9.2 [NBB] Abbott's Birds
The BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER continues
today in the first plowed field west
of the parking lot. It was loosely associating with the KILLDEER
in the
field. At Abbott's proper, there were at least nine BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS,
a
juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER and a juvenile SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.
9.3 [SFBirds] [Fwd: [MBB] Shearwaters @
the wharf]
Well, there are plenty of shearwaters in Monterey...
Subject: Re: [MBB] Shearwaters @ the wharf
Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2001 12:34:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: LTJaeger4@aol.com
To: poklen@surfnetusa.com, mbb@darwin.ucsc.eduIn a message dated 9/3/01 12:23:28 PM, poklen@surfnetusa.com writes:
<< Last evening at about 7:30 PM, as my wife and I were finishing a Crab &
Shrimp Louie dinner at Stagnaro's on the wharf, a thick stream of SOOTY
SHEARWATERS moved in along the east side amazing all on the upper deck of
the
restaurant and on the wharf. The fog was rolling in; it was getting darker
by the minute! I felt a sudden compelling urgency, a tightening of my
breast. I dropped my fork and watched in awe an event which, for
shearwaters, must date back to the Eocene or earlier. Their movement was
cyclonic, clockwise with local pelicans and gulls adding to their numbers
all
diving, feeding, rafting, calling, taking off-- the water foaming with
activity, the background almost blotted out. I've been affected this way
almost every time I've checked up on this flock, some 60,000 in number,
which
have been resident off New Brighton and Seacliff beaches for the past 4-5
months ( I don't remember when I first reported this to David S.) and now,
when I least expected it, I found myself propelled, once again, into their
midst and back in time to a timeless event. How wonderful to have had the
privilege and pleasure of watching this flock for so long!Jeff Poklen >>
Jeff does a nice job describing this incredible phenomenom. Being lucky
enough to work next to Seacliff State Beach since 1988 has given me the
opportunity to witness this sight on a regular basis every summer. I'll
repeat what I've often said on here; far too few birders take advantage of
the proximity of these spectacular flocks. Forget your life lists and go out
and enjoy a true spectacle of nature.Clay K
9.4 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Northern Parula
@ Lake Merced, odds and ends
David Armstrong wrote:
>
> This morning I had a NORTHERN PARULA in the albizzia
> near the boathouse at Lake Merced.
Hmmm. I wonder if this is a migrant or one
of the pair that oversummered?
Did you age/sex it?
9.5 Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Parulas etc..
Kevin McKereghan wrote:
>
> Out this morning for a few hours:
> Cliff house, alot of action, primarily Sooties (1000+) and
Cormorants. 1
adult Parasitic Jaeger
> Lake Merced: MacGillivray's Warbler in willows north of
east end of
concrete bridge, Juv. Green Heron along sandy beach west of Bridge.
male
No. Parula in Albizzia at Harding Drive entrance. GWF Goose is
still on
beach.
> Pine Lake Park: Green Heron on float in lake, female No.
Parula at SE
corner of lake, also Willow Flycatcher, WW Peewee, Pac slopes
and Yellow
Warblers all over Lakes Merced and Pine.
>
>
Anyone other than me find it highly coincidental
that there's a male
parula at the Boat House and a female (type) at Pine Lake, a
relatively thin
strip of concrete away from Lake Merced?
9.5 Opinion requested
Kimball,
My name is Mark Eaton and I'm president of
the San Francisco Field
Ornithologists. Recently, we had two Northern Parulas, an adult
male and
a female-type of indeterminate age, oversummering in coastal
San Francisco.
While these records are certainly noteworthy, a sharp-eyed observed
found
a nest in the tree in which the female-type spent quite a bit
of time. As
there are no nesting records for Northern Parula in San Francisco,
this
generated quite a bit of interest. However, we are unable at
this point
to eliminate Bushtit as the specie that constructed the nest.
I've enclosed two photos of the nest after
it was collected, where the top
of the nest is where the cypress branch is attached. While it
does bear
some similarities to a Bushtit nest, the opening is near the
center of the
nest rather than at the top and the cavity proper is just below
the
opening. No eggs, shards or other evidence of actual breeding
were
inside. Given the variability of parula nests, particularly in
areas where
preferred materials are not available, we need expert advice.
