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Vacational Trip Reports
San Francisco and the Bay Area Friday 18th November - Sunday 4th December
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<blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3495521" data-attributes="member: 126488"><p><strong>Day 7 Thursday 24th November</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>César Chávez Park and McLaughlin East Shore State Park</strong></p><p></p><p>Before heading across, I had assumed that the US Thanksgiving would be the same as UK Christmas with no public transport (it ended up being a Sunday Service). As a result, I chose a hotel in easy walking distance to the César Chávez Park. One of the main targets was <strong>Burrowing Owl</strong>, that nest in the park. </p><p></p><p>I was out again for sunrise, hoping to see it before the park started to get busy. On the walk to the corner that was the nesting ground, fenced to avoid people walking over the burrows, I got my first sight of <strong>White-Tailed Kite</strong>. A few photographs of <strong>Buffleheads</strong> and a <strong>Black-Tailed Jackrabbit</strong>, I realised that my camera settings were wrong again. After no <strong>Burrowing Owl</strong>, and pretty much no protective fence, after 15-20 minutes, I decided to move on and come back the same way later. I do not have too much luck with Owls.</p><p></p><p>Walking to the far corner of the park on the perimeter path, I had to back track to get a shot of a <strong>Red-Winged Blackbird</strong>. Very little was out on the bay at the far corner other than a <strong>Western Grebe</strong>, and with a rather chilly wind, I headed back to the Burrowing Owl corner. The <strong>White-Tailed Kite</strong> did an aerial display of the hunting hover, before getting chased off by a <strong>Crow</strong>. A lone male <strong>House Finch</strong> popped up on a nearby bush, and then I froze as I saw a pair of beady little eyes popping over the rock. </p><p></p><p>Slowly, I raised my binoculars wondering how different a Burrowing Owl head was to other owls. Then I realised why. It was not the owl but a <strong>Californian Ground Squirrel</strong>. The Owl was a no go, and so I moved on, enjoying the powerboat display of the <strong>Buffleheads</strong> in a mix with Ruddy Ducks. The Male <strong>Bufflehead</strong> does a bobbing head display before charging for a couple of meters. With the Sun in the right direction, the purples and greens really showed through. A <strong>Savannah Sparrow</strong> then popped up next to the water edge. </p><p></p><p>I decided to check out the final corner of the park which had trees and bushes. Finding a little alcove, I noticed a Toyon tree, the tree with the red berries that I saw the <strong>Cedar Waxwings</strong> on the first Friday walk. Looking up, about a dozen <strong>Cedar Waxwings</strong> were perched on a sentry tree. I sat down on a tree stump and waited. No feeding shots though, but a <strong>Hermit Thrush</strong> also headed into the area, followed by a <strong>Chestnut-Backed Chickadee</strong>. As I tried to get the elusive shot of the Chickadee, the Waxwings took off. A few seconds later, the reason came flying in. A <strong>Merlin</strong> with some sort of prey and looking for a perch to eat and rather inconveniently chose a nice spot behind a tree trunk.</p><p></p><p>As soon as I moved, the <strong>Merlin</strong> was off. I sat back down to wait, and a <strong>Northern Flicker</strong> popped in to do a calling display. The <strong>Cedar Waxwings</strong> did a couple of fly-bys checking whether the <strong>Merlin</strong> was still present. A few more shots of them and I realised that my presence was probably what was keeping them from coming to my side of the bush so I moved on. Returning through the Car Park, I tracked a <strong>Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.</strong> </p><p></p><p>Carrying on to the McLaughlin East Shore State Park, I walked up the bay trail, seeing <strong>Snowy Egret</strong>, and <strong>American Wigeon</strong> (swimming in the middle of <strong>Coots</strong>). A small group of birds were then seen on the grass side of the path. Looking relatively large, with defined eyestripe and yellow underparts, I assumed it was the Meadowlark that I heard people refer to earlier in the week. It ended up that it was indeed the <strong>Western Meadowlark.</strong></p><p></p><p>Walking into the East Shore Park, I sat on a bench and watched raptors starting to come in with <strong>White-Tailed, TVs </strong>and <strong>Red-Tailed Hawk</strong>, and a distant <strong>Osprey</strong>. <strong>Gulls</strong> were flying over and as I started a video, I noticed another “Gull” flying over and realised it was the <strong>Osprey</strong> sailing through as it passed over my head. Someone who watched the video said it was the least excited reaction seen of me working out it was an <strong>Osprey</strong>. </p><p></p><p>Walking back through the park, and down the bay trail, the tide had started to go out, so I was treated to <strong>Sanderlings</strong>, <strong>Spotted Sandpiper</strong> and <strong>Willet</strong>. The final bird for the day was a juvenile <strong>Gull</strong> picking up a tennis ball and flying off with it before other gulls could steal it. It promptly dropped it in the water, landed next to it, lost interest and flew off.