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San Francisco stake-outs RFI (1 Viewer)

KFC

Ken Tucker
Hi there

Spending a few days in San Francisco with my non-birding partner 7th-13th April - my first trip to the West Coast and only my second US visit. I have found lots of good info online on general birding in and around the city and will certainly be spending as much time as I can in Golden Gate Park and Cliff House as well as other sites.

I was just wondering if there were any good stake-outs anywhere for owls or other 'special' species in any of the parks. Great horned? Western Screech? Virginia or clapper rails? Good spot for California Quail? Any band-tailed pigeons about?

Hoping to catch up with black turnstone/surfbird/tattler if there are any lingering. Is Cliff House / Seal Rocks still the most likely place?

Many, many thanks for any help at all on the above species or other general news.

Happy birding one and all.

Ken
 
Hi Ken,

Best thing to do is keep abreast of what is being posted to the Yahoo Group "SFBirds". You can do that here http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=index;days_ago=0 or by joining the group.

For rock shorebirds the Cliff House area is definitely your best bet. Also can be good for seawatching if you have a scope.

Western Screech is no longer found in the city. Great-horned nested in GGPark across the street from the Buffalo Paddock this year, but the young are already out of the nest. Still worth a check, however, as the young at least will still be in the area when you are here.

Best bet for Virginia Rail is the wooden bridge at the north end of Lake Merced. Early or late is best. Birding around Lake Merced in the southwest part of the city is worthwhile. Clapper can only be seen in SF at Heron's Head Park during appropriate tides, but I believe the park is closed for maintenance work. Worth looking into as I'm not sure when it reopens. Clapper's can be seen relatively easily north of SF in Marin County at the Corte Madera Marsh. Check eBird for locations.

Look for California Quail in the Arboretum at GGPark. Cost is $7.00 or so, but this is the only place you are likely to see quail in the city. The area west of the succulent garden is probably your best bet. Check the top of Strawberry Hill above Stow Lake for migrants, as well as the oaks north and and east of the Conservatory of Flowers. Walks around Middle and North Lake towards the west end of the park can be good (very near Buffalo Paddock).

Band-tailed Pigeons are best looked for at Mt. Davidson. The summit of this "mountain" is also a great place for spring migrants. Be there as early as possible for best luck with migrants. If BTPI are there time of day shouldn't matter too much.

Again, check out the mailing list "SFBirds" for the most current information.

Good luck,

Dan Singer
Pacifica, CA
 
Dan and Rob

Many thanks for your really helpful replies. I shall check out SFBirds straight away. As it will be my first visit to the west coast I think I shall gain a lot from just exploring Golden Gate Park and the nearby coast - very exciting.

Thanks again
Ken
 
Returned a week ago and thought I would give some info for anyone who might be interested.

I had a great trip with 138 species seen, 59 of which were new for me (60 if you count the red-masked parakeets on Telegraph Hill, which I don't). I'd highly recommend the SFBirds email list recommended by Dan Singer as I got lots of information from just lurking on this list. I'm sure the figure would have been higher if I had been able to identify more things by ear. It would also, however, have been much lower if it were not for the Hayward Harriers (see below).

I was lucky that my trip coincided with the Golden Gate Audubon Society's (GGAS) annual Birdathon. This meant that there was lots of news around of what people were seeing but also meant that I could join in with an event. I joined 'The Hayward Harriers' for a 'Big 4 Hours' split between Garin State Park and the Hayward Shore in the east Bay area. We managed 91 species in the 4 hours, 88 of which I am happy to count (all 91 were good birds, but some were flyovers or heard-only which, as lifers, I would not be happy with). As a bonus, by taking part I managed to get some sponsorship and raised $140 for GGAS!

Other major birding locations where I 'collected' several species were Golden Gate Park (GGP), Cliff House/Seal Rocks/Sutro Baths and a two day trip to Monterey Bay for a whale-watching trip (Day 1 drove to Moss Landing and went on trip aboard the Sanctuary. Stayed in Big Sur. Day 2 returned via Monterey, Santa Cruz and Henry Cowell Redwood State Park). In GGP, the Botanic Garden (AKA Strybing Arboretum) was especially good.