Should you need any
additional information such as details of the materials in the
nest,
please inquire.
Any assistance which you can provide would be most welcome.
Best regards,
Mark Eaton
.jpg)
9.5 Re: Opinion requested
Hello Mark --
Thanks for the nice photos. This is almost
certainly a Bushtit nest. The
points against it being a parula nest are 1) it is not situated
WITHIN a
clump of anything, 2) the should-be clump is not _Ramalina_ lichen,
3) the
nest is composed of a complex of materials, not just 1-2 as has
been
reported for the exceptional cases where NOPA has built an entire
nest, and
4) the nest contains feathers (Feathers are not mentioned in
any of the
descriptions of Northern Parula nests I've read, e.g., Bent 1953.).
In
fact, I see nothing to suggest it's a parula nest.
The structure is, however, fairly typical
of a Bushtit nest. I don't see
an obvious entrance hole at the top, but in one of the photos
I see what
looks like a possible entrance hole (near the cedar foliage).
Is there
one? Regardless, the most parsimonious conclusion is that it
is a Bushtit
nest.
Best,
9.6 [SFBirds] "Parula" nest
Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 11:58:27 -0700
From: "Mark W. Eaton" <mweaton@pacbell.net>
To: SFBirds <SFBirds@yahoogroups.com>
We've gotten an opinion on the digital pictures
and it does appear to that
the parula nest is in fact a Bushtit nest. So we'll have to wait
until at
least next year for nesting evidence, it appears...
9.7 [SFBirds] Another East Wash sighting
for 9.7
One other bird that apparently only I saw yesterday was a _Catharus_
thrush
near in the berry brambles near where the trail leaves the car
path to head
east towards the mesa. I had only imcomplete views of the bird,
but here's a
(partial) description.
"An obvious _Catharus_ thrush with upperparts
and uppertail concolorous warm
brown, with no hint of rufous therein. Eyering complete and very
pale, but
very thin. There was no hint of a dark loral spot or pale spectacles.
The
lower breast was white and the upper breast was washed buff with
warm brown
trips to the breast feathers. The malar line seemed fairly well
defined."
Hermit, Gray-cheeked, Bicknell's and Wood
Thrush are pretty easily
eliminated, leaving only the expected Swainson's Thrush and the
highly-problematic Veery. The view (and resultant description)
was too
brief to claim anything unusual, but frankly my mental image
(and my
impression in the field) is very close to the this bird photographed
below:
I guess I need to start looking more closely at Swainson's Thrushes... :-|
9.9 [SFBirds] Lewis's Woodpecker, Tennessee
Warbler at Lobos Dunes
Paul Saraceni and I got out for a little birding and had much
better luck at
finding our own birds than everyone else's. At Lobos Dunes, we
ran into a
very nice migrant near the willows at the east end of the creek,
where we
had a TENNESSEE WARBLER. Curiously, the bird looked possibly
like an adult
with mostly yellow underparts, gleaming white undertail coverts
and still
some distinct grayness on the head.
Shortly thereafter, we had a bird fly over
which I called American Crow.
However, the chickadees and bushtits put on their alarm call
and both of us
looked up expecting to see a raptor. Paul instead found my "crow"
and
correctly identified it as a piciform. I then got back on the
bird and
managed to just make out the grayish on the breast of a LEWIS'S
WOODPECKER.
Shortly thereafter, the NUTALL'S WOODPECKER betrayed its unseen
location
with several calls.
Amongst the many warblers were at least three
HOUSE WRENS. Finally, there
was a bird there which we didn't satisfactorily see or identify
which most
likely was a female-type _Passerina_ bunting. The bird was very
plain and
not possible to identify to species given the brief, incomplete
looks.
Earlier stops at Mt. Davidson netted another
HOUSE WREN and a WILLOW
FLYCATCHER. The south end of Ocean beach had large feeding flocks,
but only
SOOTY SHEARWATERS and a few PHALAROPE sp. were of note. A stop
at Harding
Park resulted only in lots of YELLOW WARBLERS and Merrie Way
produced lots
of birders and not much else of interest.
