3.4 Re: [pen-bird] White-throated Swift,
early migrants...
Hi Mark
I sent a message to {pen- bird} and I'm for sure how it takes
before it
comes back to me. So here is your answer.
White-throated Swifts were confirmed breeding at the 280/92 interchange
during the breeding bird atlas. I've seen White- throated Swift
fly out of
the overpass at first light in the morning in midwinter. I've
also seen them
in nearby Belmont and San Carlos over the hills in winter.
3.6 [CALBIRDS] Black and white shearwater
ID
The oceanic range of Townsend's Shearwater off Baja California
is limited to
"the open ocean off the southern end of the peninsula"
(A. R. Wilbur. Birds
of Baja California. 1986). There are no documented records of
Newell's
Shearwater off Baja California (R. A. Erickson and S. N. G. Howell.
Birds of
the Baja California Peninsula. A.B.A. Monographs in Field Ornithology
No. 3.
2001). Manx Shearwater is proving to be a regular visitor to
the Pacific
Coast of North America (c. 60 records for California), where
as there are no
records for Townsend's or Newel's Shearwaters from these same
waters.
Posted photos of the Manx Shearwater off the Palos Verdes Peninsula
show
that the bird had entirely white undertail coverts and the diagnostic
facial
pattern of a Manx Shearwater. The white at the vent on both the
Townsend's
and Newell's Shearwaters extends up to include the sides of the
rump
(Violet-green Swallow pattern), and Townsend's Shearwater has
dark undertail
coverts. From the documentation presented for the Palos Verdes
Peninsula
bird, there appears to be no reason to consider the far less
likely
Townsend's and Newell's Shearwaters, and the same can be said
for the two
seen from San Clemente Island.
3.8 [SFBirds]
Nothing exciting, though there were
quite a few Sterna terns flying north well offshore the Cliff
House which probably were Forster's Terns.
Cliff House
Sterna tern sp.
Surfbird
Black Turnstone
Bercut
Red-shouldered Hawk PR-C
Middle Lake
Bushtit CO-NB
North Lake
Red-breasted Sapsucker
3.13 [SFBirds]
Fuchsia Dell (didn't see Stephen):
.jpg)
15 Cedar Waxwings just east of the conservatory
Stowe Lake:
Canvasback
3 Lesser Scaup
Buffalo Paddock:
Red Fox
North Lake:
2 Steller's Jays
Red-breasted Sapsucker
3.14 [NM RBA]
EW reports that all three ROSY FINCHES
have been coming to the Kandahar Condos feeder at the Taos Ski
Valley.
3.20 [SFBirds]
I had a good morning today in the
city. I found the SCOTT'S ORIOLE around 7:30 this morning in
the same tree Hugh had it in. It might actually roost in that
tree; I was there earlier and nothing was happening and when
I went back, I finally heard the bird singing and mewing away
and then got pretty good looks at it, almost as if it was just
getting active. I went back for my camera, but it stopped singing
in the interim.
The TROPICAL KINGBIRD is alive and well in the Buffalo Paddock and I was surprised to find a HOODED MERGANSER in the duck pond in the Arboretum. Has this been reported recently and I'm not paying attention?
Middle Lake was quite birdy with a pair of STELLER'S JAYs that might well be breeding candidates. Remember that breeding of Steller's Jays has not ever been confirmed in Golden Gate Park to the best of my knowledge. At the south end of Middle Lake, there was a singing WILSON'S WARBLER, a first for this year for me. However, the most tantalizing moment was an unseen bird that was softly vocalizing in a manner similar to a California Thrasher. It was in the middle of the extraordinarly dense thicket which separates the grassy area to the south from Middle Lake and impossible to see. Of course, this is highly unlikely.
At the Harding Park Boat House, a VIRGINIA RAIL vocalized and the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continues, but the real surprise was an adult male RED CROSSBILL drinking at the rainwater pond at the golf course debris area just north of the 15th green. Might they be breeding there? Also, I had a fly-over OSPREY, looking more like a migrant than a commuter.
