10.4 Pt. Reyes
Wood Duck (5)
Western Kingbird (5)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (1)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (2)
Palm Warbler (2)
Western Tanager (1)
Green-tailed Towhee (4)
Black-headed Grosbeak (1)
Locations:
1) Stinson Beach (Oct 04)
2) Fish Docks (Oct 04)
3) New Willows (Oct 04)
4) Nunes (Oct 04)
5) Teal Pond (Oct 04)
10.12 Monterey
Black-footed Albatross (1)
Northern Fulmar (1)
Pink-footed Shearwater (1)
Flesh-footed Shearwater (1)
Buller's Shearwater (1)
Sooty Shearwater (1)
Short-tailed Shearwater (1)
Red Phalarope (1)
Pomarine Jaeger (1)
Tufted Puffin (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (2)
Black-throated Green Warbler (2)
Killer Whale sp. (1)
Pacific White-sided Dolphin sp. (1)
Locations:
1) Monterey Bay (Oct 12)
2) Laguna Grande Park (Oct 12)
Black-throated
Green Warbler description:
An obvious warbler quite similar in appearance to a Towsend's Warbler, with the following essential differences. Very poorly marked face; mostly unmarked yellow with a pale greenish eyeline and suffusion in the auricular region broken only by a yellow subocular crescent. Upperparts were greenish though I did not observe whether there was streaking on the back. Underparts mostly white with blurry streaking on the sides of the upper breast. Throat and chin were unmarked white. Undertail coverts had a faint though discernible wash in the vent area.
Confusion with other Dendroica warblers is certainly possible. The far more common Townsend's Warbler lacks yellow in the vent region and has a more strongly defined auricular region, though some first fall females can approach the facial pattern of a Black-throated Green Warbler. Fortunately, the amount of black streaking on the breast of this bird eliminates first fall female plumage. Golden-cheeked Warbler also lacks yellow in the vent region, lacks a clean border to the auricular region, and would be even rarer in CA as a fall vagrant than Black-throated Green Warbler. Hermit X Townsend's Warbler is also worth discussion. Some Hermit x Townsend's Warblers have face patterns that can approach Black-throated Green Warbler, but lack yellow in the vent and, for birds storngly marked in the face, have a different distribution of streaking and yellow on the underparts. Thus, we're left with a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, most likely an adult female and quite likely the same bird as was seen last year at almost exactly this same location.
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