9.9 [SFBirds] [Fwd: {EBB} Farralon Islands]
fyi...
> Not exactly East Bay birding... but you
can get there from here!
>
> A trip with Oceanic Society today yielded some great sightings:
>
> Sabine's gull
> Pomarine jaeger
> Parasitic jaeger
> Sooty shearwater
> Pink-footed shearwater
> Buller's shearwater
> Common murre (many in male/fledgling pairs)
> Pigeon guillemot
> Red-necked phalarope
> Heering gull
> Arctic tern
> Brandt's cormorant
> Pelagic cormorant
>
9.10 [SFBirds] Prairie and Black-throated
Gray Warblers at Eash Wash
Late this morning, I headed to the East Wash just as the sun
crept out. I
was suprised to find a PRAIRIE WARBLER in the weedy vegetation
just as you
leave the cart path to head to the mesa of the East Wash. The
bird had a
noticeable amount of gray wash on the face, a distinct sub-ocular
crescent
and black streaking along the sides of its yellow breast, suggesting
first
fall male plumage. In the same flock, there was a BLACK-THROATED
GRAY
WARBLER with no black on the the throat, suggesting first fall
female
plumage.
Things were pretty quiet by the time I got
to Lobos Dunes, but I did have
the NUTALL'S WOODPECKER and a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.
East Wash
Prairie Warbler
3 Willow Flycatcher
3 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
2 Western Flycatcher
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
3 Yellow Warbler
8-10 American Goldfinch
2 Hutton's Vireo
5 Warbling Vireo
2 Orange-crowned Warbler
Western Tanager
Wilson's Warbler
Downy Woodpecker
5 Selasphorous sp.
Winter Wren
Common Yellowthroat
Ft. Miley
Common Yellowthroat
Downy Woodpecker
Hutton's Vireo
Osprey
Yellow Warbler
Lobos Creek Dunes
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
2 Yellow Warbler
3 Western Tanager
Western Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-headed Grosbeak
Nuttall's Woodpecker
9.10 [SFBirds] Re: {EBB} Re: Sabine's gull
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 21:40:30 -0700
From: "Mark W. Eaton" <mweaton@pacbell.net>
To: SFBirds <SFBirds@yahoogroups.com>
Fairly unusual sighting of Sabine's Gull in SF well inside the bay...
Mark
Mjrauz@aol.com wrote:
>
> I saw a Sabine's gull under the west span of the Bay Bridge,
(San Fran.
Co.).
> Seen from the Alameda-San Francisco ferry at 2:14 on the
return run. The
> black leading wing edge against the white triangles caught
my attention
and
> affirmed my ID. It appeared to be molting it's gray hood.
I had only a
brief
> look from a fast moving ferry, but I'm pretty confident
that this was what
it
> was. It was by itself, flushed from the surface and reurned
to settle
down
> under the bridge. Many elegant terns is the central bay
as well.
>
9.12 [SFBirds] Juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger
off Ocean Beach yesterday
Like Josiah, I too tried to clear my head from the enormity of
yesterday's
events and headed out in a half-daze half-heartedly birding.
My focus
started to return when I saw a nice stream of SOOTY SHEARWATERS
passing not
too far from shore and and extended stay watching their elegant
flight
surely was the most effective catharsis I could find yesterday.
I did see a single jaeger flying fast, purposefully
and low with the
shearwaters, observed for 15-20 seconds. It was remarkably tern-like
in
appearance with relatively narrow wings and a proportionally
long tail with
no evident streamers. The head was extremely pale, highly contrasting
with
the dark back. The upper wings showed virtually no flash of white
on the
outer primaries. While pale morph Parasitic Jaegers apparently
can show
quite a pale head, the combination of the lack of wing flash,
thin wings,
long tail and strong contrast between the head and the upperparts
seems
pretty good for LONG-TAILED JAEGER. Having said that, I do not
find
identification of juvenile jaegers a precise science.
9.12 [SFBirds] Ocean Beach birds
Nothing of great interest, but there were 75+ MARBLED GODWITS
and an amazing
4000+ HEERMANN'S GULLS in 4 or so large roosts both north and
south of the
park. SOOTY SHEARWATERS continue, including some just beyond
the breakers.