</p><p></p><p><em>Photographed Species 63/56</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kibet, post: 3495521, member: 126488"] [b]Day 7 Thursday 24th November[/b] [B]César Chávez Park and McLaughlin East Shore State Park[/B] Before heading across, I had assumed that the US Thanksgiving would be the same as UK Christmas with no public transport (it ended up being a Sunday Service). As a result, I chose a hotel in easy walking distance to the César Chávez Park. One of the main targets was [B]Burrowing Owl[/B], that nest in the park. I was out again for sunrise, hoping to see it before the park started to get busy. On the walk to the corner that was the nesting ground, fenced to avoid people walking over the burrows, I got my first sight of [B]White-Tailed Kite[/B]. A few photographs of [B]Buffleheads[/B] and a [B]Black-Tailed Jackrabbit[/B], I realised that my camera settings were wrong again. After no [B]Burrowing Owl[/B], and pretty much no protective fence, after 15-20 minutes, I decided to move on and come back the same way later. I do not have too much luck with Owls. Walking to the far corner of the park on the perimeter path, I had to back track to get a shot of a [B]Red-Winged Blackbird[/B]. Very little was out on the bay at the far corner other than a [B]Western Grebe[/B], and with a rather chilly wind, I headed back to the Burrowing Owl corner. The [B]White-Tailed Kite[/B] did an aerial display of the hunting hover, before getting chased off by a [B]Crow[/B]. A lone male [B]House Finch[/B] popped up on a nearby bush, and then I froze as I saw a pair of beady little eyes popping over the rock. Slowly, I raised my binoculars wondering how different a Burrowing Owl head was to other owls. Then I realised why. It was not the owl but a [B]Californian Ground Squirrel[/B]. The Owl was a no go, and so I moved on, enjoying the powerboat display of the [B]Buffleheads[/B] in a mix with Ruddy Ducks. The Male [B]Bufflehead[/B] does a bobbing head display before charging for a couple of meters. With the Sun in the right direction, the purples and greens really showed through. A [B]Savannah Sparrow[/B] then popped up next to the water edge. I decided to check out the final corner of the park which had trees and bushes. Finding a little alcove, I noticed a Toyon tree, the tree with the red berries that I saw the [B]Cedar Waxwings[/B] on the first Friday walk. Looking up, about a dozen [B]Cedar Waxwings[/B] were perched on a sentry tree. I sat down on a tree stump and waited. No feeding shots though, but a [B]Hermit Thrush[/B] also headed into the area, followed by a [B]Chestnut-Backed Chickadee[/B]. As I tried to get the elusive shot of the Chickadee, the Waxwings took off. A few seconds later, the reason came flying in. A [B]Merlin[/B] with some sort of prey and looking for a perch to eat and rather inconveniently chose a nice spot behind a tree trunk. As soon as I moved, the [B]Merlin[/B] was off. I sat back down to wait, and a [B]Northern Flicker[/B] popped in to do a calling display. The [B]Cedar Waxwings[/B] did a couple of fly-bys checking whether the [B]Merlin[/B] was still present. A few more shots of them and I realised that my presence was probably what was keeping them from coming to my side of the bush so I moved on. Returning through the Car Park, I tracked a [B]Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.[/B] Carrying on to the McLaughlin East Shore State Park, I walked up the bay trail, seeing [B]Snowy Egret[/B], and [B]American Wigeon[/B] (swimming in the middle of [B]Coots[/B]). A small group of birds were then seen on the grass side of the path. Looking relatively large, with defined eyestripe and yellow underparts, I assumed it was the Meadowlark that I heard people refer to earlier in the week. It ended up that it was indeed the [B]Western Meadowlark.[/B] Walking into the East Shore Park, I sat on a bench and watched raptors starting to come in with [B]White-Tailed, TVs [/B]and [B]Red-Tailed Hawk[/B], and a distant [B]Osprey[/B]. [B]Gulls[/B] were flying over and as I started a video, I noticed another “Gull” flying over and realised it was the [B]Osprey[/B] sailing through as it passed over my head. Someone who watched the video said it was the least excited reaction seen of me working out it was an [B]Osprey[/B]. Walking back through the park, and down the bay trail, the tide had started to go out, so I was treated to [B]Sanderlings[/B], [B]Spotted Sandpiper[/B] and [B]Willet[/B]. The final bird for the day was a juvenile [B]Gull[/B] picking up a tennis ball and flying off with it before other gulls could steal it. It promptly dropped it in the water, landed next to it, lost interest and flew off. [I]Photographed Species 63/56[/I] [/QUOTE]
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San Francisco and the Bay Area Friday 18th November - Sunday 4th December
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