June 2005 Field Journal 6.11 SF Birding
I got out for a few hours this morning without anything unusal. A
SWAINSON'S THRUSH continues at the East Wash and was quite territorial. I
suspect breeding, but confirmation would be virtually impossible given
suspected nest location. A singing WILSON'S WARBLER continues and there was
another warbler in the vicinity that was either a female Wilson's or Hooded.
More interestingly, its call note did not resemble a Wilson's call note.I also checked Fort Miley East, the hillside behind the Crissy warehouses,
Crissy Lagoon and North Lake. Lots of fledglings about including a
fledgling PURPLE FINCH giving a call that I wasn't familiar with, but
nothing else out of the ordinary.6.18 [SFBirds] Rhinoceros Auklet, Sooty Shearwater, Pacific Loon
This morning, I birded the Cliff House until the squall came through. There
was still a lingering PACIFIC LOON in full alternate flying north. Shortly
thereafter, a SOOTY SHEARWATER cruised past not far beyond the offshore
rocks. The silvery underwing coverts showed very nicely in the relatively
flat light. Finally, just as I was walking out, I noticed two dark birds
sitting inside the rocks. I was assuming that they'd be scoters or even
murres which were abundant offshore, but I was stunned to find that they
were both RHINOCEROS AUKLETs. Äfter observing them for about 2-3 minutes,
the birds left for parts unknown just as the squall hit shore.Description (mostly of one bird; the other bird was quite similar):
The birds were substantially smaller than Brandt's Cormorants. The birds
were pretty much all dark dorsally with a bill that to my eye was distinctly
yellow orange or even orange. The head was essentially all dark. The bill
shape was fairly stout but not bulbous and the eye appeared to be light.
When one bird preened, there were no wing markings that I could discern but
the dark upper breast was fairly cleanly demarcated by a pale belly.Analysis:
Scoters would certainly be more likely this close in shore. Would that
these birds were scoters, they would be adult male birds since they were all
black, not brown or somewhere inbetween, but no male scoter has a white
belly. No other sea ducks are essentially all dark other than Harlequin
Duck which can easily be eliminated. So, we're left with alcids. Bill
color pretty removes most alcids; no plumage of Common Murre has anything
other than an all dark bill. Bill size eliminates all murrelets.No _Aethia_ Auklet has a dark breast and a pale belly and the probability of
having two them in the same place in CA is so close to zero that it's not
worth considering. :-) Atlantic Puffic is not found on the west coast.
Adult puffins would have a bill that is unmistakeable. Juvenile Horned
Puffin should show some contrast on the face and quite a bit of white above
the waterline. Juvenile Tufted Puffin does require some discussion.
Apparenly some juvenile Tufted Puffins can show some pale on the belly, but
I have limited experience with this plumage. However, the base on the upper
mandible is dark in juvenile plumage and the bill shape is slightly
different. Also, the eye is more likely to be dark, but there may be some
variation in this (?) Seeand
for photos of juvenile Tufted Puffins. So, we're left with RHINOCEROS
AUKLET. The better observed of the two birds is a good match for the bird
below (ignoring the fact that this bird might be oiled):http://tinyurl.com/dclj3
Original voice notes may be found here:Rhinoceros Auklets 6.18.05.wav
6.18 [SFBirds] kingfisher
The only records I'm aware of is a sighting from 4 May 2002 at Middle Lake
by David Nelson and a sighting of my own from 28 August 1999 from India
Basin. Alan or some of the other old timers can probably shed more light on
this. I don't think the bay side gets birded much during the summer, so
it's certainly possible that there's a pair that's breeding undetected,
particularly with the amount of unaccessible shoreline in the shipyard.
They might also breed in the creek near Mission Bay, whose name currently
escapes me.6.25 [SFBirds] East side today
Not much of interest to report today on the east side. At Candlestick
point, there was a feeding frenzy of BROWN PELICANs south of the county
line. At the east end of Aurelious Walker, there were 10 CANADA GEESE while
the Allamand Shipyard had a WESTERN TIGER SWALLOWTAIL. India Basin had an AMERICAN AVOCET while Heron's Head had another pair of avocets, a WILLET
curiously not in breeding plumage and an AMERICAN KESTREL. The Agua Vista
tern colony had at least seven flightless CASPIAN TERN chicks of various
ages. Mission creek had a MALLARD pair with 4 precocial young; the adults
looked normal enough that they might actually have been wild. There were
also ten CANADA GEESE (same ten???) here as well. Also, there was a very
actively feeding AMERICAN KESTREL underneath the 280 exit to King St.6.26 [SFBirds] Least Terns continue
Adam Winer and I watched LEAST TERNs this morning from the end of 7th Avenue
in Oakland. Many were in Alameda County, a few were definitely in San
Francisco and many more were somewhere inbetween. There were also CASPIAN
and FORSTER'S TERNS present. A LONG-BILLED CURLEW seemed out place moving north in SF waters...Home
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