Conservatory
Scott's Oriole
Hairy Woodpecker
Cedar Waxwing 12
AIDS Dell
Varied Thrush
Cooper's Hawk
Arboretum
Hooded Merganser
Purple Finch 3
Orange-crowned Warbler
Red-tailed Hawk
Buffalo Paddock
Tropical Kingbird
Middle Lake
Steller's Jay 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Tree Swallow
Wilson's Warbler
Cedar Waxwing 20
California Thrasher ???
2 off-leash dogs in lake
Adult male Townsend's Warbler with yellow in vent
Harding Park Boat House
Greater White-fronted Goose
Double-crested Cormorant CO-CN
Virginia Rail
Harding Park Golf Course
Tree Swallow
Purple Finch 2
Pine Siskin
Osprey
Red Crossbill
Red-tailed Hawk 2 PR-C
3.23 BirdBlitz
There were several obvious misses
and we still almost hit the all-time record of 127. Highlights
include the HOODED MERGANSER at the Arboretum duck pond, a single
BAND-TAILED PIGEON at McClaren, the omnipresent TROPICAL KINGBIRD
at the Buffalo Paddock, five swallow species at Lake Merced (on
the 23rd of March!), the BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER at Candlestick,
a NASHVILLE WARBLER at McClaren, and a heard-only BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
near the Presidio restoration area. Also of note was that there
were more shorebirds at Heron's Head than I think I've ever seen
before.
123 species:
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Brown Pelican
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
California Quail
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Surfbird
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rock Dove
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Tropical Kingbird
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Hermit Warbler
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
3.22 {EBB} Hermit Thrush Winter Range
>
> Several years ago I was hiking through the Schulman Grove
of ancient
> Bristecone Pine in the White Mountains, and came upon a
singing Hermit
> Thrush that was basically gray in color, with just a little
brown rust
> on the tail and primaries. I was astonished. Turns out some
of the
> Basin and Range Hermits look quite different from the ones
that winter
> on our coast. I don't know where this interior population
winters or if
> they ever occur in coastal Calif.
>
Yes, the population from the interior _G. g. auduboni_ can be quite pale and difficult to identify base solely on coloration. This winter, we had a bird in Nayarit, Mexico that we looked at for quite awhile before we realized that it was indeed a Hermit Thrush, most likely _auduboni_. Range maps also indicate a significant wintering population in Mexico, though I haven't seen one that separates out the subspecies winter ranges.
3.24 {EBB} Mitchell Canyon
Early this afternoon, my wife and
I hiked a bit in Mitchell Canyon. It was wonderfully full of
birds and several butterflies, but it's still a bit early for
wildflowers. Everything was pretty much expected other than a
bird near natural history marker 2 which I still struggling with
despite looking at for more than 15 seconds on two different
occasions.
A medium-sized passerine notable for being uniformly pale to medium gray over its entire underparts and face with a prominent white eye ring that was slightly thicker at the rear. The bill was medium sized, relatively thin and all dark. The flight feathers appeared dark, though I never had other than a ventral view of the bird. The undertail coverts were white. The bird vocalized a soft "peeu" note several times, and there may have been more than one bird making the same vocalization in the same area.
I started with Phainopepla (there was mistletoe in the area), though this is clearly wrong due to the eye ring and lack of a red eye and lack of a crest. From there, I went to Townsend's Solitaire, but a solitaire should have concolorous undertail coverts. Also, I think I would have been able to seen the wing patches, but I'm not sure about that. The lack of contrast between the face and the underparts, posture and vocalizations rule out any kind of Gnatcatcher.
From there, I went to female bluebirds, and there are many Western Bluebirds in the parking lot, to be sure. However, I'm troubled by the fact that there was no hint of any rusty wash on the breast and the contrast on the undertail coverts, both of which are not good for Western Bluebird, particularly at this time of year. However, female Mountain Bluebird should show at least some blue on the flight feathers and I think I would have seen that.
The most parsimonius explanation would be WESTERN BLUEBIRD, but I really don't understand how a western bluebird could be this pale at this time of year, and the undertail coverts are wrong anyway. Yet Mountain Bluebird seems far too much of "how lucky can you get", and thus, my quandry.
