As I've mentioned before on here, from 13th - 21st November I was away in San Francisco. This was partly to attend some academic conferences but I had plenty of free days to indulge in other pastimes. The weather was very pleasant the whole week with no rain and mostly sunny days. It was occasionally foggy until mid-morning and was windy enough for a whale-watching trip I hoped to go on to be cancelled due to bad weather. Here's a quick run down of the places I went to.
Day 1 - After enjoying wonderful views of a largely cloudless North American continent from the air, I managed an hour or so birding around the Presidio and Crissy Field. This area is a large wooded park that lies to the south of the Golden Gate Bridge and was just a few blocks from my hotel. Crissy Field is an old airfield where there is a saltmarsh restoration programme going on. The creek here is quite good for gulls, waders etc.
Day 2 - Birding around the Presidio in the morning and then Land's End and the Sutro Baths - an area of woodland and rocky coast right out on the edge of the Pacific.
Day 3 - Visit to Lake Merced, a collection of lakes in the south of San Francisco. Good for some wetland species.
Day 4 - A fairly spectacular day biring the Palo Alto Baylands between Mountain View and Palo Alto. This is an area of saltmarsh, tidal creeks and salt pans on the southern part of San Francisco Bay. Very large numbers of ducks and waterfowl, lots of raptors and waders and a few other goodies. A real 'you don't know where to look' sort of place.
Day 5 - A day hiking in the Marin Headlands just to the north of the Golden Gate Bridge. A fairly wild area of chapparal and scrub. I also visited Hawk Hill, a well known raptor observation point, and Rodeo Lagoon, a small, marshy coastal lake. I did very well for raptors on this day, with 10 species and some very close views.
Day 6 - A visit to Oakland on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay. Firstly I walked around Lake Merrit, a shallow lake right in the heart of the city. This was a remarkably good place considering its location. Then a walk around Arrowhead Marsh in the Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline. This was a very nice area of marsh and open water that was particularly good for waders. I also had a walk around the Presidio early in the morning.
Day 7 and Day 8 - Spent these two days around UC Berkeley and saw a few interesting birds in the woodland around the campus.
Day 9 - A final walk around the Presidio in the morning before heading for the airport for my flight home.
Here's a few pictures from the gallery, of varying standards. I'll post a species list below:
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery.../cat/500/page/1
cheers Andrew
thread title caught my eye
played that just the other day!!!
Here's a species list. I managed 133 species and 34 lifers (marked with an *):
Red-throated Diver - 1 Sutro Baths
Great-northern Diver - 2 Presidio, 1 Rodeo Lagoon
Pied-billed Grebe - Numerous on most fresh or brackish water. 100s at Palo Alto
Slavonian (Horned) Grebe - Small numbers in a few places
Black-necked (Eared) Grebe - Numerous on most lakes. 100s at Palo Alto
Western Grebe - Some large flocks particularly on the sea
Clark's Grebe* - Quite a few amongst the previous species. Most large grebes at Lake Merced were of this species
American White Pelican* - 100s at Palo Alto but none elsewhere
Brown Pelican* - Quite common in wetlands around San Francisco and Oakland. None seen at Palo Alto though
Double-crested Cormorant - Common around most water
Brandt's Cormorant* - 100s at Sutro Baths and smaller numbers elsewhere on the coast
Pelagic Cormorant* - 1 with Brandt's at Sutro Baths and 1, rather surprisingly, on freshwater at Lake Merced.
Great Blue Heron - quite common
Great Egret - quite common
Snowy Egret* - common in most shallow water
Black-crowned Night Heron - some good roosts, including one of around 15+ just a few blocks from where I stayed in a small surburban lake.
Turkey Vulture - a few at Palo Alto and 30+ in the Marin Headlands, often flying just over my head
Mute Swan - a few on the lake near my hotel. Probably as wild as most in the UK
Brant - two on Rodeo Lagoon, both young birds
Canada Goose - fairly common
Green-winged Teal - 150+ at Palo Alto. Not many elsewhere
Mallard - common
Gadwall - 50+ Palo Alto, a few elsewhere
Pintail - 150+ Palo Alto, 5 Arrowhead Marsh
Blue-winged Teal - 6 at Palo Alto (3 pairs). Very smart indeed and not too common in California in winter
Cinnamon Teal - 20+ Palo Alto, including some very bright drakes.
