Mike Hooper (viator)'s 2008 List (1 Viewer)

[viator]

April 19
Marina East

253. Slaty-breasted Rail
254. Lanceolated Warbler

It's off to San Francisco on Friday so no updates for a couple of weeks when hopefully a lot of new birds!

 

[viator]

April 26

Arrived in San Francisco over-night for a 2 week stay in California for a family holiday. To try and get over the flight we started the day by getting a cab from our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf to Crissy Field and walked to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge before walking all the way back to the hotel.

Mostly common birds but of course most new for the year!

255. Western Gull
256. House Finch
257. Brewer's Blackbird
258. Western Sandpiper
259. Least Sandpiper
260. Ring-billed Gull
261. Killdeer
262. Semipalpated Plover
263. American Crow
264. Raven
265. Forster's Tern
266. Caspian Tern
267. Western Grebe
268. Clarke's Grebe
269. Glaucous-winged Gull
270. American Coot
271. Anna's Hummingbird
272. Allen's Hummingbird
273. Double-crested Cormorant
274. White-crowned Sparrow
275. Canada Goose
276. Greater Scaup
277. Great Blue Heron
278. Surf Scoter
279. White-winged Scoter
280. Cooper's Hawk
281. Brandt's Cormorant
282. Common Loon
283. Pigeon Guillemot
284. Lesser Goldfinch
285. Song Sparrow
286. Hutton's Vireo
287. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
288. Red-tailed Hawk
289. American White Pelican
290. Snowy Egret
291. Mourning Dove
292. Black Phoebe

Other birds seen along the walk which were already on my 2008 list were: Common Starling, Rock Dove, Barn Swallow, House Sparrow, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Mallard

 

[viator]

April 26, cont
Having confirmed a couple of photos can also add

293. Pygmy Nuthatch
294. Common Tern

 

[viator]

April 27
Japanese Tea Garden and Stowe Lake

295. American Robin
296. Western Scrubjay
297. Violet Green Swallow
298. Tree Swallow
299. Pied-billed Grebe
300. Spotted Towhee
301. Olive-sided Flycatcher
302. Western Kingbird
303. Dark-eyed Junco
304. Western Wood Peewee
305. Pacific Slope Flycatcher
306. California Towhee
307. Northern Flicker
308. Sharp-shinned Hawk
309. Wilson's Warbler
310. Cedar Waxwing
311. Pine Siskin

Also seen but not new for 2008 was a Peregrine Falcon

A stroll up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower in the afternoon added a flock of the feral Red-masked Parakeets.

312. Red-masked Parakeet

 

[viator]

April 28

A cruise on the bay yielded lots of gulls, cormorants etc along with two new species for the year
313. Brown Pelican
314. Common Murre

A short afternoon walk at Fort Mason then added
315. Purple Finch
316. Turkey Vulture
317. Bushtit
318. White-throated Swift

 

[viator]

April 29 (part 1)
Muir Woods

Not many birds but all new birds lifers! Mostly single birds spotted....

319. Bewick's Wren
320. Stellar's Jay
321. Spotted Owl
322. Winter Wren
323. Townsend's Warbler
324. Warbling Vireo
325. Brown Creeper

 

[viator]

April 29 (part 2)

Bolinas Lagoon
326. Marbled Godwit
327. Lesser Scaup
328. Northern Pintail
329. Long-tailed Duck

Point Reyes
330. Red-winged Blackbird
331. Tricolored Blackbird
332. Downy Woodpecker
333. Cliff Swallow
334. Northern Harrier
335. Western Meadowlark
336. Pacific Loon
337. Black Turnstone
338. Surfbird
339. Brant
340. American (Buff-bellied) Pipit
341. Horned Lark
342. Loggerhead Shrike
343. California Quail
344. Marsh Wren
345. Sora
346. Virginia Rail
347. Wrentit
348. Bufflehead
349. Common Golden-eye
350. American Kestrel
351. White-tailed Kite
352. Band-tailed Pigeon
353. American Goldfinch

Additional Point Reyes birds new for this trip but not 2008: Whimbrel, Sanderling

Driving back to San Francisco via Novato added
354. Western Bluebird
355. Greater White-fronted Goose

 

[viator]

April 30
Heading south from San Francisco on the start of our drive to Southern California. The first day we drove to Monterey with stops at Pescadero State Beach and Ano Neuvo Park

Pescadero
356. Black Oystercatcher
357. Snow Goose
358. Green-winged Teal
359. Spotted Sandpiper
360. Dunlin
361. Lesser Yellowlegs
362. Greater Yellowlegs

Ano Nuevo
363. Common Yellowthroat
364. Savannah Sparrow
365. Pelagic Cormorant
366. Sooty Shearwater
367. Black-footed Albatross
368. Horned Grebe
369. California Gull
370. Mew Gull
371. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
372. Green Heron

Laguna Grande Park and lagoon, Monterey
373. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
374. Red-necked Phalarope
375. Heermann's Gull
376. Bonaparte's Gull
377. Great-tailed Grackle
378. Ruddy Duck
379. Northern Mockingbird
380. Chipping Sparrow

 

[viator]

May 1

Continue the drive south from Monterey to Morro Bay.

