Date: 11/4/24 11:35 am From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] 2 male Orchard Orioles and other Balboa Park stuff; Grace's Warbler longevity
Monday morning, 2 adult male Orchard Orioles were together immediately OUTSIDE the San Diego Zoo along the usual "oriole edge" of the zoo parking lot. Specifically, they were present in the early-morning sun between 6:45-7:00 AM in the beginning-to-bloom coral tree and the heavily blooming bottlebrush up against the zoo fence at the end of the macaw and meerkat car parking rows. These are undoubtedly the same birds seen on 29 October by Trent Stanley inside the Zoo, but now one has a "free" option for seeing them. The blooms and early-morning light make for good photography.
Elsewhere in Balboa Park today, the extreme southeast corner had a getting-late Warbling Vireo and Hermit Warbler, as well as a male "cismontanus" type "Slate-colored" Junco. A total of 6 Western Tanagers were at two of their favored late-season sites: Zoro Garden and the mini-canyon and magnolia grove on the west side of the park just south of El Prado. Lastly, a female Summer Tanager was in the mini-canyon at the east end of Fir Street, just east of Fern, in nearby South Park.
Given the return of the ancient Grace's Warbler along Crest Drive in Encinitas for its SEVENTH year, the topic of Grace's Warbler longevity has been raised. The current California record-holder, I believe, is the bird that wintered for at least EIGHT years in a row between early 1980 to late 1987 in Montecito in Santa Barbara County. When it was discovered initially, it was actually the first time anyone had birded the site, and the bird appeared then to be an adult male, so it seems fairly likely that it had already been present for at least one year prior--but who really knows.
--Paul Lehman, San Diego
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