Shoveler - 2000+ Palo Alto. Huge numbers really - the commonest dabbler there. A few elsewhere.
American Wigeon - 200+ Palo Alto and smaller numbers elsewhere
Canvasback - 500+ Palo Alto with quite a few in Oakland
Ring-necked Duck - quite common on various lakes
Greater Scaup - this and the next species formed vast flocks out in San Francisco Bay around Palo Alto. Also some around Oakland
Lesser Scaup - see above. This species seemed to be the more numerous of the two Scaups
Surf Scoter - small numbers on the sea around San Francisco and also some on freshwater at Mountain View and Rodeo Lagoon.
Common Goldeneye - good numbers, particularly at Lake Merrit
Barrow's Goldeney* - 20+ Lake Merrit. Much commoner here than I expected, although the numbers were hard to assess given the difficulties of IDing immatures in particular
Bufflehead - small numbers in various places. Regular at Crissy Field
Ruddy Duck - 5000+ Palo Alto and lots on most lakes. Probably the most numerous duck in the Bay area.
Osprey - 1 at Lake Merced and 1 from Hawk Hill
White-tailed Kite* - at least 5 of these beautiful raptors at Palo Alto
Northern Harrier - several at Palo Alto where they were almost constantly in view. Many came very close. Also a number in the Marin Headlands and one at Arrowhead Marsh
Sharp-shinned Hawk - several in the Marin Headlands and a few others
Cooper's Hawk - one from Hawk Hill but no definite others
Red-shouldered Hawk* - A number of this incredible looking buteos. Often really approachable
Red-tailed Hawk - common with 30+ in the Marin Headlands. Some very dark birds seen
American Kestrel - small numbers. The first bird of the trip with one on San Francisco airport
Merlin - 2 at Palo Alto including a 'Taiga' adult male. 1 at Hawk Hill. I've seen loads of these before but still one of the highlights of the trip
Peregrine - 1 Land's End, 1 Palo Alto, 1 Marin Headlands
Pheasant - 2 at Palo Alto. Probably rather plastic but aren't they all
Clapper Rail* - 2 of the California subspecies seen very well at Palo Alto. Also heard calling at Arrowhead Marsh
American Coot - common on most areas of water
Grey (Black-bellied) Plover - a few at Arrowhead Marsh and Crissy Field
Killdeer - quite common in a few places
Black Oystercatcher* - 2 at Sutro Baths
Black-necked Stilt - a few small flocks at Palo Alto and Arrowhead Marsh
American Avocet - some large flocks at Palo Alto and smaller numbers at Arrowhead Marsh
Greater Yellowlegs - moderate numbers at Palo Alto and Arrowhead Marsh, 1 at Rodeo Lagoon
Willet* - moderate numbers at various places including Crissy Field
Whimbrel - a few Hudsonians in with curlews at Palo Alto and 1 at Arrowhead Marsh
Long-billed Curlew* - Over a hundred at Palo Alto, 1 at Rodeo Lagoon and a few at Arrowhead Marsh of this big cinnamon coloured beauties
Marbled Godwit* - small numbers in various places including Crissy Field
Ruddy Turnstone - 1 at Sutro Baths
Black Turnstone* - 50+ at Sutro Baths and 2 at Arrowhead Marsh. Always wanted to see this bird
Surfbird* - 4 at Sutro Baths in with the above. Another one I've always wanted to see
Sanderling - a few in various places
Western Sandpiper - 50+ at Arrowhead Marsh
Least Sandpiper - the most numerous peep with 100s at Arrowhead Marsh
Dunlin - Only seen at Arrowhead Marsh
Dowitcher sp - Quite a lot at both Palo Alto and Arrowhead Marsh. I never heard any call so I'm not really certain which ones I was seeing (both are possible). Might post some pictures up to see if anyone else can do them!
