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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3495277" data-attributes="member: 126488">Day 2 Saturday 19th NovemberEl Polin Spring – Crissy Field Marsh – Fort Mason Community GardenI let people know at the novel writing event that I was planning to do bird watching and if anyone wanted to attend, then they were more than welcome. There was one person that took me up on the offer and would attend with a friend. El Polin Spring was on the Presidio and was a 15 minute walk from the hotel I was staying at. I was there about 10 minutes before sunrise. Noticing some sparrows on the ground with the low light was too hard to identify. With sunrise expected, the rain started as I wandered around the small area, doing a couple of videos as I waited.Northern Flicker called from the top of some pine trees, with American Crows flying over. A Cooper’s Hawk flew in and rested on a distant telegraph pole. White-Crowned Sparrow came in, and a couple of Spotted Towhee started to call from the brush, only identified after seeing then later. Anna’s were also around, making their shrill call.The writer arrived with their friend and I gave them my spare set of bins. Walking around, I pointed out the Anna’s, white crowned, Flicker and Cal Tows seen. My very limited knowledge, based on what I had learned about them the day before, I pointed out the display of the Anna’s, the colour of the males head and for checking the crown of the sparrow. As an introduction, my small descriptions were enough.Then the rain got heavier, so we sheltered under a tree, hoping that it would pass. It didn’t and so we decided to call it a day, after an hour and a half. Walking back to the hotel, the rain eased up and I decided to turn down to Crissy Field Marsh.And as soon as I arrived, the rain started once more. With Brewer’s Blackbird and Raven on the ground, as fumbled with my camera and trying to wipe the water away from the view finder, I missed the shots. A “Headless” shot of a sheltering Double-Crested Cormorant, was another failed start, but I was rewarded shortly after with a Say’s Phoebe at the edge of the trail. As I reached the start of the marsh, the rain stopped briefly for Snowy Egret, a Brown Pelican taking off, Long-billed Curlew, Willet and Killdeer. The rain then started once again and stayed light and constant for the rest of the day. Carrying on up the marsh, a flock of 40 Peeps (still to identify) flew by, and I got my first of many shots of Bufflehead. Red-Breasted Merganser and Eared Grebe in the center and a Belted Kingfisher at the end of the marsh. There were plenty of gulls (at least 3 types), although I mark them to identify later in life (sorry Gull people). On my way back up the marsh, sheltering from the rain behind bushes when I could, three Marbled Godwit greeted me at the top. Moving on, I went to Fort Mason Community Garden with the clothes now sticking to me due to the rain. A small but active garden, and became one of my favourite places. The sparrows were very active, with White and Golden crowned, Fox, and White-Throated Sparrow carrying on regardless of the rain. The Cal Tows really act like our blackbirds, as they feed. As I sheltered under the tree, there was a nice Audubon Yellow Rumped Warbler, showing off the yellow crown, a Black Phoebe enduring the rain and a Mockingbird. I also got a sparrow that looked like a Fox sparrow but with a well defined white bib, which I found out later was the resident “weird” Fox.Calling it as “too wet”, I headed to a nearby café to meet fellow writers, where we wrote for a couple of hours as I partially dried. Returning to the hotel, I changed into something dry and got a couple of weird looks as I requested old newspapers, until I explained it was for my shoes. I then went out for an out of towners meeting in the evening with other writers.Photographed Species 34/56</blockquote>

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