April 2005 Field Journal 4.9 SF Birds
Chain of Lakes was fairly quiet this afternoon. Best bird was a first
spring male HOODED MERGANSER on North Lake. It seemed a tad confused,
exhibiting aspects of courtship behavior towards any other waterfowl on the
lake, irrespective of species or sex. A pair of BUFFLEHEAD were still
present as well. Middle Lake had a lingering FOX SPARROW, while of the
remaining YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERs, all that I could identify subspecifically
were Myrtle Warblers. RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS have a nest in the vicinity of
the intersection of JFK and Chain of Lakes Drives.
4.14 Cedar Waxwings
I also had about 30 Cedar Waxwings near City College this morning.4.24 Additional breeding records for SF
Bill Bousman is doing some research on breeding distribution in the SF Bay
Area and has found a number of records that might be of interest to someone
other than me. :-) Reprinted by permission.Mark
---
European Starling.
First nest date is 8 May 1964 (not 1966) and citation should be to Tenaza
and Tenaza (not Tenaya and Tenaya).EARLY RECORDS:
Yellow Warbler.
17 May 1914. 5 eggs, Lake Merced, SF (Harry W. Carriger; WFVZ #36589),
"Nest in triple crotch of Willow on bank of Lake."Wilson's Warbler.
6 May 1917. 4 eggs, Lake Merced, SF (Harry W. Carriger; WFVZ #36659)Yellow-breasted Chat.
2 May 1882. 5 eggs, San Francisco, SF (Philo W. Smith; WFVZ #130211)Savannah Sparrow.
13 May 1885. 5 eggs, San Francisco, SF (A. M. Ingersoll; WFVZ #70133),
"nest on ground in pasture" [There are three later egg sets at the WFVZ, but
I did not record the dates. WGB]White-crowned Sparrow.
7 May 1885. eggs, San Francisco, SF (J. R. Haskin; MVZ #1961)Dark-eyed Junco.
15 May 1926. 4 eggs, Lake Merced, SF (Harry W. Carriger; WFVZ #34961)Great-tailed Grackle.
20 Jun 1980. "The Great-tailed Grackle pair in S.F. attempted breeding, as
a nest was found at the foot of Van Ness Ave., June 20 (JM); however, the
attempt failed. This marks the first regional nesting record." (Am. Birds
34:928) [Joe Morlan. Regional record.]Lawrence's Goldfinch.
23 May 1915. 4 eggs, San Francisco, SF (Dudley S. De Groot; WFVZ #94053),
"6 ft up in an alder bush near the water. Made of plant materials + grass
lined with plant down"Bill
4.26 Lesser Goldfinch breeding status
There's a breeding confirmation from the atlas date from
February:Lesser Goldfinch 29-Feb-92 4575 CO-CN
and confirmed fledglings in late April:
Lesser Goldfinch 28-Apr-92 5075 CO-FY
4.28 Mt. Davidson
I was hoping for fallout, but merely found more or less expected numbers for
this time of year. Migrants included:Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Wilson's Warbler 3
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
Lazuli Bunting 7Also, at the bottom of the ravine starting on the trail around the eastern
perimeter, I had an interesting immature/female hummingbird. It had an all
green back, a tail that appeared to be entirely dark from the back, buffy
wash across the chest and the primaries appeared to extend beyond the tail.
Given how hard it was raining, I'll leave this unidentified.4.30 SF Birds
Paul, Hugh and I hit a few spots yesterday without anything really notable.
Sightings of possible interest:Pacific Loon (1)
Common Loon (5)
Black Oystercatcher (1)
Wandering Tattler 2 (1)
Black Turnstone (1)
Caspian Tern (1)
Forster's Tern ~15 (5)
Band-tailed Pigeon 6 (4)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (6)
Western Kingbird (2)
Western Bluebird 2 no sign of nesting activity (7)
Swainson's Thrush (2)
Cedar Waxwing ~45 (2, 4)
Lazuli Bunting (2)
Hooded Oriole (2, 6)
Purple Finch (3)
Lesser Goldfinch male and female (4)
American Goldfinch (2)Locations:
1) Cliff House (Apr 30)
2) East Wash (Apr 30)
3) Fort Miley East (Apr 30)
4) Crissy Warehouses (Apr 30)
5) Crissy Lagoon (Apr 30)
6) Kobbe and Upton (Apr 30)
7) Presdio Hills (Apr 30)
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