10.1 [SFBirds] A few birds of note and
a question on bill color of Hutton's Vireo
Birds of note in the East Wash today:
Townsend's Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Hutton's Vireo
Purple Finch
Warbling Vireo
"Western" Flycatcher
The Hutton's Vireo was quite pale and badly
worn, showing virtually no green
and dark stripe inbetween the wing bars. However, the eye shape,
faint
spectacles and vocalizations seem unambigous. What gave me pause
was that
the lower mandible was entirely pale, and Sibley even makes a
point of
mentioning that the bill on a Hutton's Vireo is entirely dark.
Is this
something peculiar to the Southwestern subspecies or is this
a trait of a
first year bird?
10.2 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] GGAS Western
SF trip
Alan Hopkins wrote:
>
> Bewick's Wrens also breed at McLaren Park, Bay View Park
and possibaly
> at Lake Merced and in the Presidio at Battery Crosby.
>
Interestingly, neither the McLaren nor the
Bay View Park breeding records
are park of the atlas data. Were these recorded subsequent to
the
censusing?
10.2 [SFBirds] Bay side Sabine's Gull
Al Di Martini (sp?) reported on the
BirdBox a juvenile SABINE'S GULL near
the county line near Candlestick. Not sure which county/ies it
was seen in.
Also, there were a large number of shorebirds
behind 1350 Old Bayshore in
Millbrae. Most were WILLETS and there were a few BLACK-BELLIED
PLOVERS and
MARBLED GODWITS, but I had neither a scope nor my 'nocs.
10.3 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] GGAS Western
SF trip
Dan Murphy wrote:
>
> Hi Alan,
>
> I think they're gone from Lake Merced. I haven't seen
> or heard of one in 2 or 3 years.
I'm sure I've had Bewick's Wren more recently
than that at the bus stop at
the extreme northwestern end of Lake Merced. In fact, I even
think you were
along once... :-) While I can't say that I've seen evidence of
breeding, the
number of times I've seen a bird there is certainly suspicious
of breeding.
I don't think the Fort Funston population
would fly all the way to that part
of Lake Merced to feed.
10.3 [NBB] A few interesting birds from
Outer Point Reyes
The fog was mighty thick at the Outer
Point, but I did manage to eke out a
few vagrants, all but one at the Lighthouse Trees. Best bird
was a PRAIRIE
WARBLER which I saw well on the way back to the car. Also, there
were an
adult male AMERICAN REDSTART, a BLACKPOLL WARBLER and a PALM
WARBLER.
Mendoza had another PALM WARBLER behind the mailbox opposite
the residence.
Mendoza
Palm Warbler
Lighthouse
Blackpoll Warbler
American Redstart
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Nunes
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Snipe
Hutton's Vireo
RCA Station
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Cooper's Hawk
Western Bluebird
10.6 [SFBirds] Male Prothonotary Warbler
at Vista Grrrrrande Canal
I just got a phone call from Hugh
Cotter who's still in the field and
there's a male PROTHONOTARY WARBLER at the Vista Grande Canal
around the MH2
sign. Time to go ruin our necks again... :-|
10.7 [SFBirds] Unusual but not rare...
...was a DOWNY WOODPECKER near pipe
MH2 with lemon yellow outer rectrices.
Other birds include HAIRY WOODPECKER and HERMIT WARBLER.
10.7 Nelson's
Sharp-tailed Sparrow, South Lake Merced, City of San Francisco
A SHARP-TAILED SPARROW in San Francisco? Yeah, right.
I was returning home from brunch when I relieved a frantic phone call from Hugh Cotter indicating that there was a sharp-tailed sparrow at the Concrete Bridge at Lake Merced. It took a few seconds to sink in and for it register that he said "sparrow" rather than "sandpiper", which seems like it would be more likely. My wife and I quickly gathered our gear and headed out there to find all of the usual suspects hanging around the west end of the bridge in a very nonchalant manner. Even more unusual, they were looking on the north side of the bridge, which has next to no vegetation on it.