Franklin's Gull* - a 1st winter seen at very close range at Lake Merrit. Quite unexpected as this species is supposed to be scarce in California
Bonaparte's Gull - 30+ at Lake Merced and small numbers at various other sites
Heermann's Gull* - 5+ at Sutro Baths and 6 at Rodeo Lagoon. Various ages seen
Mew Gull - fairly numerous, particularly around Crissy Field
Ring-billed Gull - numerous in some places but not others. Most common at Lake Merrit
California Gull - common in most areas
Herring Gull - only a few for certain
Western Gull* - very common everywhere
Glaucous-winged Gull* - widespread in moderate numbers. Many apparent hybrids with the previous species
Elegant Tern* - 6 at Land's End and 2 across the Bay in Marin County. I was surprised there were still good numbers of these about
Forster's Tern - 50+ at Palo Alto
Feral Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon* - a couple of large flocks seen in flight around Hawk Hill
Mourning Dove - moderate numbers
Burrowing Owl - 1 at Mountain View in with ground squirrels
Short-eared Owl - 1 at Palo Alto
Anna's Hummingbird* - lots of these stunners all over the place. Far more males than females seen
Belted Kingfisher - a few, including 1 at Crissy Field
Nuttall's Woodpecker* - 1 seen in the rather small area of parkland at Lake Merrit.
Downy Woodpecker - small numbers
Northern Flicker - frequently seen
Black Phoebe* - a common and ubiquitous bird. My first lifer of the trip
Say's Phoebe - 1 Crissy Field, 1 Palo Alto, 1 Arrowhead Marsh
Loggerhead Shrike - 2 of these engaging birds at Palo Alto
Steller's Jay - 1 at the Presidio eating a Monarch butterfly, 1 at UC Berkeley
Western Scrub Jay - common
American Crow - common
Raven - common
Chestnut-backed Chickadee* - Lots of these lovely birds in most wooded or scrubby areas
Oak Titmouse* - one seen in the same area of Lake Merrit as the Nuttall's Woodpecker
Bushtit - common
Pygmy Nuthatch - Quite a few of these engaging things, mainly in the Presidio
Brown Creeper - 1 UC Berkeley, 1 Presidio
Bewick's Wren - a few of this smart wren in various places. Most common in the chapparal in the Marin Headlands
Marsh Wren* - Seen at Lake Merced, Palo Alto and Arrowhead Marsh. Heard more frequently
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - very common
Hermit Thrush - regularly seen
American Robin - a few flocks in the Presidio but otherwise rather scarce
Wrentit* - A bird I've always wanted to see. The commonest species in the chapparal in the Marin Headlands but easier to hear than see. Had some excellent close views of a few birds though. None elsewhere
Northern Mockingbird - small numbers
Starling
American Pipit* - 50+ at Arrowhead Marsh. I was quite struck by their distinctive call - like a thin Pied Wagtail
Cedar Waxwing - small flocks in the Presidio and at Mountain View
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 at UC Berkeley
Yellow-rumped Warbler - very common
Townsend's Warbler* - this very smart bird was common in most areas of woodland and scrub
Common Yellowthroat* - a few of these crackers at Lake Merced and Palo Alto
Spotted Towhee - one seen well at Rodeo Lagoon
California Towhee* - common in most scrubby areas
Rufous-crowned Sparrow - a pair seen on the road up to Hawk Hill. A bit of a surprise
Savannah Sparrow - common at Palo Alto but not seen elsewhere.
Fox Sparrow - quite common in areas of scrub, particularly at the Presidio
Song Sparrow - Common
White-crowned Sparrow - very common
Golden-crowned Sparrow* - common almost everywhere. Seemed to favour scrubby or wooded areas more than the previous species
Dark-eyed Junco - the 'Oregeon' type common
Red-winged Blackbird - only moderate numbers. 1 seen with one leg!
Western Meadowlark - Quite a few in some places e.g. Palo Alto, Arrowhead Marsh
Brewer's Blackbird - common and tame around the city
Brown-headed Cowbird - 2 at Lake Merced
House Finch - very common
Pine Siskin - some moderately sized flocks in various wooded areas
Lesser Goldfinch - a few seen on day two in the Presidio but not otherwise recorded
American Goldfinch - 2 at Lake Merced the only ones seen
House Sparrow