9.18 [SFBirds] Baird's Sandpiper continues
at Crissy Field...
The BAIRD'S SANDPIPER continued this morning at Crissy Field.
It flew in
from the west along the north side of the lagoon into a small
puddle on the
north edge. I also watched an off-leash dog chase away a Black-bellied
Plover at Crissy Field. I missed most other interesting birds
today but
also had nice looks and photographed the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
at Merrie Way.
Crissy
Baird's Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
3 Black-bellied Plover
Julius Kahn
2 Black-headed Grosbeak
"Western" Flycatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Western Wood-Pewee
5-8 Yellow Warbler
5-8 Townsend's Warbler
Western Tanager
1369 Upton
"Western" Flycatcher
Lobos Dunes
3 Orange-crowned Warbler
"Western" Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
East Wash
Western Wood-Pewee
4 "Western" Flycatcher
3 Wilson's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
2 Willow Flycatcher
Fox Sparrow
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Townsend's Warbler
Winter Wren
2 Yellow Warbler
Ft. Miley
3 "Western" Flycatcher
2 Hermit Warbler
2 Townsend's Warbler
Merrie Way
Clay-colored Sparrow
"Western" Flycatcher"
9.19 [SFBirds] East Wash fairly quiet this
morning...
...only an ACORN WOODPECKER was really of note.
Acorn Woodpecker
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Wood-Pewee
2 "Western" Flycatcher
2 Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Winter Wren
9.20 [SFBirds] Today's birds
Lots of western migrants, but nothing particularly rare. The
ASH-THROATED
FLYCATCHER and a NASHVILLE WARBLER continue at Merrie Way at
various points
in the albizzia and willows at the northwest corner of the parking
lot.
Ft. Miley West (halfway between the overlook
at the end of El Camino del Mar
above Merrie Way and the west wash)
American Goldfinch
3 Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warbler
4 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
"Western" Flycatcher
10-15 Townsend's Warbler
3 Hutton's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Purple Finch
Western Wood-Pewee
East Wash
Common Yellowthroat
Western Wood-Pewee
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
3 "Western" Flycatcher
2 Black Oystercatcher (on the rocks at the Ocean :-)
Willow Flycatcher (fide HC)
MacGillivrary's Warbler (fide DA)
Ft. Miley (East)
3-4 Townsend's Warbler
2 Hermit Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Purple Finch
Yellow Warbler
"Western" Flycatcher
Merrie Way
500 Heermann's Gull (on the beach :-)
2 Black-throated Gray Warbler
Hutton's Vireo
Winter Wren
5-6 Townsend's Warbler
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
3 Warbling Vireo
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Nashville Warbler
2 Lesser Goldfinch
"Western" Flycatcher
_Pheucticus_ Grosbeak (fide DA)
Yellow Warbler
9.21 [NBB] Outer Point Reyes Birds
A fine day on the outer point. Highlights
were a BOBOLINK in stunning
immature fall plumage along the entry road to the lighthouse,
a male
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER and 4-5 highly cooperative CHESTNUT-SIDED
WARBLERS at Nunes and 12 warbler species at the Lighthouse including
two
MAGNOLIA WARBLERS and a PRAIRIE WARBLER. At one memorable point,
one of the
Magnolias, a Palm, the Prairie and a Blackpoll were on the same
branch in
one of the Lighthouse trees. Also, a kettle of four SHARP-SHINNED
HAWKS and
a COOPER'S HAWK seemed unusual in the fog at the Lighthouse.
Birding should continue to be good tomorrow
unless it clears up tonight.
2nd-hand reports include a BROAD-WINGED HAWK from the Lighthouse
and a
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER from the Fish Docks.
Mendoza
2 Blackpool Warbler
4-5 Warbling Vireo
2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Nunes
Black-throated Blue Warbler
American Redstart
Blackpoll Warbler
4-5 Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
4-5 Townsend's Warbler
2-3 Yellow Warbler
Lighthouse Entry Road
Bobolink
2 Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
American Redstart
2 Yellow Warbler
Lighthouse
2 Magnolia Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
American Redstart
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Warbling Vireo
Cedar Waxwing
4 Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Fish Docks
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
White-tailed Kite
American Redstart
Hutton's Vireo
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
9.23 [SFBirds] Keep those BirdBox messages coming...