Highlights:
Anna's Hummingbirds - common throughout the city and seen every day
Allen's Hummingbird - Excellent views in Botanic Garden and AIDS Memorial Garden in GGP
Warblers - Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped (Audubon's and Myrtle) and the stunning Townsend's seen at several sites
Californian Towhee at Garin State Park and Botanic Garden in GGP
Red-winged (bicoloured) Blackbirds - several sites but in stunning display
Grasshopper Sparrow - Garin
Nuttall's Woodpecker - Garin and GGP
Acorn Woodpecker - Fernwood Campsite, Big Sur. I was also told about some near to the Academy of Science building in GGP
Am White Pelican - Hayward Shore (Brown common at coast)
White-tailed Kite - Hayward and near Monterey
Shorebirds - great selection at Hayward Shore inc. Am Avocet, Huds Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Least and Western Sands, Willets, Marbled Godwits all in great plumage.
Gulls - Western common everywhere, Glauc-winged, Am Herring and Californian scattered but best at Hayward, Santa Cruz seafront and north end of Ocean Beach near Cliff House.
Heerman's Gull - single 1st years at Moss Landing and Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf
Mew Gull - 1 1st summer at Aquatic Park, SF
Western and Clarke's Grebes - abundant at coastal and harbour sites
Surfbirds, Black Turnstones, Black Oystercatcher - Rocks north of Santa Cruz board walk, Seal Rocks/Sutro Baths
Black-footed Albatross - about 20 from whale-watch boat. Fantastic views.
Rhino Auklet - 3 from whale-watch boat but only one seen well
Pigeon Guillemot - all around coast. Best views Santa Cruz pier.
Cormorants - Brandt's common around coast (best views Moss Landing nesting on pilings), Pelagic as for Brandt's but less frequent (best views Santa Cruz and by Golden Gate Bridge), 2x crested common.
Band-tailed pigeon - common in Big Sur woods, one flock in GGP
California Quail - very few remaining in the city. I saw one male after some searching and with help in GGP Botanic Garden
Great Horned Owl - 1 adult and 2 juvs in nest GGP
Brown Creeper - Big Sur woodland and GGP
Steller's Jay - Big Sur woodland and GGP
Pygmy Nuthatch - several in GGP but best views in Succulent Garden of Botanic Garden where a bird was nesting in a dead Agave stem
House Wren - one at Garin
Bewick's Wren - Garin, GGP, Sutro Baths area, Big Sur
Pacific (Winter) Wren - several singing in coastal scrub (one seen) along Land's End Trail (N of Seal Rocks)

Full list attached.

Mammals seen inc. Grey Whale, Sea Otter, Californian and Steller's Sea Lion, Harbour Seal.

Hope this helps any future travellers. Thanks to all those who helped. San Francisco was such a friendly city, even the vagrants in the park helped point out the birds to me!

Happy birding!
Ken
 

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Some (poor) photos:
Black-footed albatrosses with glauc-winged gull
Allen's hummer
Allen's hummer
Anna's hummer
Cali quail
 

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and some more:
Pygmy nuthatch
Marbled godwits
Sea otter with western gull
Steller's sea lion (the big one) with Californian sea lions
 

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Final shots:

Banana slug
Western scrub jay
Black-footed albatross
 

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Ken - good to see that you had a good visit to California. Come on back next spring - we need your help with the Birdathon! Cheers,

Glen
 
Good work all round! It's not that easy to get a shot of the California Quail. I'm not sure I would have taken a shot of the banana slug, however. Mascot animal of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Jim D.
 
Good work all round! It's not that easy to get a shot of the California Quail. I'm not sure I would have taken a shot of the banana slug, however. Mascot animal of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Jim D.

I've just never seen a slug so bright. Loved it! Just glad we don't get them in the garden... don't think the veg patch could cope.

Ken
 
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