (7)
Yellow Warbler (7)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1, 5, 7)
Townsend's Warbler (3, 5, 7)
Common Yellowthroat (7)
California Towhee (3, 5)
Savannah Sparrow (1)
Fox Sparrow (3, 5, 5, 7)
Song Sparrow (5, 7)
Lincoln's Sparrow (7)
Swamp Sparrow (7)
White-throated Sparrow (3)
White-crowned Sparrow (1, 5)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (1, 5)
Dark-eyed Junco (3, 5)
Brewer's Blackbird (1, 5)
House Finch (2, 3, 4)
American Goldfinch (7)
Dead Harbor Seal (6)
Locations:
1) Crissy Lagoon (Nov 17)
2) Coast Guard Pier (Nov 17)
3) Mountain Lake (Nov 17)
4) Land's End (Nov 17)
5) Merrie Way (Nov 17)
6) Ocean Beach (Pacheco) (Nov 17)
11.17 Re: [SFBirds] Swamp Sparrow continues
"Mark W. Eaton" wrote:
>
> Yellow Warbler (7)
BTW, someone should check this out. This bird
was very brightly colored, so
much so that I'm beginning to doubt my (brief) observation. Frankly,
the
coloration was probably closer to what one would expect for a
Prothonotary
Warbler than a late fall Yellow Warbler. It was in the alibizzia
on the
south side of the entrance road to Harding Park.
11.19 [EBB] A few sightings of interest
(?)
Yesterday, my wife and I visited the
Arboretum in Tilden Park. While
enjoying the California native flora there, I had 15 BAND-TAILED
PIGEONS
roosting in some conifers and another flock of ~60 flying overhead.
Perhaps more interesting were the 4 Swift sp. high above in the
waning light.
While the birds did look square-tailed, the date almost certainly
identifies
them as WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS.
11.24 [SFBirds] Lark Sparrow at Concrete
Bridge
Early this afternoon, I had a LARK
SPARROW at the west end of the Concrete
Bridge. The bird was loosely associating with the Zonotrichia
flock that
was feeding with blackbirds and pigeons on the seed someone left
near the
bathrooms. Also, there was a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER northeast
of the
Concrete Bridge. Nothing unusual offshore nor unusual gulls on
Lake Merced
that I could find.
11.25 Subject: Swift sp. in the East Bay
I think [he] is incorrect. I believe
any chaetura after October is more
likely a Vaux's. Vaux's have wintered in southern California
in small
numbers and I believe along the Gulf Coast as well. As far as
I know
Chimney's have never been recorded wintering in North America.
Monterey has
a few records from November, December, January. Of course, a
November
sighting doesn't exactly translate into a winter sighting. In
any event, I
agree your swifts were most likely White-thoateds, despite the
square-tailed
look, but a closer look in better light would have been nice.
11.26 [NBB] American Robin migration in
Marin Headlands
Robin Migration Enthusiasts:
Just a quick report of the continued American
Robin migration at the Marin
Headlands just north ofthe Golden Gate Bridge:
Friday, November 23: 7-11:30 am
Sunday: November 25: 7-10:30 am (different observation point
that did not have trees so finch numbers were lower than the
usual observation spot)
American Robin 7588* 2336
Varied Thrush 135-387** 259 (10% of all observed thrushes)
Band-tailed Pigeon 1750 756
Yellow-rumped Warbler 166 10
Purple Finch 131 45
Cedar Waxwing 449 120
American Pipit 5
House Finch 31 5
Lesser Goldfinch 13 10
Pine Siskin 13
Starling 168 160
* over 3300 between 7-8 on 11/23
** probably 5% of all thrushes
It appeared that most thrushes and pigeons
were not migrating over the
Golden Gate Bridge but heading east towards Contra Costa and
Alameda
Counties.
Totals for four days of observation in November (Nov 3, 4, 23, and 25):
American Robin 16748
Varied Thrush ~3972
Cedar Waxwing 2294
Band-tailed Pigeon 4381
Good birding to you......
Jim Danzenbaker
11.26 [SFBirds] Today's birds
I spent a couple of hours at Stowe
Lake and Strybing and didn't find
anything of real interest. There were a pair of 2nd winter GLACOUS-WINGED
GULLS, including one with a bicolored bill and fairly pale primaries.
Several first winter GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS seemed already to
be quite pale.