...don't think I've heard a report for the Bay-breasted today
(yet it's been
seen...)
9.24 [SFBirds] Philadelphia Vireo, Bay-breasted,
Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, Blackpoll,
Nashville Warblers
After Jim Lomax and Harry had the bird, I finally got good looks
at the
PHILADELPHIA VIREO this morning after Harry left. It was fairly
low on the
hill in albizzia south of the steps to the overlook. Prior to
that, I had
the NASHVILLE WARBLER higher up the hill skulking in the albizzia.
At Vista Grande Canal, I again ran into Jim
and Al Eisner, and we were quite
fortunate to have the vagrant flock descend all the way to (below)
eye level
north of MH2 at the willows at the extreme north end of the canal,
whereupon
great if brief looks in nice light were had of the BAY-BREASTED,
CHESTNUT-SIDED and BLACKPOLL WARBLERS. All of these birds were
bathing/drinking (gack!) from the water in the canal. Earlier,
I had
another unsatisfying look at the BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER high in
a conifer away
from the rest of the vagrant flock. BTW, if you're not sure you're
looking
at a Bay-breasted Warbler, you're looking at the Blackpoll.
On a completely unrelated note, outer Point
Reyes is in bright sunlight, so
you might think twice if you're planning a trip to the outer
point.
9.26 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Possible Cassin's
Sparrow at Merrie Wy.
Allan Ridley wrote:
>
> The Urban School ornithology class, serendipitously joined
at the moment
by
> Mark Eaton, observed a bird that seemed slighty larger than
the house
finches
> it joined atop the stink-pod acacias at the NW end of the
lot.
>
> It remains a challenge to identify.
>
> Bird was viewed from side and somewhat below, through spotting
scope in
full
> sun at 30'.
>
> - FLAT head with a dark streaky/spotty crown.
> - light, notable supercilium
> - substantial, pinkish bill slightly down curved over its
length
> - somewhat darkened auricular patch
> - no malar or throat markings
> - light, unmarked breast, flanks and belly... but in bright
am sunshine
(how
> unusual!) it seemed to have a very slight yellow cast to
head & throat
area.
> - no wingbars of note, back not well viewed (brown in appearance)
> - tail seemed narrow, medium length and rounded (also worn
on ends) - no
white visible
> - streamlined, horizontal posture
>
> Cassin's (grey adult) and Botteri's (!) Sparrows - pgs 478
& 479 Sibley -
were
> suggested by the students as was house sparrow (not.) We
speculated on an
> exotic like orange bishop but the tail was too long.
>
It's been awhile since I had a passerine that
close in good light for easily
30 seconds and still wasn't sure of the ID. I even looked at
the bird
through a scope. After reading the title of Allan's email, I
thought that
this was a bit ambitious, but after consulting Rising, maybe
this isn't so
far fetched.
I don't think I can add much to the field
description, which I think is good
and accurate. The bird was remarkably devoid of field marks,
reminding me
of a pale fall Brewer's Sparrow, clearly eliminated by the bill.
Also, I
never got a dorsal look at the bird, so anything really helpful,
like the
mantle, scapular, coverts or remiges was not observed. The bird
was
associating with House Finches, but showed little resemblance
to a
_Carpodacus_ finch.
In the field, the flat head got me to _Ammodramus_,
but I confess I did not
consider _Aimophila_. The eye line was not particularly distinct,
but just
enough to outline the supercilium. My general impression was
that most or
all _Ammodramus_ sparrows, even badly worn, would have a far
more patterned
face than this bird, but I don't have any experience with severely
worn
_Ammodramus_ sparrows. Frankly, image 12d in Rising of a worn
Botteri's
Sparrow (A. b. arizonae) comes the closest (the black crown contrasting
with
the pale bill and virtually no detail on the rest of the face),
but we're
well short of nailing the ID on this one.
There were 38 records for Cassin's Sparrow
as of January 1997 in CA. _All_
fall records of Cassin's Sparrow for Northern California are
from SE
Farallon Island with arrival dates between the 17th and 29th
of September.
Botteri's Sparrow has not been recorded in CA.