.jpg)
Dan Singer caught my eye, smiled slightly
and pointed straight down into some lupine, virtually the only
vegetation at the northwest corner of the bridge. I saw a very
ocher bird moving in the brush and, when it came out into the
open it was too close to focus with my binoculars. Dan kindly
lent me his and, sure enough, it was a SHARP-TAILED SPARROW.
I was stunned..jpg)
Over the next 45 minutes or so, I spent a roll and a half of film capturing this absurdly cooperative bird. By quietly waiting in the direction that the bird was moving, the bird actually got to within three feet of me. With the possible exception of the semi-tame Zonotrichia sparrows in the Arboretum, this may be the most cooperative Emberizid that I have ever seen.
Below is a pro forma description:
"An obvious Emberizid most notable for a bright buff coloration. The head was perhaps even slightly brighter buff than the rest of the bird, with the supercilium tending almost to ocher.The eye line was chestnut streaked black and visible only from the rear of the eye. Rear of the auricular region, the eye line broadened and appeared to angle up in certain postures as it continued almost to the nape.
The auriculars were dingy gray, bleeding a bit into the malar region just aft of the eye. The iris was one shade of brown off of completely dark and the eye ring was narrow and paler buff, just broken at the rear by the eye line. The crown had two lateral crown stripes that were chestnut streaked black and the median crown stripe was gray, colder than the auriculars.
The malar region was bright buff, delicately outlined above and below by faint brown lines. The throat was slightly paler buff than the rest of the head. The upper mandible was dark horn with a very small portion basally showing pink. Also, the upper mandible near the gape appeared to be pink as well. The lower mandible appeared to be more lightly colored, but not as pale as the base of the upper mandible.
The nape was gray, in marked contrast with
.jpg)
the
rest of the nape, except where the median crown stripe met reached
the nape, where it was inexplicably warm brown. The upper breast
was rich buff, abruptly though raggedly becoming almost pure
white at the lower breast. The upper breast was marked with fine
brown streaks.
The rich buff of the breast continued down the flanks of the bird and was similarly streaked as the breast. The undertail coverts were also buff, resulting in a pale belly entirely surrounded by buff. The legs were fairly bright pink.
The scapular feathers were chestnut, paler than the lateral crown stripes, and uppermost two rows were tipped with pure white resulting in a striking braces running longitudinally along the bird. The greater wing coverts had centers of black with buffy edges, paler at the tips of the feathers. The alula had a dark center and a white outer edge. The uppertail coverts had dark chestnut centers and brown edges.
The median coverts had only the veins showing chestnut, with the edges of the outer webs tending slightly to ocher. The tertials had black centers, with the edges of the inner webs buff and the edges of the outer webs tending to ocher. The edges of the outer webs of the secondaries were pale buff and the edges of the outer webs of the primaries had little contrast with the otherwise drab brown of the webs of the primaries and secondaries.
Sharp-tailed Sparrows are well-named; the
shape of the .jpg)
tail
feathers is quite remarkable for an Emberizid. The inner
webs of the rectrices are pale yellowish-gray and the tip of
the inner web runs straight from the vein to the outer edge of
the feather, as if cut with a scissors. However, the tip of the
inner web of the outermost rectrix starts running straight to
the vein, then continues parallel to the vein, then continues
out to the edge of the feather. The vein proper (and a small
region to either side?) is dark chestnut and the outer webs are
like colored with buff edges. The coloration of the underside
of the rectrices is dingy gray.
The bird showed very little feather wear and I don't recall it vocalizing."
The overall coloration pretty much restricts the bird to the genus Ammodramus. HENSLOW'S SPARROW in bright plumage show a distinct olive coloration in the head. GRASSHOPPER SPARROW has a buff median crown stripe. BAIRD'S SPARROW has a buff collar. LECONTE'S SPARROW also has a buff median crown stripe.
So, we're left with the two Sharp-tailed Sparrows. SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW has underparts white, washed pale buff on the on breast and with bold blackish streaking on breast and flanks. Also SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW with have less brightly colored upperparts and with a more contrasting gray median crown stripe and nape. This would seem to effectively eliminated and SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW and leave NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW.
