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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

San Francisco in Feb. (1 Viewer)

Jeanie

Jeanie with one n.
I will be in San Francisco on the 5th and 6th of Feb. Would really like to meet up with a bird guide on one of the days.
Can anyone recommend anyone?
Many thanks.
Jeanie
 
Hi Jeanie,

What sort of birding are you looking to do, as I am just back from SF and found it to be quite suitable for self-guiding. I am putting the trip report up at the moment in the Vacational trip section.

Golden Gate Audubon Society may have the Sunday walk arranged for the Golden Gate Botanical Garden.

I would recommend Fort Mason Community Garden, and then afterwards head to Crissy Marsh (20 minute Walk).

I never went on a pelagic, but was recommended Debbie Shearwater by someone.
 
Many thanks Kibet, we did wonder about trying the Golden park by our selves which we may do on a different day but the more my husband looked into it the more there seemed to see. We would not hire a car so having a guide would also be good. Have found one on line but he is rather expensive. Still waiting to hear from him.
We have never been birding on the west coast so looking for a general view.
 
No problem. I never bothered with a car or a guide, although as mentioned I did use GGAS walks. It was also my first time visiting the west coast.

Google Maps helped me a lot on public transport. David Assmann is at Fort Mason most days and would be likely happy to help identify. He is also on birdingpal.

The local birders were all very friendly to me. So if you can get to a site then there is normally someone to help.
So you may only need a guide if you are after a target species or looking to go well out the city.

This is the link to the birding report of moving between sites.
 
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Have managed to find a company to take us out on one of the days, naturetrip.com, and we will follow the advice above for the other day. Many thanks.
 
Good to hear that you managed to sort someone. If I can offer any advice from the "outsider visiting" perspective, I will, so feel free to ask.

Kibet
 
Have just returned from 4 nights in San Francisco following a 4 week cruise from Southampton.
On the first day we walked from Fisherman's Wharf to Fort Mason. We started seeing some of the local birds many of which we could not identify.
The next day we left the ship and were taken on a trip of the city. This stopped at The Golden Gate park for an hour. Loads of birds about so the following day we took a taxi to the park and spent several hours there.
Could have done with a better bird book since we could not identify about half the birds we saw. My husband took quite a few record shots.
Luckily on the Monday we had booked a trip with www.naturetrip.com. This is run by Eddie Bartley and
Noreen Weeden
We soon learnt the names of those mysterious birds we had seen on the previous day.

Locations we visited in order:

San Francisco Aquatic Park
Fort Mason--Community Garden
Marina Green (drive by)
Lincoln Park--Legion of Honor
Cliff House (& Land’s End)
Golden Gate Park--North Lake
Golden Gate Park--Bison Paddock
Lake Merced--Concrete Bridge area

In San Mateo County:
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
Half Moon Bay Airport fields
Denniston Creek mouth
Pillar Point Harbor
Bayfront Park

Back in San Francisco:
Heron's Head Park.

We were picked up at 7.30 and they planned to drop us back at the hotel once it was dark. Unfortunately it was wet and cold. Eddie had a radar map on his phone and did his best to miss the wet patches. In spite of the rain and the cold we had a great day. Eddie recorded 90 birds plus 2 calling. We saw 87 of these. Luckily at lunch time the rain stopped for a bit and we were given a great feed which included home made soup. Just the thing for a cold damp day.Eddie and Noreen were great bird guides and great hosts. Highly recommend contacting them if you are in the area.
 
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You could try the Cornell Ornithology Lab app "Merlin" for retroactively identifying US birds.

I have an Anna's Hummingbird pair as houseguests, and it's always a thrill when they are flitting by my driveway as I leave for work or return. Four years ago, the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill (red-masked parakeets) paid me an impromptu visit in my backyard on my birthday, an event that spawned my interest in this hobby:
https://majid.info/blog/wild-parrots-forest-hill/
 
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