BTW, this is _not_ a record at this point
(lest there be any doubt), or even
a probable record, but certainly an interesting bird worth discussion.
9.28 [SFBirds] Description of the possible
Cassin's Sparrow
Here's my stab at a written description of the Merrie Way bird:
A drab gray passerine roughly the same size
as a House Finch, in whose
company it was seen. The head of the bird was noticeably flat,
reminiscent
of a sparrow in the genus _Ammodramus_. The crown of the bird
was striped
or dotted dark from the base of the bill back to the nape, which
contrasted
markedly with the pale face. The supercilium was noticeable due
to the dark
crown and a somewhat less distinct eye line. Otherwise, the face
was
notable for an absence of other field marks.
The bill was quite remarkable. It was proportionally
long, pinkish, and the
culmen showed noticeable curvature over the distal third. There
was very
little angle between the base of the bill and the forehead, enhancing
the
flat-headed appearance of the bird. It was reminiscent of a more
typical
conical bill of a sparrow which had been elongated, where the
shallow angle
of the bill relative to the forehead effectively forces a curvature
of the
culmen in order for the upper and lower mandibles to meet.
The throat, breast and belly were like colored
as the face, enhancing the
overall drab impression of the bird. The bird preened its right
underwing
during the observation, allowing observation of the underwing.
The
underside of the remiges showed little contrast with the rest
of the bird
(the term "small brown bird" did seem appropriate at
this point), but the
underwing coverts showed a pale yellowish wash. Finally, when
the bird
raised its right wing to preen, I did see a flash of yellow near
the wrist.
However, I can not be sure as to the feathers which were responsible
for the
flash.
The undertail, scapulars, back, upperwing
coverts, upper side of the
remiges, rump and any aspect of the tail were unobserved. The
overall jizz
seemed to be of a pale fall Brewer's Sparrow, which is clearly
eliminated by
the bill. The bird departed as abruptly as it arrived, flying
well west
with the same flock of finches with which it arrived. The bird
was observed
of a period of easily 30 seconds, including a brief look through
a scope.
It seems unlikely that it would be an fall
_Ammodramus_ due to the overall
paleness, but I have little familiarity with fall birds from
this genus.
The bill seems better for an _Aimophila_ sparrow, but I have
no experience
with fall birds from this genus, and only good experience with
Bachman's
Sparrow, which seems rather unlikely due to the overall drabness
of the
bird. Cassin's Sparrow is the only "expected" _Aimophila_
sparrow in CA,
but I have only limited experience on the breeding grounds with
this bird,
and no fall experience.
9.29 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Description
of the possible Cassin's Sparrow
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 22:26:06 -0700
From: "Mark W. Eaton" <mweaton@pacbell.net>
To: SFBirds <SFBirds@yahoogroups.com>
> Have you guys already discarded the possibiblity
of a Dickcissel? the
yellow
> kind of made me think of that. Sibley lists the Dickcissel
as 6.25" in
> length and House finches as 6". What do you think?
Dickcissel is an interesting choice and one
that bears mention. The size,
dark crown and pale, elongated bill and yellowish tinge to the
underwing
coverts are good for Dickcissel. However, there are other problems.
Dickcissel in all plumages shows a pale malar stripe with a black
sub-moustachial and a pale throat, all of which are rather difficult
to
explain away in this bird. Immatures show fine streaking on the
breast and
the flanks, which again appears to be inconsistent with this
bird.
Adult birds of either sex should show quite
a bit of yellow on the upper
breast in the supercilium, again inconsistent with this bird,
though I
believe Peter recalls a pale yellowish wash on the supercilium.
Also the
bill of a Dickcissel is has an unusual structure in that the
lower mandible
appears to be larger and possibly even thicker than an _Aimophila_
sparrow
bill and base of the lower mandible extends farther towards the
eye than the
uppper mandible. While this is difficult to describe in a written
description (see any photo of a Dickcissel), my mental image
seems to
disagree with this.
9.30 [SFBirds] If you're not watching Bonds...
...you might want to go hawk watching today. In about 5 minutes
at the
scenic overlook off of Lincoln in the Presidio, I had an immature
Red-tailed
Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk, both flying north.
You can contact me via email.