Rising recognized three subspecies of NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW; the nominate A. n. nelsoni, JAMES BAY SHARP-TAILED SPARROW A. n. alterus and the ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW A. n. subvirgatus. A. n. subvirgatus is less richly colored and has indistinct scapular streaking, which would seem to be inconsistent with this bird. However, A. n. alterus averages somewhat buffier and has a grayer median crown stripe. On probability, it would seem that this bird is A. n. nelsoni, but I'm not aware of how we eliminate A. n. alterus.
10.9 [SFBirds] Fall raptor distribution
in San Francisco
I think we need to revisit this. After
watching hundreds of raptors head
into the city this afternoon, some of the distributions we have
for the more
uncommon raptor species surely are too conservative. For instance,
Northern
Goshawk and Ferruginous Hawk are probably annual.
For those of you that doubt that birds when
they disappear from sight at
Hawk Hill enter the city, consider this. In order for the birds
_not_ to
enter the city, they have fly almost due north to the Richmond
Bridge and
then come down in the East Bay. If they come down through the
Bay, they
enter San Francisco as the city boundaries extend all the way
across the Bay
at Alameda. I can't say I saw a single bird head out of sight
to the north,
though several were so distant in order not to be able to judge
this.
To see how convoluted the San Francisco county line really is, visit this URL
10.9 [SFBirds] Ferruginous Hawk, 2 Golden
Eagles, Northern Harrier, Merlin...
Early this afternoon I headed up to
Hawk Hill. When I got out of my car,
there as a beautiful immature light-morph FERRUGINOUS HAWK in
a small
kettle. The bird then disappeared to the south into San Francisco.
From
the top of hawk hill, there were two immature GOLDEN EAGLES,
one of which
flew fairly directly towards Alcatraz and the other eventually
disappeared
to the south along with virtually all the other raptors. Other
sightings of
less interest were several NORTHERN HARRIERS, a MERLIN, an AMERICAN
KESTREL
and bushels of accipters that were mostly immature SHARP-SHINNED
HAWKS.
With the exception of a few TURKEY VULTURES that lazed on the
thermals,
virtually all of these birds disappeared to the south into San
Francisco.
Yesterday, they had more than one NORTHERN
GOSHAWK, including a juvenile
that flew directly over Hawk Hill (and almost assuredly into
San
Francisco...) For an update on GGRO sightings, visit this
URL and follow the links.
10.9 Ruff, Doran
Park, SON
Alas, the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper could
not be found, but this very cooperative RUFF was a nice consolation
prize. There was also a first year female BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
at Owl Canyon.
10.12 [SFBirds] More GGRO updates
On the 10th they had a SWAINSON'S
HAWK and on the 11th a BROAD-WING HAWK
(Hugh's bird?).
10.13 [SFBirds] Yellow-headed Blackbird,
Parasitic Jaegers, Western Meadowlarks...
This morning I birded and scoped from
the East Wash. Early, there was a
flyover YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. I then scoped the flyout of
gulls and
terns through the Gate. Amongst the hundreds of ELEGANT TERNS
(no candidates
for other _Sterna_ terns) were at least 23 PARASITIC JAEGERS
(again, no
candidates for other Jaeger sp.) As I was leaving, two WESTERN
MEADOWLARKS
flew out of the pines which border the golf tee where the trail
cuts down
into the wash. Otherwise, it was a rather calm and quiet morning...
East Wash
Yellow-headed Blackbird
23 Parasitic Jaeger
Varied Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Goldfinch
Fox Sparrow
Winter Wren
Northern Flicker
2 Western Meadowlark
10.15 Re: Fw: mystery bird
[He] wrote:
>
> With utmost respect, my opinion is that you're dismissing
arguments
> for Gray Flycatcher that are much less ambiguous than any
that
> have been made for Phainopepla.
>
.jpg)
I too do not believe that the bird is a Phainopepla, albeit for much simpler reasons. It turns out that even fledgling Phainopeplas have a prominent crest. I feel it's very unlikely that the a Phainopepla would exhibit no crest whatsoever an in any plumage.
