September 2002 Field Journal 9.8 - 9 Mono County and Yosemite
AMERICAN PIPIT 12-15 at Spillway Lake (Sep 08)
FOX SPARROW gray-backed small-billed at Parker Creek (Sep 07)
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 2 at South Tufa (Sep 07)
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 3-4 at Mono County Park (Sep 07)31 species seen:
Red-shouldered Hawk (4)
Red-tailed Hawk (4, 5)
Killdeer (2)
American Avocet (3)
California Gull (2)
Black Phoebe (3)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Steller's Jay (1)
Clark's Nutcracker (1)
Black-billed Magpie (3)
Violet-green Swallow (1)
Mountain Chickadee (1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
Pygmy Nuthatch (1)
Brown Creeper (1)
Marsh Wren (3)
Hermit Thrush (1)
American Pipit (5)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
Green-tailed Towhee (1)
Chipping Sparrow (1)
Brewer's Sparrow (2)
Sage Sparrow (2)
Savannah Sparrow (2)
Fox Sparrow (1)
Song Sparrow (3)
Dark-eyed Junco (1)
Red-winged Blackbird (2)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (2, 3)
Brewer's Blackbird (2)Locations:
1) Parker Creek (Sep 07)
2) South Tufa (Sep 07)
3) Mono County Park (Sep 07)
4) Mono Pass (Sep 08)
5) Spillway Lake, Yosemite National Park (Sep 08)9.13 Elegant Terns in SF Bay
Mark,Large numbers of Elegant Terns are regular at Coyote Point
in the fall; I would guess that these are all arriving through
the Golden Gate, given the paucity of records from Santa Clara
County. When numbers reach peaks at Coyote Point, we even get
Parasitic Jaegers on a regular basis.9.14 City Birding
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Yellow Warbler (1)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
MacGillivray's Warbler (2)
Western Tanager (1)
Bullock's Oriole (2)Locations:
1) East Wash (Sep 14)
2) Lobos Dunes (Sep 14)9.14 Long-eared Owl at Ft. Miley
Found by Alan and Hugh earlier in the day. Got a nice look at the bird perched in the cypresses at the north end of the mesa, clued in by a hummer harassing it on it's roost.9.29 Point Reyes
The GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER continued at Nunes today and was well if briefly seen by large numbers of birders.Description:
An unmistakeable individual in remarkably crisp plumage. A wood warbler with grayish upper parts and white under parts with a bright yellow cap and white sides to the face. The auricular region was jet black and extended all the way to the bill, leaving a broad white supercilium above the auricular region. The bill was long, all-dark and symmetrically tapered on both mandibles.The bird had a jet black bib extending from the base of the bill to the top of the breast, leaving a broad white malar region on the face. The wings were gray; the greater coverts were broadly tipped bright yellow almost all the way to the median coverts, becoming less bright as they disappeared underneath the median coverts. The median coverts were equally broadly yellow, giving the impression of two broad, if indistinctly defined yellow wingbars.
Analysis:
The only possible confusion with GOLDEN-WINGED WARLBER might be Brewster's Warbler. However, second generation (backcross) adult male Brewster's Warblers have much reduced black in the auricular region and white throats, which are easily eliminated by the description.The crisp black bib pretty much guarantees that the bird is a male; aging is more difficult. First year birds undergo a prebasic molt on the breeding grounds that usually includes all of the median and greater coverts but no tertials or rectrices. After hatch year birds undergo a complete prebasic molt on the breeding grounds. Given the crispness of all of the feathers of this bird, it appears that this bird is an after hatch year (adult) male.
The other sighting that bears discussion is the WHITE-WINGED DOVE at the Fish Docks. I had good looks in a scope at the bird that was quite distant.
Description:
An obvious Columbiform superficially resembling a Mourning Dove but having a large white patch along the edge of the folded wing from roughly the alula to the greater coverts. The undertail coverts were gray and the undertail was black basally and white distally with the black extending well beyond the tip of the undertail coverts. There did not seem to be an obvious bluish facial patch surrounding the eye, but the bird was facing away and the face was only occasionally visible.Analysis:
The WHITE-WINGED DOVE is the only regularly occuring North American Columbiform to exhibit a pronounced white patch on the edge of the folded wing and the pattern of white, black and gray on the undertail and coverts clinches the identification. The apparent absence of the bluish facial patch may suggest a first year bird, but I can not be sure of this.Sightings:
Eurasian Wigeon (4)
Elegant Tern (4)
White-winged Dove (3)
Golden-winged Warbler (1)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (2)
Magnolia Warbler (3)
Palm Warbler (2)Locations:
1) Nunes (Sep 29)
2) Lighthouse (Sep 29)
3) Fish Docks (Sep 29)
4) Bolinas Lagoon (Sep 29)Home
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