17 Mile Drive, Monterey
381. Red-throated Loon
382. American Herring Gull
383. Wandering Tattler
384. Willet
385. Red-breasted Merganser
386. Brown-headed Cowbird

Big Sur
387. California Condor
388. Sage Sparrow

Morro Rock
389. Western Tanager
390. Red-necked Grebe

 

[viator]

May 2
Continuing the drive south finishing the day at Oxnard in Ventura County

Elfin Forest Trail, Morro Bay
A trail through low coastal bush to lookouts over the bay
391. American Wigeon
392. Northern Shoveller
393. Gadwall
394. Short-billed Dowitcher
395. Long-billed Dowitcher

Oso Flaco Lake and Beach
396. Bullock's Oriole
397. Eared (Black-necked) Grebe
398. Red (Grey) Phalarope
399. Snowy Plover
400. California Thrasher
401. Cinnamon Teal
402. Yellow-rumped Warbler
403. Black-headed Grosbeak
404. Oak Titmouse
405. Hermit Warbler
406. Indigo Bunting
407. Yellow-breasted Chat

Driving back to the highway a raptor
408. Golden Eagle

Oxnard Beach, Ventura County
409. Black-necked Stilt
410. Yellow-headed Blackbird
411. Cactus Wren
412. Least Tern
413. Grasshopper Sparrow
414. Say's Phoebe

 

[viator]

May 3
Continuing the journey south to our base for the next week at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido.

Golden Shores Marine Reserve, Long Beach
415. Black Tern
416. Elegant Tern
417. Royal Tern
418. Black Skimmer

Cleveland National Forest
419. Ashy-throated Flycatcher

Lawrence Welks Resort, Escondido
420. Acorn Woodpecker

 

[viator]

May 4

San Diego Wild Animal Park
Whilst travelling on the tram looking at the African wildlife three White-faced Ibis were feeding in one of the ponds and a Prairie Falcon flew in and landed in a palm tree.
421. White-faced Ibis
422. Prairie Falcon

Heading to the exit a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves were perched in a tree
423. Eurasian Collared Dove

Lawrence Welk Resort, Escondido
A late afternoon walk yielded a few nuthatches
424. White-breasted Nuthatch

May 6

Lawrence Welk Resort
Walk around the resort grounds after lunch added
425. Hermit Thrush
426. Vesper Sparrow
427. Hooded Oriole

Lake Hodges
A short stroll at sunset with my son whilst the wife was shopping
428. Costa's Hummingbird
429. Least Bittern

 

[viator]

May 7

Anza Borrego Desert State Park
Got up at 4:30 and drove out to the desert to spend the day hiking whilst the rest of the family rested at the resort.
430. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
431. Verdin
432. Scott's Oriole
433. Gambel's Quail
434. Black-throated Sparrow
435. Phainopepla
436. Orange-crowned Warbler
437. Greater Roadrunner
438. Rock Wren
439. Canyon Wren
440. Crissal Thrasher
441. Brewer's Sparrow
442. Yellow Warbler
443. White-winged Dove
444. Common Ground Dove

Julian
The drive back to Escondido yielded a couple of Wild Turkeys along the edge of the road just outside Julian.
445. Wild Turkey

 

[viator]

May 9

Lawrence Welk Resort, Escondido
446. Lazuli Bunting

Felcita Park, Escondido
447. Nuttall's Woodpecker

Below are a few more images from the Anza Borrego in the desert

 

[viator]

May 10
Last day before starting the long trip back to Singapore

Lawrence Welk Resort, Escondido
448. Red-shouldered Hawk

Chula Vista Nature Reserve
449. Long-billed Curlew

May 12
1 1/2 hours at Hong Kong Airport allowed for the starting of a HK list for 2008 with 2 birds - several Crested Myna's and Eurasian Tree Sparrows
450. Crested Myna

 

[viator]

May 19
Back in Singapore and an afternoon hike in Hindehede Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve added 2 new birds to the Singapore list - Japanese White-eye and White-crowned Laughingthrush - along with the usual jungle birds. Plenty of other babblers heard but besides Pin-striped Tit Babblers none seen so not counted.

451. Japanese White-eye
452. White-crested Laughingthrush

 

[viator]

June 8
Marina East, Singapore

My usual weekend hike at Marina East - the first since coming back from the US. The government has been busy in the intervening period bull-dozing trails through the main swamp - only a matter of time till the reclaimed land starts being developed. The new trails will be great if left alone between now and migration season but its probably not to be :-(

3 hours yielded 49 species and 2 new for the year. The first is an uncommon visitor to Singapore, a female Thick-billed Green Pigeon, the second was an even better sighting, two Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoos. These cuckoo's according to Robson are only vagrant visitors to Singapore during July and August - so two immature birds at the start of June appears very unusual.

453. Thick-billed Green Pigeon
454. Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo

Update: Turns out my sighting of the Horsefield's Bronze Cuckoo was only the 6th ever in Singapore!

 

[viator]

July 6
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

A stroll through the jungle away from the crowds added two more year birds. The Short-tailed Babbler is one I've heard in the forest quite a few times but never had a definitive look at one!

455. Drongo Cuckoo
456. Short-tailed Babbler

 

[viator]

Many thanks to whoever added the stars!

 

[viator]

July 27
Marina East

Another of the numerous possibly feral species that are escapees or descended from escapees.

457. Yellow-crowned Bishop