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/showphoto.php/photo/38547/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38548/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38546/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38700/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38701/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38702/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39086/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39091/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39088/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
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/showphoto.php/photo/38547/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38548/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38546/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38700/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38701/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/38702/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39086/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39091/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/39088/sort/1/cat/500/page/1