The (other) TROPICAL KINGBIRD continues at the Buffalo Paddock
along the
north side, almost half way between the east and west edges of
the paddock.
11.26 [SFBirds] Late duck arrivals?
I found this tidbit of mine when scavenging
some old SFBirds postings.
12.9.98
"Finally, the ducks have showed up en masse. There are huge
rafts of them
at Candlestick Point..."
Also, this is out of area, but Luke and I
had a raft of 500 or so Scaup sp.
along the bay shore just west of Hwy 80. in Emeryville (or maybe
Berkeley
:-) on Friday the 23rd. The area was teeming with other bird
life as well...
11.27 Separating Hoary from Common Redpoll
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 15:05:33 -0800
From: Cameron Eckert
To: tweeters@u.washington.edu
Subject: Yukon Hoary Redpolls
Hi All,
Redpoll identification is a favourite Yukon
winter pastime. In southern
Yukon, the ratio of Hoaries to Commons tends to be about 1:100.
Features for distinguishing the frosty redpoll
from its more common cousin
include:
1) Very little breast streaking.
2) White rump with no streaks.
3) White undertail with very limited (or no) thin streaks.
4) White edges to tertials and coverts.
5) Overall frosted (white) look to head.
6) The red poll tends to be brighter red.
7) A wash of pink (not red) on breast of some birds.
8) Some birds show pale peach wash around face.
9) Shorter stubbier bill.
10) Pale streak along scapulars.
11) Tend to look slightly larger than Commons.
12) Tend to cock their tails more than Commons.
13) Tend to have "bushier leggings" than Commons.
Good luck with the Hoaries!
Kind regards,
Cameron Eckert
Whitehorse, Yukon
11.27 Subject: Re: Glaucous Gull?
> I didn't see any large 1st or
2nd winter gull with a crisply bicolored
bill,
> which is why I called them Glaucous-winged Gull. The bird
I saw was 2nd winter and had a
> dark tip which faded into a gradually into a pale base.
>
> Was your bird 1st winter or 2nd winter?
I'd say 2nd winter, although some of the 2nd
summer shots in Grant look
better. It was not a first winter bird.
The bird I saw did not have a crisply demarcated
bill, but one with a black
tip and pink base, not a gradual fade but not a crisp delineation,
either.
This was a big, very light gull on the boathouse roof (or whatever
that
floating structure is). Its probably the same bird you were looking
at.
Subject: Glaucous Gull?
I've been trolling the web for Glaucous gull
images to check out, with some
luck. I am leaning toward Glaucous Gull on the boathouse bird,
I'm
interested in your thoughts. Did you get a photo of it?
Here is a major website
devoted to Glaucous Gulls, with lots of good links
to photos.
Among the most relevant are Martin Reid's Glaucous gull photos:
-- this one looks a lot like our bird, though somewhat lighter.
Also check out this one from Bruce Webb's site:
-- scroll down to photo of Glaucous Gull
11.28 [SFBirds[ Two more yard birds
I had a HUTTON'S VIREO in the mixed
feeding flock this morning in the
backyard. In the front yard, a lovely dark morph RED-TAILED HAWK
was
rousted from its roost in the pines as I stood by looking out.
11.30 [SFBirds] Western GGP this afternoon
At North Lake, there was a STELLER'S
JAY near the concrete bridge on the
west side. Near the archery range, I heard a SPOTTED TOWHEE calling.
It
only called about three or four times and I could not located
it before it
stopped. Just east of the archery range targets, there's an artificial
seep
formed by an leaky sprinkler head. Among the over ten species
I saw were
easily 5-6 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS bathing at a distance of about
5 feet
from me. This would be a great spot for passerine photographs.
To find the seep, take the vehicular-width
trail which runs west from the
western edge of North Lake just north of the golf course. The
trail will
veer northwest and roughly 100 yards after this bend, there will
be
sprinkler heads on both sides of the trail. The left hand one
is somewhat
hidden under a pine, but is the leaky one. There is ample cover
in the
vicinity for nature photography.
North Lake
Steller's Jay
20-25 American Crow
Red-tailed Hawk agresssively chasing a Red-shouldered Hawk
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Western Gull x Glaucous-winged Gull
East end of the archery range
Spotted Towhee
Downy Woodpecker
Seep
California Towhee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler, showing agression towards a Yellow-rumped
Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Brown Creeper
You can contact me via email.