> - I feel the resolution in the particular
photo is not sufficient to judge
> the size of the nostrils or whether there is an actual pronounced
> raised ridge. I think it would be too easy for a trick of
reflection
> and shadow to alter the appearance of the bill surface in
this
> area, particularly since even Gray Flycatchers have nostrils
lying
> somewhat lower than the culmen. The bill actually appears
fairly flat
> to me in this scan, which I think is significant. Perhaps
I'm not fully
> understanding the issue here, but the location of the nostril
> does appear to be within reason for a GRFL to me. I have
to
> conclude that the appearance of the nostril is a fairly
minor
> beef in the face of all the other features that I feel strongly
> support GRFL. Otherwise, the shape of the bill in this scan
> appears to be an exact match for the typical shape and
> proportional size of GRFL. I feel that the profile of the
bill from
> above is much less ambiguous than its apparent surface features
> in this photo, and is much more compelling. I have not seen
the
> bills of Phainopeplas from above, but their side profile
suggests
> that they should appear a bit proportionately shorter, and
perhaps
> have more evenly rounded sides in a top view - and that
the
> raised ridge over the nasal area should actually appear
more
> prominent. If you have Kaufman's "Advanced Birding"
compare the
> bill profile he has drawn for GRFL to the mystery bird's.
>
I'm afraid I can't comment on this issue,
but I think we can eliminate
Phainopepla as above.
> - I don't feel the tail shape can be
accurately judged in these
> photos due to the angle of view, and to the potential of
extreme
> wear. The retrices may also be shifted in an atypical position.
>
With my loupe at 12x on the original, the
edges of the remiges appear
crisp and the upper wing coverts likewise. I'm not sure what
the gap in the
rectrices in the image where the bird has caught an insect, but
it may just
be spreading it's tail. Or, it is in fact missing one or more
central
rectrices.
> - The black on the belly and across the
tail base is obviously due
> to shadow, strongly suggesting that the lower mandible is
also
> shaded and would appear similarly black. Its appearance
simply
> cannot be used as a mark here.
>
Unfortunately, my scanner destroys shadow
detail. The one slide with a
decent ventral view shows a relatively pale grayish belly contrasting
with
a slightly darker breast, possibly even with the slightest hint
of yellow on
the belly. If I'm not reading too much into the belly of the
bird, this
might suggest first fall plumage of an _Empidonax_ flycatcher.
However, the bill troubles me greatly. With
my loupe at 16x on the
original, I am convinced that the appearance of an entirely dark
lower
mandible is _not_ an artifact of shadow. Regardless of the question
of
any aberrant plumage characteristics, I would not expect the
the bare parts to
show aberrant coloration. How then can this be accommodated by
the Gray
Flycatcher hypothesis?
> - You emphatically state that the bird
shows no know plumage
> features of GRFL, when the point was made that it shows
virtually
> ALL of them except for color. They are not obvious, but
the pattern
> is there is you look. Again, there is clearly a faint eye-ring,
a faint
> but visible pale area in from of the eye and across the
base of
> the upper mandible that is correctly shaped for GRFL, faint
traces
> of wing-bars that are positioned where they should be on
an
> empid and in the wrong place for a Phainopepla, an obvious
> wide pale edge to the (uppermost?) tertial (Phainopeplas
have
> thin pale edges at best that are likely prone to wearing
off),
> and a pale outer edge to the visible outermost retrice.
Although
> the colors appear bizarre, I also think the general color
pattern
> of an empid is still faintly there - grayish face and back
contrasting
> with darker brown wings, and a comparatively pale throat
and
> breast. The obscurity of this pattern is likely due to the
extreme
> wear, and possibly also to ruffled feathers on the upper
breast
> and throat casting shadows. As for the unusual colors themselves,
> I'm starting to suspect that they are in the largest part
due to the
> extreme plumage wear, which is perhaps even atypically extreme
> for an adult in August. As stated, the more neutral colors
may also
> be somewhat shifted by the photographic or scanning processes.
