11.29 - 12.1 Mendocino/Sonoma/Marin Coast
12.7 Sedge Wren,
Half Moon Bay State Beach
I was fortunate enough to get good
looks at the SEDGE WREN found by Peter Metropulos earlier that
morning. Description as transcribed from my original voice
notes
recorded in the field:
An small brown bird that was quite warmly colored, particularly when compared with the nearby Zonotrichia sparrows. Clearly a wren; it had a decurved bill that showed some pale on it and held its tail cocked up at an angle. The head was conspicuously streaked dark and the supercilium was buff and weakly contrasting with the darker head. The auricular region was buff or dusky buff, contrasting noticeably with the clean white throat on the bird.
The back was boldly streaked black and white on an otherwise paler background. The rump was strikingly brightly colored; I described it as ochre and other descirbed it as almost orange. The uppertail was barred dark and undertail was unbarred dark. The upper breast belly, undertail coverts and flanks were buff, with strong contrast to the undertail and a clean demarcation between the upper breast and the throat. The wings were strongly barred dark including the greater and median coverts.
The bird spent most of its time in dense foliage, only occasionally coming out into the open. The bird would chip fairly regularly, and the chip note was a fairly thin 'tsip', occasionally doubled, that was vaguely reminiscent of an insect note. The call notes compared favorably in the field with notes from the song of a known identity Sedge Wren.
Discussion:
The only point of confusion would be Marsh Wren, which does bear some discussion. However, a Marsh Wren would show an unstreaked crown, a well-defined supercilium, white streaks on a dark back, unbarred wing coverts and a different call, leaving us with a SEDGE WREN.
Photos of the Sedge Wren can be found here.
12.24
- 29 Southern California
ZONE-TAILED HAWK at Cattle Call Park
(Dec 26)
VERMILION FLYCATCHER at Cattle Call Park (Dec 26)
BUSHTIT 3-4 at Marshall South Home (Dec 25)
FOX SPARROW "Sooty" at Furnace Creek (Dec 28)
MCCOWN'S LONGSPUR 2 at Peterson Road, Calipatria (Dec 26)
CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR at Peterson Road, Calipatria (Dec
26)
A bird quite similar to a Turkey Vulture but with the following essential differences. The tail was dark with a prominent white subterminal band and 2-3 smaller white bands. The pale undersides of the flight panels showed faint vermiculations running parallel to the veins. The head was entirely dark as were the uppper parts. No plumage of Turkey Vulture shows bands on the tail. Adult Common Black-Hawk has only a single broad white tail band and juvenile shows multiple fine taile band. Neither plumage of Common Black-Hawk shows the pale underside to the primary feathers, leaving us with an adult ZONE-TAILED HAWK.
Vermilion Flycatcher description:
Unmistakeable. Those parts of the bird that were not bright crimson were brown, including the wings and face mask and the tail. Bill was dark, leaving us with an adult male VERMILLION FLYCATCHER.
McCown's Longspur description:
One seen at a distance in flight showed the diagnostic McCown's tail pattern of black shaft of uniform thickness otherwise breaking a uniformly white tail. Sitting in the field, the birds had fairly pale crowns, a relatively well-defined supercilum, poorly marked faces with ill-defined auricular regions. Smith's Longspur which wouldn't show as well a defined supercilium, both Lapland and Chestnut-collared have better-defined auricular regions.
Chestnut-collared Longspur description:
A single isolated bird in a flock of American Pipits. The bird had a fairly streaked crown, well-defined rear auriculars and a fairly pale auriculars. The bird was overall quite pale. Smith's Longspur is typically warmer and showing less streaking on the crown and more contrast on the upper parts. Lapland should show more contrasing auriculars and Chestnut-collared should not have the auricular regions as well defined.
Eared Grebe (9)
Western Grebe (9)
Double-crested Cormorant (9)
Great Blue Heron (9)
Great Egret (9)
Snowy Egret (7)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (9)
Glossy Ibis (7)
Northern Shoveler (9)
Green-winged Teal (9)
Greater Scaup (10)
Common Goldeneye (10)
Ruddy Duck (9)
Northern Harrier (10)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (12)
Zone-tailed Hawk (8)
American Kestrel (7)
Prairie Falcon (15)
Common Moorhen (9)
Black-necked Stilt (10)
American Avocet (9, 10)
Long-billed Curlew (7)
Ring-billed Gull (9)
Greater Roadrunner (11)
Burrowing Owl (11, 14)
White-throated Swift (11)
Lewis's Woodpecker (12)
Gila Woodpecker (8)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (3, 4)
Northern Flicker (8)
Black Phoebe (8)
Say's Phoebe (2)
Vermilion Flycatcher (8)
Loggerhead Shrike (13)
Horned Lark (11)
Tree Swallow (9)
Verdin (2, 8)
Bushtit (4)
Cactus Wren (8)
Bewick's Wren (2)
Marsh Wren (11)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (2, 5)
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher (2)
Western Bluebird (5)
Mountain Bluebird (10)
Hermit Thrush (8)
American Pipit (11)
Phainopepla (5)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (8)
Common Yellowthroat (9)
California Towhee (1)
Abert's Towhee (8)
Black-throated Sparrow (4)
Sage Sparrow (13)
Savannah Sparrow (10, 11)
Fox Sparrow (12)
McCown's Longspur (11)
Chestnut-collared Longspur (11)
House Finch (5)
Locations:
1) Anza Borrego San Felipe Canyon (Dec 24)
2) Anza Borrego Visitor Center (Dec 24)
3) Anza Borrego Blair Valley (Dec 24)
4) Marshall South Home (Dec 25)
5) Yaqui Wells (Dec 25)
6) Westmoreland (Dec 26)
7) Bannester & Forester (Dec 26)
8) Cattle Call Park (Dec 26)
9) Finney-Ramer Unit (Dec 26)
10) Blair Road (Dec 26)
11) Peterson Road, Calipatria (Dec 26)
12) Furnace Creek (Dec 28)
13) Keane Spring (Dec 28)
14) Twisselman Rd. & I5 (Dec 29)
15) I580 near Tracy (Dec 29)
You can contact me via email.