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Swift sp.
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
American Robin
Wrentit
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
3.26 Mostly San Mateo County with Brenda
Senturia
Highlights were 50 PINE SISKINs at
Gazos Creek.
56 species seen:
Red-throated Loon (3)
Brown Pelican (2)
Brandt's Cormorant (2)
Double-crested Cormorant (2)
Great Egret (2)
Snowy Egret (2)
Turkey Vulture (4)
Northern Harrier (2)
Red-shouldered Hawk (5)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1)
California Quail (4)
American Coot (2)
Killdeer (2)
Black Oystercatcher (2)
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
Ring-billed Gull (2)
Herring Gull (2)
Thayer's Gull (2)
Western Gull (2)
Glaucous-winged Gull (2)
Common Murre (3)
Marbled Murrelet (3)
Anna's Hummingbird (6)
Allen's Hummingbird (4)
Downy Woodpecker (4)
Hairy Woodpecker (4)
Northern Flicker (4)
Tropical Kingbird (8)
Hutton's Vireo (5)
Steller's Jay (4)
Western Scrub-Jay (4)
Common Raven (5)
Tree Swallow (2)
Violet-green Swallow (2, 6)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (2)
Barn Swallow (4)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (4)
Bushtit (6)
Bewick's Wren (4)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (4)
American Robin (4)
Wrentit (4)
Orange-crowned Warbler (4, 7)
Wilson's Warbler (4)
Spotted Towhee (2)
Song Sparrow (2)
White-crowned Sparrow (3)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (3)
Red-winged Blackbird (6)
Western Meadowlark (3)
Brewer's Blackbird (2)
Purple Finch (4, 7)
Pine Siskin (4)
Lesser Goldfinch (5, 7)
American Goldfinch (4)
Locations:
1) Hwy 1
2) Pescadero Beach
3) Pigeon Pt.
4) Gazos Creek
5) Green Gate
6) Phipps Ranlch
7) Stage Road
8) Buffalo Paddock
3.28 - 4.2
Death Valley and environs
Birding highlight was 5 CHUKAR at
NV 174 on Mar 31, but the GREAT BASIN COLLARED LIZARD below may
have been the overall highlight.
34 species seen:
Canada Goose (18)
American Wigeon (16)
Northern Harrier (5)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1, 17)
Prairie Falcon (1)
Chukar (11)
California Gull (16)
Common Poorwill (2)
White-throated Swift (4)
Hairy Woodpecker (17)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (19)
Black Phoebe (5)
Say's Phoebe (10)
Loggerhead Shrike (5)
Steller's Jay (19)
Black-billed Magpie (17)
Horned Lark (3)
Violet-green Swallow (17)
Mountain Chickadee (13)
Rock Wren (10)
Bewick's Wren (15)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (13)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (13)
American Robin (4, 14)
Sage Thrasher (3)
Spotted Towhee (6)
Brewer's Sparrow (12)
Black-throated Sparrow (6)
White-crowned Sparrow (6)
Dark-eyed Junco (7)
Western Meadowlark (9)
Great-tailed Grackle (8)
Scaup sp. (18)
Locations:
1) I5 (Mar 28)
2) NV 174 (Mar 28)
3) NV 174 (Mar 29)
4) Artist's Drive (Mar 29)
5) West side road (Mar 29)
6) Johnson Canyon (Mar 29)
7) Dante's View (Mar 29)
8) Beatty, NV (Mar 30)
9) Tin Pass (Mar 30)
10) Lost Burro Mine (Mar 30)
11) NV 174 (Mar 31)
12) Emigrant Canyon Road (Mar 31)
13) Mahogany Campground (Mar 31)
14) Thorndike Campqround (Mar 31)
15) Westgard Pass (Apr 01)
16) Bishop County Park (Apr 01)
17) Mono County Park (Apr 01)
18) Washoe Lake, NV (Apr 01)
19) Northern Queen (Apr 02)
You can contact me via email.