>
Coloration is obviously a big problem, but
let me assure you of one thing.
The coloration as rendered in the scans and the original slides
is
_substantially_ accurate with the the way the bird appeared in
the field.
One can infer this indirectly by the coloration of the mullein
bloom, but
I certainly can vouch for the coloration being both photographer
and
observer. And yes, the bird did show _blue_ highlights in the
field.
The slides do give the suggestion of an eye
ring, spectacles and wing bars
as you suggest. However, I feel the coloration is well outside
what could
be reasonable expected for a fall _Empidonax_ flycatcher, particularly
given my impression of the state of wear from the originals.
If the bird is in
fact an _Empidonax_ flycatcher, I do feel that melanism or some
other
mechanism must be used to explain the darkness of the plumage.
The
paleness of the belly in contrast to the upperparts does suggest
that the bird is
not oiled.
> - The size of the bird, and in particular
(from my point of view) the
> proportions are certainly not ambiguous. In fact, I feel
very strongly
> that the shape of this bird completely rules out Phainopepla,
and
> is perhaps even diagnostic for GRFL in itself. Compare this
bird
> with the URLs I posted or other photos of these species
- with
> respect to the structural points I made in my most recent
post on
> your site. Personally, having studied several Phainopepla
photos
> I can simply glance at the size of the eye in proportion
to the head
> and feel confident that this is a smaller bird. A Phainopepla
without
> a crest should appear proportionately closer to a Mockingbird
than
> to this bird. I strongly feel that the tail length, body
length, size, and
> shape, head shape and proportional size, wing length, leg
length,
> eye position and proportional size, and primary projection
are all
> perfect for (adult) GRFL.
>
Unless there's some pathology where Phainopeplas
moult all of their crest
at once, I think Phainopepla can be eliminated. As I mentioned,
I don't
think the bird is so badly worn/in moult that, for example, the
entire crest
would have been worn/moulted away.
If we do assume that it is an _Empidonax_
flycatcher, can we be sure that
the (meager) field marks do support Gray Flycatcher? And then
there's the
issue of the coloration of the lower mandible which has to be
solved as
well.
Not sure if this helps or not...
10.17 [SBB] Re: [SBB] Wrentit movement
Mark Paxton wrote:
>
> >>There is a general movement of Wrentits into urban
and riparian areas in
> late summer and fall
>
Yes, we've seen this in San Francisco as well,
where (unfortunately) the
only Wrentits we get these days are these post-breeding wanderers.
10.17 Subject: Re: [SBB] Wrentit movement
Mark Paxton wrote:
>
> >>There is a general movement of Wrentits into urban
and riparian areas
in
> late summer and fall
>
Yes, we've seen this in San Francisco as well,
where (unfortunately) the
only Wrentits we get these days are these post-breeding wanderers.
10.19 [SFBirds] More SF Geographical minutia
The basin north of Heron's Head (Pier
98) is called Lash Lighter Basin. Of
course, the basin south of Heron's Head is India Basin.
10.21 [NBB] A few Marin birds
Today, Stephen Davies, Eric Preston
and I had the following birds of note in
Marin:
- An immature male EURASIAN WIGEON at the
south end of Bolinas Lagoon
- The continuing AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER at the west end of Rodeo
Lagoon
There were huge numbers of birds on Bolinas Lagoon on the incoming tide.
10.21 [SFBirds] Birding while cycling
While on a bike ride in Golden Gate
Park yesterday, I had a STELLER'S JAY
calling north of the Polo Fields along Middle Drive. Even more
interesting
was a COMMON RAVEN along JFK west of Chain of Lakes Drive carrying
a two
foot long branch into a tree that for all the world looked like
nesting
activity. In the same area, there were AMERICAN CROWS squabbling
with the
ravens, one of the few crow sightings I've had recently in the
park.
BTW, does anyone know why American Crow is
more common in the late fall and
early winter than at other times of the year?
10.26 [SFBirds] Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
record
While this is certainly the first
city record, it appears that there is
already at least one record from the Farallon Islands.
You can contact me via email.