Date: 10/30/24 4:32 pm From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: [SFBirds] BALTIMORE Oriole - Glen Canyon 10/30/24, and an aside
This morning a female BALTIMORE ORIOLE briefly popped up at the top of Glen Canyon in the first stands of willows after one passes the back of MacAteer High School coming down from the trailhead at Portola. The bird responded briefly to ORGANIC PLAYBACK (aka phishing) although it didn't stay in view for long.
Yesterday morning (10/29) there was an Orestera sub-species Orange-crowned Warbler on Mount Davidson.
Regarding the recent post on SFBirds regarding use of playback I wanted to chime in with my two cents. While it is true that excessive use of playback has been known to disrupt breeding activity this is really not an issue in the fall. Judicious use of playback - be it the electronic kind or my preferred method of pishing/whistling etc. - is a key element in a good birder's tool box. Many of the "rare" birds that others chase were located through this method , including the Slate-throated Redstart which may easily have gone undiscovered had I not coaxed into view after hearing its calls. Used sparingly it is a totally legit technique and no more disruptive and perhaps even less so than say blasting nocturnal birds like poorwills with flash photography and flushing them in attempts to get photos.
